There are few things that surprise me in the soap opera world of football but Kevin Keegan's return as Newcastle United manager was one of the exceptions.
Hysterical Geordies embraced King Kev's appointment as the return of The Messiah, while the rest of the nation poured scorn.
The cynics claimed the Toon Army were stuck in the 1990s with a manager, who after leaving St James' Park, proved he was f
ar from the chosen one in charge of England and Manchester City.
But I can understand the Geordies' delirium and welcome it. I was a student in Newcastle in the late 1990s and can clearly recall January 7, 1997, when Keegan resigned. It was a real Kennedy-esque 'where were you?' moment.
The city was shocked and went into mourning, of which it has never really recovered. This may sound like an exaggeration but unless you've experienced the Geordie Nation at first hand, you can't understand.
If you walk through the centre of Ipswich or Norwich you will see supporters in Town and City shirts but these will be outnumbered by fans wearing colours of more glamourous clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
But if you stroll through the centre of Newcastle, the only football shirts you will see will be the ones with the distinctive black and white stripes; there is only one club for them.
Their football club is a huge part of their city's identity and after more than a decade of almost constant disaster and ridicule, trying every style of manager, who can blame them for giving it another go with their first love.
Keegan's return swelled the gate for their FA Cup tie with Stoke by tens of thousands, I can't imagine the same happening if Ipswich brought back Bobby Robson and certainly didn't happen when Mike Walker returned to Carrow Road.
Fans who made snipes at the scenes on Tyneside last week were just hiding their own jealously, envious that their clubs do not share the same passion and excitement as the Geordie faithful.
The full article contains 352 words and appears in Diss Express newspaper.
