Newcastle United's legendary super sub Alex Mathie acknowledges the intense public scrutiny faced by Andy Cole during his peak years on Tyneside was always destined to exact a heavy price on the Toon icon.
Cole revealed in later years that he resorted to staying indoors to escape devoted supporters seeking autographs and photographs, while a night out in Newcastle proved virtually impossible as fans attempted to approach the former No 9. Cole ultimately departed United for Manchester United in a £7million transfer, thereby concluding his time in the city some have frequently described as the Goldfish Bowl.
Mathie on Cole's struggles
Mathie observed from the inside as the celebrated Newcastle Entertainers squad regularly enjoyed evenings out together on the Quayside and the Bigg Market. Yet on certain occasions, Cole was notably absent because the attention became overwhelming, ultimately contributing to his Newcastle departure.
Mathie told Chronicle Live: "I think it was hard for Andy. You'd go out with him and Lee Clark. And people would emerge from any corner, and start singing: 'He gets the ball and scores a goal, Andy, Andy Cole.'"
"Now that's nice, but when you remember he was a young, young lad finding his way. He got in constantly and it must have been terrible for him because he couldn't relax or have a drink or anything."
"At the end of the day, Andy was a quiet lad and it was hard for him to take it all in at that time. It was attention 24/7 but he managed it well and what a Newcastle career he had?"
Keegan's team bonding
It is hard to imagine any player being subjected to such public scrutiny nowadays, with player safety officers commonplace and current protocols in place. Yet Mathie recalled that back in those days, a markedly different and more carefree era in many respects, Kevin Keegan would actively encourage his squad to head out together on the Toon — even laying on crates of beer for the journey home after significant victories.
Mathie said: "We'd have a beer after games, the team bus would drop us at the Quayside at Julie's Night Club after we'd stop at Wetherby to get fish and chips on the way!"
"If we won a game in London, Keegan would buy us crates of beer and wine and bring it on the bus. It is amazing to look back and it is great."
Life after Cole
Following Cole's contentious sale to Old Trafford, many questioned who would step in as his immediate successor. As Keegan explained to supporters on the steps of the Milburn Stand, he required the freedom to do business in order to bring in fresh faces - though that move did not materialise until later in 1995, when Les Ferdinand was recruited from Queens Park Rangers.
Keegan still had Mathie and Paul Kitson at his disposal, but it was the former Derby County man who was handed the opportunity to fill Cole's boots, with the Scottish forward also departing for Ipswich Town.
Mathie said: "They'd signed Kitto (Paul Kitson) who was a bit of the golden boy at Derby County and he came in for a big fee, £1.7million. He was always going to get that chance ahead of me because of that."
"Kitto was a good player and it was a bit disappointing after Andy Cole left because it did not open up a chance for me. But overall I can't knock my time at Newcastle, I loved it. Could I have done better? Probably. Could I have looked after myself better? Probably."
"But at that time, the lifestyle was football, as I say, we'd have fish and chips on the team bus and crates of lager would be getting slid down the aisle too."
Mathie's gratitude to Keegan
Despite departing after just a couple of seasons, Mathie insists he will forever remain indebted to Keegan and his No 2 Terry McDermott. Mathie, now 55, continued: "I had no issues with Keegan and Terry McDermott."
"They helped my career and took me from Morton to the Premier League and set me up to play for Ipswich and made me the player I was. They really worked with me to help me."
"When Newcastle played Ipswich down at Portman Road in 1995, Keegan pulled me as I came off the pitch and in the tunnel he said: 'I sold you too cheaply didn't I?'."
"When I went to Ipswich, George Burley built his team around me and worked to my strengths, he played balls in from behind for me. I'd hate to play in the modern game, you wouldn't get that."
"Modern strikers don't see the ball as much. You see the ball going the other way right back to the keeper. I couldn't play the modern game, I was more off the cuff."
"I wasn't the complete player but I made a career of it, I had time at Newcastle, Celtic, Ipswich, Preston and Dundee United. There were better players than me that have never made it but I was prepared to work hard."
Mathie reckons the "family unit" Keegan cultivated in the 1990s bears similarities to what Eddie Howe and now Matthias Jaissle foster at Newcastle today - albeit without the beers and chippy runs!
Mathie said: "Walking into the dressing room at the first time I was accepted straight away. It was a family club and Keegan had set it up that way. To be fair I was not unaccustomed to being alongside big names, I had been at Celtic. I had Charlie Nicholas, Peter Grant, Tommy Burns and Jackie Dziekanowski, all huge names in Scotland."
"It wasn't a problem at Newcastle they all welcomed. At that time they just wanted to win games for those supporters. That's what Keegan wanted. We all went out on the town together and had meals and stuff. Keegan encouraged that. He wanted us to do it."
"It's different now of course, you can't go out like that but the team bus would drop us off at Julie's Nightclub on the Quayside. You wouldn't get away with it now but for us we were built on team spirit."
