Newcastle United join Liverpool in making Black Lives Matter gesture

People shout slogans and hold placards, on June 1, 2020, in downtown Las Vegas, as they take part in a "Black lives matter" rally in response to the recent death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in police custody. | Getty Images

Newcastle United’s first-team squad have ‘taken the knee’ to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The death Monday of an unarmed George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis ignited this latest wave of outrage in the US over law enforcement's repeated use of lethal force against African Americans.

And after a number of footballers took a stand of support in the Bundesliga, including England international Jadon Sancho, United’s squad have stood with Liverpool in posting a photo on social media showing their players around the centre circle of their Benton training ground, on one knee.

The gesture came to popular prominence when NFL and San Francisco 49ers star Colin Kaepernick began dropping to a knee for the pre-game national anthem.

At the time he said: "I’m not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black and people of colour.”