8 Childhood Newcastle United Fans Who (Eventually) Signed As Players

8. Michael Bridges

Born in North Shields, Michael Bridges grew up as a Newcastle fan and, like Alan Shearer and Peter Beardsley before him, started his footballing education with Wallsend Boys Club. He chose to sign for Sunderland in 1994, and emerged as a promising Premier League striker during the late 1990s, scoring a £5 million transfer to Leeds United at the end of the century.

Bridges was an instant hit at Elland Road, scoring 19 goals in his first season with the club, but injuries soon killed his career. He was restricted to just 10 appearances over the next four seasons, and joined NUFC on loan in January 2004, having not scored a Premier League goal in over three years.

He'd signed for his boyhood club, but Bridges was already a spent force. He failed to score in any of his six Newcastle appearances and joined Bolton the following season, before tumbling down the league pyramid, and eventually settling in Australia. Once earmarked as a future England international, Bridges' chronic fitness problems persisted until his retirement in 2016, and ultimately cost him what should've been a top tier football career.