'Big-mouthed' former Newcastle United goalkeeper returns to the pitch – aged 70
Former Newcastle United goalkeeper John Burridge is still going strong – aged 70.
Burridge, based in Oman, played in a charity match in front of more than 4,000 fans at former club Hibernian on Sunday.
The 1991 Skol Cup winner – who played for a Franck Sauzee XI in the Hanlon Stevenson Foundation charity fixture at Easter Road – had two spells at Newcastle as a player.
Burridge joined the club in 1989, and spent two years at the club. Burridge returned in his 40s when Kevin Keegan was manager, but didn’t make an appearance.
The Workington-born player went on to join Manchester City as goalkeeping cover – and famously kept a clean sheet against Keegan’s Newcastle in 1995 aged 43.
Speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News about his reputation as an eccentric, Burridge said: “People think I'm crazy. I'm not crazy.
"You can't play in the Premier League at the age of 43 if you're crazy. I went to Crystal Palace, I got them up. I went to QPR, I got them up. I went to Wolves, I got them up. I went to Hibs and won them the cup,” he said.
“I've got a big mouth – ‘fam kabir’ they call it over here in Arabic. I just try to entertain because you need characters in the game. There aren't enough characters in football these days.
"But with the way I talk and the way I act, people think I'm crazy. It's not that, it's dedication. It's how I played so long and how I'm still as fit as I am.”