Newcastle United players club together in brilliant gesture

George Ramshaw – who started at St James’s Park 25 years ago – had surgery late last year after Steve Bruce’s squad funded the £15,000 operation at a private hospital.

Ramshaw had been in pain, and facing a long wait for an NHS operation, when the players asked the club’s doctor if they could help.

Head coach Bruce said: "George has been here since the year dot.

“There's a nice story about him. The players paid for his hip operation. It was a lovely touch. Footballers get much maligned these days, but they organised a whip-round between them, and raised something like £15,000, and sent him off to a private hospital to get it done.”

Ramshaw, of Hebburn, returned to work at Newcastle a few weeks ago.

"He's only just come back to work in the past couple of weeks and he's all fixed and healed,” added Bruce.

Ramshaw, an amateur footballer with Whitley Bay in the 1950s and 1960s, says he’ll be “eternally grateful” to the club’s players for paying for the operation.

"I'm eternally grateful to the players,” said Ramshaw, United’s assistant kit manager. "I was in a lot of pain with my hip, and it would have been months before I could get an operation through the NHS given how busy they are.

"The players said to the doctor, Paul Catterson, 'can we do something?', and the doctor put it in motion with the Nuffield. Within a fortnight, I was in and had it done. All the lads came together and put in. Me and my wife are both very grateful.I'm feeling great now. I was off for about four months, but I'm back full time now. It's champion."

Bruce says it was striker Andy Carroll’s idea to fund the operation.

"I think it might have been Andy Carroll's initial idea,” said Bruce. “Andy, of course, has known George a long time

"George is as good as gold now, jumping around the place with a brand new hip. He'll be playing soon! We're all thrilled to see him like that because he is a lovely, lovely man."