Karaoke with Joey Barton, and how Derek Llambias ate curry that Mike Ashley had spat out

Seeing off paid gangland henchmen, working on the doors in Ibiza, a boxing promoter with Newcastle United takeover connections as well as acting as a voice of the fans – South Shields-born Steve Wraith has been there, done that and got the t-shirt.
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In his new book Every Boy's Dream, co-written by Jamie Boyle, Wraith digs deep into his past, present and future as he shines a light on what made him – in his own words – the 'Marmite', 'self publicist' he is today.

Newcastle United runs through Wraith's veins and his undying love, personal battles and torment with the Magpies a constant theme throughout.

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As part of this special Gazette two-part serialisation, in his own words, Wraith told the tales of his relationships with the likes Amanda Staveley and Rafa Benitez in part ONE, and in part TWO he turns to Derek Llambias, his hooligan connections, Paul Gascoigne's 'Mars bar' return to Tyneside, as well as opening up on THAT funeral march.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 26:  Steve Wraith arriving at the UK Premiere of 'Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Story' at Cineworld Leicester Square on October 26, 2017 in London, England.  (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 26:  Steve Wraith arriving at the UK Premiere of 'Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Story' at Cineworld Leicester Square on October 26, 2017 in London, England.  (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 26: Steve Wraith arriving at the UK Premiere of 'Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Story' at Cineworld Leicester Square on October 26, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Wraith talks his frosty relationship with former NUFC chief executive Derek Llambias…

“My first impressions were that I didn’t particularly trust him or believe what he was saying although I couldn’t put a finger on why I felt that way.

“When the fans first turned on Ashley/Llambias the fans held banners saying, “GO HOME COCKNEY MAFIA” the straw that broke the fans’ backs was bringing another Cockney Dennis Wise in above Kevin Keegan who ended up leaving the club and winning a huge pay-out at a tribunal. Our fans were never anti-Cockney we were anti-Ashley/Llambias.

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“When we were relegated in 2009, we bounced straight back up the following year. The key players in bringing us straight back up were Joey Barton, Steve Harper, Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan. I became good friends with Kevin and his Father. It was Kevin Nolan who invited me to the promotion party at The Diamond Inn, Ponteland.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - MAY 19:  Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and Managing Director Derek Llambias look on during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St James' Park on May 19, 2013 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - MAY 19:  Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and Managing Director Derek Llambias look on during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St James' Park on May 19, 2013 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and Managing Director Derek Llambias look on during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St James' Park on May 19, 2013 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

“Within twenty minutes the place was jumping with Newcastle United players along with all the backroom staff. Chris Hughton the manager then came in with the Championship trophy. Mike Ashley then walks in with Derek Llambias. He went straight up to the barmaid and handed her his credit card, “tonight’s on me” he said.

“That night was great for a number of reasons and one of them was Joey Barton. He got up to sing Deacon Blue’s Dignity. It was the song that the team played before every game because they knew they’d let the fans down the season before with the relegation. Joey was the star of the show that night.

“I’d had a couple so I thought I’d introduce myself to Mike and off I went. I asked him what his plans were for the future. Ashley is clearly an intelligent man and a good businessman but in my opinion not when it comes to owning and running a football club.

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“Llambias reappeared like Count Dracula at midnight in a puff of smoke and he wasn’t looking very happy because I’m talking to Mike. He then intervened and said, “Steve, Steve this isn’t the time for this” in an extremely rude manner. When Mike was talking to me, he’d been tucking into a chicken curry but as he’d been eating, I watched Mike spit out this bit of grizzle and stick it on the side of his plate. As Derek came back, I noticed he picked up the wrong plate, which had been Mike Ashley’s and he started eating this bit of rubbish that Mike Ashley had spat out which was funny to watch and of course I said nothing.”

The truth behind THAT infamous funeral march…

“Now I know a lot of people think that because I was the Reverend who led the march, I must have organised it but I didn’t. Everybody thinks that it was another Steve Wraith PR stunt but I cannot take the plaudits I’m afraid. It was actually the ‘Mike Ashley Out’ groups idea and the NUFC Fans United group gave it their full backing.

“We did the march on a matchday so all the world's media were there flashing their cameras. There were around 1,000 fans on the march itself and we made a hell of a lot of noise. I remember seeing the ex-Newcastle player Olivier Bernard walking past and he stopped and shook my hand, I even gave him a cheeky blessing. We stopped at the gates where I read out the prepared sermon in front of the world’s media.

“We had done the march to highlight our annoyance at the way Ashley was running the club but fans were saying that we had embarrassed them.

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“I actually got a message from Mike Ashley’s sidekick Llambias which read, ‘Mike just wants to congratulate you on your protest today, you all did well’. Was that tongue-in-check or was it because we rallied up so much PR he was tipping his hat and saying touché, I’ll let you decide.

“What that taught me was that no amount of protesting was going to get rid of this man. He revelled in it because it was giving him free PR for his Sports Brand globally. I would never protest on the streets against Ashley again.”

Mars bars for Gazza!

“This season saw Gazza return to Newcastle with his new club at the start of the new season. It was no secret that he had a sweet tooth and his favourite snack was a Mars Bar.

“So, I decided to try and make a few quid out of the situation. I took a box of 48 Mars Bars from the newsagents and stuck them in the freezer overnight and the next day headed up to the ground early to sell them to fans going in. “Give Gazza a Mars Bar Only £1” was my sales pitch outside the turnstiles. I sold out in just under an hour. My pockets full of pound notes.

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“The game kicked off and when Gazza came over to take a corner there was a rainstorm of Mars Bars that I had sold outside the ground. Gazza saw the funny side and picked 1 up and started eating it.”

On hooliganism in the 1980s and writing a book about it 30 years on...

“Growing up and going to the Newcastle games myself football violence was never very far away. I really became aware of these guys who would go to football matches to fight for a hobby! The away games were a laugh. If I wasn’t in the back of a mate’s van with a crate of beer in those days then I was on a bus full of mates heading up and down the country. Worst places I visited were West Ham and Millwall.

“I’d like to think that the one thing I achieved on the Newcastle hooligans behalf is that I set the record straight. Newcastle’s firms didn’t always win which I found refreshing, especially The Gremlins who were happy to tell me a story about the time they all went on a train journey wearing Kappa tracksuits only they got off at Birmingham station to get chinned because they were all wearing the same gear they stood out like a sore thumb to the rival supporters, so they got straight back on the train and came home again.”

£2,000 to give Wraith a beating?

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“During the mid-noughties a well-known chief executive of a football club paid £2,000 to have me beaten up. I received a call from a good friend of mine down South to inform me of this. This fella runs a lot of the security down there and he went on to tell me he’d received contact from this chief executive and told me all about it.

“When I asked him what exactly did he mean he said, ‘he’s offered me a couple of grand to come and rough you up’. Well I was stunned, but he told me he had no intention of following it up but was happy to collect the money then his party would come up to Newcastle and we’d have a good drink on it.”