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

6. Jack Colback

Jacob Murphy Child Newcastle United
Richard Sellers/PA Archive

One of the latest players to cross the Tyne/Wear divide, former Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback joined Newcastle in 2014, having emerged from the Black Cats' youth system six years prior. He has since made over 100 appearances across all competitions for NUFC, though he has understandably struggled to win the fans over, and remains one of the most divisive players in the squad.

Going directly from Sunderland to Newcastle (or vice versa) is never easy, and it takes a special footballer to overcome the doubts. Once laughably compared to Andrea Pirlo by former England manager Roy Hodgson, Colback is a straightforward midfielder whose role involves disrupting opposition play and recycling possession. Unfortunately, Jack excels at neither. He's an extremely ordinary footballer, and it's unlikely he'll ever be a huge fan favourite.

This is in spite of his lifelong NUFC fandom. Colback scored against Newcastle in the February 2014 Tyne-Wear derby, but grew up in the city, and called his Magpies switch a "dream move" shortly after signing. His favourite player growing up was Faustino Asprilla, though you'd never guess this from watching Jack play...

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