Legendary Newcastle United player David Ginola is still admired by the Toon Army today for his flare and personality at St. James’ Park.
When David Ginola first arrived at Newcastle United in 1995, he claims to have been taken aback by the team’s amateurish atmosphere.
Before moving to Aston Villa, the brilliant Frenchman spent a brief three-year stint in the north of England. Despite the high expectations surrounding the transfer, he only managed to score seven goals in his 76 appearances across all competitions.
Since then, Ginola has talked about how he joined from PSG in the middle of the 1990s and has voiced his worries about the team he believed was ready to advance.
‘Newcastle United was very low profile’
The now-57-year-old said in an interview with Not Just Football, brought to you by Sky Bet, “It was like standing in an amateur club when I arrived at Newcastle and saw the training ground. It was a very low profile, having breakfast in the morning and sharing a dressing room with students from the local university because the training ground was in Durham.
“You enter a world now where everything is state-of-the-art, including the stadiums, training fields, and amenities.
“You must adjust to this new chapter in football, but the most important thing to me is the mindset, which has evolved greatly over the years—the love and passion for the shirt and its significance.”
Given the Brit’s excellent eating in comparison to his prior Parisian adventures, it’s safe to assume the well-bred Frenchman was in for a ride he didn’t expect.
“My first thought upon arriving in Newcastle was, ‘Am I in England?'” For me, their conversational style and all of these other things seemed like a revelation.
“I imagined the Premier League and England would be like this and that when I joined with Newcastle from PSG, but I found things like toast and baked beans—things I would never have thought of in Paris.
“I was accustomed to enjoying a beautiful glass of wine together with croissants and pain au chocolat. When we discuss football these days, I don’t believe we appreciate how excellent it was back then. Not as much money, but more love and gratitude to perform for someone who genuinely cares about you, such as Sir John Hall — what a gentleman.
“He was a prosperous businessman from Geordie who purchased the club because it was his love. These days, I’m not sure if folks who purchase clubs are having fun or just want to play football.
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