John Barnes reveals his abiding memory of Newcastle '“ and it isn't THAT Barcelona game

Barnes was in the team which recorded one of the club’s greatest European results.

A Faustino Asprilla hat-trick gave Newcastle a 3-2 Champions League win over Barcelona 20 years ago.

No, Barnes, signed in the summer of 1997 by Kenny Dalglish, will instead always remember the backing he and his team-mates – who were struggling in the Premier League – got during his time on Tyneside.

Asked for his memories of the club, the former Liverpool and England midfielder said: “The fans.

“We weren’t doing particularly well, but the fans were there through thick and thin.

“Obviously, there were individual games. There was the Barcelona game where Tino scored a hat-trick and Keith Gillespie had one of his best games ever.

“But it was more to do with the passion of the fans, even when we weren’t doing well.

“When we weren’t winning matches, it was the support and the love they had for the players and the team, which you don’t normally get at clubs.

“They were very supportive, even when we weren’t doing well.

“The memories were of the fans.

The fans were there every week through thick and thin.

“When we were walking around town they supported us, because we wore that black and white jersey, which is what football is all about – the passion of the fans.

“The fans of Newcastle exemplified that.”

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