‘It wasn’t Kenny Dalglish’s decision to sell me – leaving your boyhood club is a big call and I should have thought it through, but I was young and naive’: Newcastle academy graduate regrets 1997 transfer

Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest, final score 5-0 to Newcastle United. Premier League. St James' Park. Pictured after the match, Kenny Dalglish, Newcastle United manager, 11th May 1997. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Simon Greener/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish (Image credit: Getty Images)

Newcastle United welcomed Kenny Dalglish to St. James' Park in January 1997, with the Scotsman replacing the 'King' Kevin Keegan.

But while Dalglish helped Newcastle finish second in the Premier League at the end of the 1996/97 season, he was forced into selling Peter Beardsley, Lee Clark, Les Ferdinand and David Ginola - players who had all been important figures for the Magpies under Dalglish.

The reason, it later transpired, is because owners John Hall and Freddy Shepherd were looking to float the club on the stock exchange, and believed selling players would help the club's financial position become stronger.

Newcastle sell wave of stars under Kenny Dalglish

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - JULY 13: Newcastle United player Robbie Elliott pictured in his Umbro home shirt prior to the 1991/92 season at St James' Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Danny Brannigan/Hulton Archive)

Robbie Elliott left Newcastle in 1997 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Academy graduate and boyhood Newcastle fan Robbie Elliott also left in the summer of 1997, despite having played 29 times in the Premier League during the 1996/97 season.

Establishing himself at left-back upon Dalglish's arrival at the club, Elliott also scored seven goals that term, but was soon heading towards the exit door when a £2.5m bid was accepted from Bolton Wanderers in the second tier. It's a move he later regrets agreeing to, as he clarifies what happened.

16 Dec 2000: Robbie Elliott of Bolton Wanderers in action during the Nationwide League Division One match against Wimbledon played at Selhurst Park, in London. Bolton Wanderers won the match 1-0. \ Photo taken by Steve Bardens \ Mandatory Credit: AllsportUK /Allsport Newcastle

Elliott playing for Bolton (Image credit: Getty Images)

"It wasn’t Kenny’s decision to sell me," Elliott exclusively reveals to FourFourTwo. "The limited company in charge of Newcastle at the time chose to sell me, Lee Clark and Les Ferdinand.

"I loved playing under Kenny and was looking forward to another season with him when Bolton’s offer came in. I was hurt that it was accepted and, being young and naive, I signed for Wanderers.

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"Don’t get me wrong, I loved my time at Bolton, but leaving your boyhood club is a big call and I should have calmed down and thought it through."

Four years after leaving Newcastle, though, Elliott had returned, with his 2001 free transfer helping him re-live the dream of playing at St. James' Park.

"I lived every Geordie’s dream," Elliott adds. "It’s funny how it became normal to me, spending my days at this magnificent club, surrounded by world-class footballers I idolised – Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand, Peter Beardsley. But, in hindsight, it was crazy. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about those times."

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.