A YEAR before Newcastle United last embarked on a season outside of the Premier League, there was a promising, young defender who had fulfilled a childhood dream of signing youth terms with his hometown club.

Throughout Paul Dummett’s time at Kenton School, he had been part of the club’s academy during the Premier League years, so it hurt him as a 17-year-old supporter when he had to watch his beloved Newcastle slip out of the top-flight after losing at Aston Villa on the final day in 2009.

Not even Alan Shearer, in temporary charge that afternoon at Villa Park, could prevent the slide and Dummett remembered thinking that Sunday afternoon he would never like to endure that as a footballer. Seven years later, with his days at school firmly behind him, he did suffer that fate.

He had already had one close shave a year earlier when he got to celebrate – or at least take a degree of satisfaction from – staying up when a two-point cushion over Hull City proved crucial and sufficient. He wasn’t fortunate enough to get away with it a second time when a goalless draw at, ironically, Villa Park, followed by a Sunderland victory over Everton, did the damage.

As things have turned out, relegation from the Premier League four months ago looks like a blessing in disguise.

Rafael Benitez’s decision to stay is already bringing its rewards having been backed by Mike Ashley’s willingness to invest in the squad too.

In a sign of how things have changed in such a short space of time at St James’ Park, Dummett finds himself as one of Newcastle’s longest serving players aged 23 and with just 81 appearances under his belt; only Vurnon Anita, Yoan Gouffran and Cheick Tiote can claim to have been in and around the first team picture for longer.

“I can’t remember such a positive vibe while I have been around the squad,” said Dummett, ahead of the visit of Wolves today which could see Newcastle claim top spot in the Championship.

“While we have been in the Premier League, obviously there have been a lot of lows in recent years, maybe the last time there was a vibe anywhere near this was when we last went up from the Championship.

“I wasn’t with the first team then, and since I have been around there has certainly not been anything like there is now with the fans and the club connecting and coming together.”

Dummett has been part of the Newcastle set-up since the age of eight after he was spotted playing for Red House Farm Juniors; also the producers of lower league professionals such as Mark Doninger, Ross Anderson, Clark Keltie, Andy Ferrell and Chris Armstrong.

Last season was painful for the young defender, who then narrowly missed the cut for Wales’ Euro 2016 squad. He said: “It hurt. The whole city lives and breathes football, so it was a positive when the manager decided to stay and we have had to try to forget about relegation and the negatives.

“We are all building on the manager staying now and you can feel the vibe around the place because we are winning games, even if it is in the Championship. We all want to do well and we need to carry that on.

“When we learned Rafa was staying I think I was with the Wales squad at the time, and a lot of the lads there couldn’t believe he had stayed on.

“I was saying to them that it shows what a club Newcastle is, and the ambition that the owner (Mike Ashley) and Lee Charnley (managing director) must have shown to the manager to convince him to stay. That’s why he stayed as well as the fans, he obviously wanted to take the club back to the Premier League.

“If you don’t know if the manager will stay or go then it brings uncertainty, with him committing it was a massive boost. No matter how old you are, you will learn from this manager. Even if you are 33 you will learn under this manager because he has been at the best clubs in the world.”

Dummett could easily have been one of those to have felt the full force of relegation, even if he didn’t want to. There has been interest in him from Premier League clubs over the last 18 months and Benitez was keen to put his own stamp on a squad scarred by a few difficult seasons amid transfer and recruitment mistakes.

Rather than be offloaded, however, there has since been talk of a new long-term contract, even though Achraf Lazaar has arrived to give Benitez an alternative option at left-back.

Dummett said: “The manager spoke to all of us and said he wanted a squad where he would have two or three players for every position. He wanted to be in a position where he could change the team for whatever game and not necessarily because they were being dropped, just to keep people fresh. He wanted enough players to be able to do that.

“I have played consecutively under most managers since I started to play so it’s great to be in the team under this man too. He told me he wanted to bring in another left-back, he wanted more competition and he has done that.

“I have a fight on my hands but there has been a few come and go and I am still here. It is the club I supported as a boy, it is what I dreamed of as a boy so it’s great to be still here. I am on about 70 odd league appearances. I have to work hard and stay in the team.”

After losing two games in a row to start life back in the Championship, a summer of investment in the squad to the tune of just over £50m looks to be reaping the rewards. Early teething problems seem to have disappeared and a winning streak was extended to six matches courtesy of a dominant 6-0 victory at Queens Park Rangers in midweek.

That was also the third away victory in a row, without conceding, and Newcastle look like a team which will take some stopping this season – something Rangers boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink admitted immediately after the whistle at Loftus Road.

Dummett said: “The manager has drilled into us that we are good team, we are a good squad. We knew we had to improve on our poor away record. It can’t just be on our home form that we go up, we had to improve our away form too.

“Maybe we weren’t used to how quickly the games would come round initially because in the Premier League you don’t play as many midweek games, except for the cup matches.

“With this squad we have though it means we can rotate it whenever the manager wants and that is what we have to be prepared for with the games we have coming up. We have players and quality so we should be alright.”

After years of depression on Tyneside during seasons of struggle it seems everyone connected with Newcastle is ready to enjoy the ride – even if it is a division the club would rather not be in.

“Winning games for any team makes the training ground a better place to be, no matter what league it is,” said Dummett, who has had spells with Gateshead and St Mirren on loan. “If you are losing games in the Premier League, the Championship, League Two, the Conference, then it is never going to be a nice place.

“In the Premier League it wasn’t a nice place when we were losing like we were. You have to try to pick players up and it is hard. This season has started off well and we have to try to ensure the momentum continues and the team spirit continues to grow.

“The manager has brought in a number of players because he knows – due to the number of clubs and players he has been involved with – what it takes to play a couple of games a week. He has done that at the highest level, the Champions League, and you play just as many matches if you do well.

“He has brought Premier League players here, as well as top level Championship players, so if we can drive for promotion and achieve it then we have players good enough to play at that level too. We just have make the most of it and enjoy the experience and achieve our goals.”