He symbolised Toon’s ‘Entertainers’
DAVID Ginola was the perfect symbol of Newcastle United’s ‘Entertainers’ era.
Exciting, glamorous, rampaging, full of flair – but in the end his time at St James’ Park was relatively short.
Ginola, pictured, was a member of the finest Newcastle side in living memory, a team that went within a whisker of delivering the first league title to Gallowgate since 1927.
He was born in Gassin, France, on this day 51 years ago.
Unlikely as it may seem today, when the 28-year-old left winger arrived from Paris St Germain for a bargain £2.5m in the summer of 1995, he’d turned down the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus and Bayern Munich in order to wear the black and white of Newcastle United.
Former Scotland boss Andy Roxburgh, the-then UEFA technical director, said of the French international at the time: “Ginola is incredibly good. He turns people, he has pace and two good feet. He’s simply a very gifted player. His control is unbelievable.”
The analysis was well-founded with Ginola, alongside new signing Les Ferdinand, Peter Beardsley, Rob Lee and co running riot as the 1995-96 season progressed.
A win against Bolton in January 1996, saw Kevin Keegan’s team go 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Then came the Toon’s infamous unravelling as Manchester United stole in to claim the league title on the last lap.
Years later, Ginola told the Chronicle: “Unfortunately we didn’t win the title and everybody in Newcastle was sad for so many weeks.”
The following season saw Keegan famously quit as boss, and he would be followed out of the door in the summer by Ginola. He’d made 71 (5) appearances for Newcastle, scoring seven goals.
The winger would go on to play for Spurs, Aston Villa and Everton, before retiring from playing in 2002.
David has since been involved in film acting, wine-making, charity work, and TV football punditry with talkSPORT.
In 2015, he survived a massive heart attack, thanks to paramedics with a defibrillator and emergency quadruple bypass surgery. He later revealed: “My heart stopped for eight minutes at least. There was no pulse. I was dead.”
Happily, the Newcastle United legend has since returned to full health.
Bon anniversaire, David!