HAVING overseen the return of Alan Shearer’s statue to outside St James’ Park, Newcastle United’s owners are open to the idea of erecting more tributes to former greats in an attempt to strengthen the bond between the club and its fans.

Shearer’s statue was controversially moved to a site on Barrack Road after a dispute between the club’s all-time leading goalscorer and former owner Mike Ashley, with the St James’ Park bar also being renamed from ‘Shearer’s’ to ‘Number Nine’.

Both of those decisions have been reversed since Amanda Staveley’s Saudi Arabia-backed consortium completed their takeover of the club last autumn, with Shearer’s bronze being moved back to St James’ Park to accompany those of Sir Bobby Robson and Jackie Milburn.

Newcastle’s chief executive officer, Darren Eales, is partially responsible for supporter engagement, and sees the creation of a bond between the great players of the past and the present as a key means of strengthening fan involvement.

“With the Alan Shearer and Sir Bobby statues, it doesn't matter what time of day - and what I love - people are out there taking photos,” said Eales. “And that's not just on a match day, it is fans that have come to visit Newcastle.

“Newcastle fans may not have seen a game in years, but they want to have their picture with Alan's statue or Sir Bobby Robson. So, it is thinking about those and how we can gain more touch points and more connections between supporters. Any good ideas I'm up for.”

The new Newcastle hierarchy have already held meetings with Newcastle United supporters’ groups, and are keen to increase the fans’ involvement in a variety of different aspects of the club’s running.

While Ashley was in charge, it felt like there was an impenetrable barrier between the ownership group and the fans, but there is a clear desire to adopt a more collaborative approach under the current regime.

“Not to talk specifics, but hats off to the ownership with what they did when they came in,” added Eales. “From my perspective, as we think for the future, it is about fan engagement.

“We had a meeting in November with supporters’ groups, but it is about opening that dialogue and being open to ideas. Anything that excites and galvanises our fanbase, I'm well up for.

“It would be crazy not to, so for me, it is about how can we be proactive to things that bring the connection back?”