THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE CITY

Tyneside lives and breathes football - so it is perhaps unsurprising that on a staggering 15 occasions, a Newcastle United player or coach has won our Sports Personality award.

The breadth of winners from the club has been huge but perhaps the most romantic of them was the first NUFC winner. In 1979 forward Alan Shoulder - the pitman who rose through the ranks after playing for Blyth Spartans - picked up the award for his on-field successes.

He was followed by a whole host of famous Magpies - with Steven Taylor, Kevin Nolan and Alan Pardew the most recent winners from the club.

They followed two-time winners Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer. In fact, Shearer is not only United’s all-time record goalscorer, but he remains a patron of Sport Newcastle. Kevin Keegan, meanwhile, has won the award on a record three occasions - twice as a player and once as a manager.

And it’s not just the Sports Personality award NUFC have picked up over the years. Sir John Hall and Sir Bobby Robson, the club’s two most famous knights, have both received the Wilkinson Sword award - as has former manager Jack Charlton.