A section of Newcastle United fans have taken to Twitter to express their delight after the club announced that Steve Harper will take on the role of goalkeeper coach for the academy.
The former Magpies star – who was the club’s longest serving player, spending 20 years at the Toon – will be supported by Daniel Garcia, who has taken Harper’s place as the Academy goalkeeping coach up to Under-16 level, as confirmed on the club’s Twitter and website.
We're pleased to announce that @steveharper37 has taken up a new role as Lead Academy Goalkeeping Coach at Newcastle United. He'll be supported by Daniel García, who has replaced Harper as Academy Goalkeeping Coach up to Under-16 level.
Read more: https://t.co/tKE9WI9HwJ #NUFC pic.twitter.com/HAyNufVxy3
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 20, 2018
The majority of Newcastle fans were delighted with Harper’s appointment, with comments including “well deserved” and “welcome home.”
Nothing but Newcastle has rounded up some of the best tweets below:
This is superb news! Yes Harps!
— Pablo Blanco (@HowesTheBacon) August 21, 2018
Welcome BACK
— gazza_nufc (@howay51) August 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/kevymartins/status/1031595361834549255
Happy days a great man comes home 🙂
— Jimmy Kavanagh (@KavanaghJimmy) August 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/TBooth1981/status/1031611375402082304
Welcome home @steveharper37
— David A Hardy (@HardsworthNUFC) August 20, 2018
Congratulations Steve and best of luck to you ⚫⚪⚫⚪
— neil 💙💛 (@o_peel) August 20, 2018
OPINION
It is no wonder some of the Newcastle faithful are delighted at Steve Harper’s appointment – he has been a wonderful servant to the club over the years, and they will undoubtedly be hoping that he can pass on his invaluable experience on to the next generation. Even though he was not always first choice at the club, he established himself as a firm fan favourite, despite being pushed down the pecking order to the likes of Shay Given and Tim Krul. The club obviously still have the faith that he can succeed in this senior role, and there is no doubt that he will. However, with new signing Martin Dubravka the first choice keeper, the young talent in the Academy will face a tough battle to get near the first team at the moment. Nevertheless, that does not put a dark light on the impact Harper is likely to make in his new role, and Newcastle fans can enjoy his presence at the club for the forseeable future.
