Featured Image Credit: Getty / Northumbria Police
Topics: Newcastle United, Football
Ryan Smart
A former Newcastle United player was once banned from every football ground in the country before a ruling made against him was overturned.
Andy Ferrell came through the youth academy at St James' Park, and was handed his first professional contract by Sir Bobby Robson back in December 2002.
A midfielder by trade, Ferrell was a prolific goalscorer at youth level but never broke into the senior team. He was released in the summer of 2004, and subsequently signed by Championship side Watford.
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Ferrell experienced his first taste of senior football at the Hornets and scored his first goal in a League Cup tie, but left the club upon the expiry of his 12-month contract in 2005.
He subsequently forged a career in the lower leagues, starting by playing a key role in Hereford United's promotion from the Conference to League Two via the play-offs in 2006.
He would go on to have spells at York City, Kidderminster Harriers and Gateshead before closing out his career with a series of local sides in and around the North East. Ferrell retired in 2016.
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He subsequently had brief spells in coaching, but in May 2023, he was banned from every stadium in the United Kingdom.
The then 39-year-old Ferrell, along with three other Newcastle fans, were convicted of public order offences following match day violence outside St James' Park.
It had been found that the fans had clashed with Chelsea supporters outside a pub in Newcastle prior to a Premier League fixture between the two sides in November 2022.
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However, Ferrell and another fan, Liam Webster, had their bans revoked in May 2023 after a judge found that violence involving the two men had no relation to football - though unspecified sections of the public order offence were kept in place.
Ben Nolan KC said: "There is no evidence. Neither of these gentlemen were heard to make football slogans or abuse."
In 2013, Ferrell was sentenced to four years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs. He served two years of his sentence before being released.
Upon being appointed as manager of Bedlington Terriers in 2015, he told The Chronicle: "I'm not a criminal, I'm just a normal lad. I got caught up in that and now it's something I have got to live with.
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"I did throw everything away, but I'm not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself. I have made a mistake, there's no-one else to blame, but I want to get my life back on track. Until the day I die, Newcastle United and football will be my life."