10 Hardest Working Newcastle Players Ever

A Newcastle United fan's philosophy consists of tenacity, passion and 'kiss the badge' endeavour, mixed with the heart-warming belief that replicating these traits on the pitch will eventually bring their club some silverware. Throughout the Magpies' Premier League era there are very few players who 'put a shift in' and were not widely regarded as cult heroes or idolised by fans.

Good old-fashioned effort can indeed sometimes be enough; football supporters love nothing more than a central midfielder dashing 20 yards to recover the ball (he's possibly just lost) with a last-ditch, player-first, ball-second slide tackle. St James' Park demands that each player who pulls on the black and white striped jersey gives 100% and demonstrably earns every single zero on their pay-check.

Some former (and possibly current) players haven't played by the rules. Mark Viduka, Geremi and Stephen Carr failed to honour the St James' Park effort law and found themselves on the wrong end of a fair share of criticism from the Geordie nation. The aforementioned three beckoned Gabriel Obertan to join them on the dark side last season, but the French winger decided he wasn't ready to become a meandering, effortless, slug-shifter just yet and has upped his work-rate to an acceptable level.

Of course, fans will tend to forgive lack of effort in players with enough quality going forward and there will always be a place in our hearts (if not in Alan Pardew's) for the likes of Laurent Robert, David Ginola and Hatem Ben Arfa. But these are simply the exceptions that prove the rule.

Here, WhatCulture.com/NUFC take a look at hardest working Newcastle players ever...