The word ‘legend’ gets thrown about far too easily in today’s game but when it comes to Kieran Trippier’s impact at Newcastle United, he fully deserves to be remembered as such.
Trippier will line up for Newcastle at St James’ Park for one final time on Sunday as the former England international brings down the curtain on a successful four-and-a-half years on Tyneside.
The sign of success of any player when they leave a club is the mark they have left behind. Trippier leaves having helped inspire Newcastle’s rise from relegation fodder to trophy winners and a foundation in placefor the club to continue to try and compete at European football’s top table.
Trippier’s CV will read Carabao Cup winner, two cup finals and two Champions League qualifications but his impact on Newcastle goes far beyond that. It was his decision to leave La Liga champions Atletico Madrid for 19th-placed Newcastle that not only paved the way for more great signings to follow but changed the mindset of the players currently at the club.
The 35-year-old was Eddie Howe’s voice on the pitch, dictating games from right-back and coaching his team-mates through some sticky moments. Even as a substitute against Brighton a fortnight ago, he was offering advice to Lewis Miley from the touchline while warming up.
Trippier was a standard bearer and his departure will leave a bigger void than just replacing him on the pitch. Wor Flags are planning a huge pre-match display ahead of Sunday’s game against West Ham United – an honour Howe feels he is fully deserving of.
“I think Kieran is definitely deserving of the fans’ recognition,” Howe said. “His decision to come here in the first place should be celebrated. Everyone said it was financially motivated – but it wasn’t. Wanting to take that fight on was a big risk but he took it on and I’m so pleased he was rewarded.
“The cup final win – he was magnificent that day. Gigantic performance. And then to get the feeling of lifting the cup with Bruno [Guimaraes] and Jamaal [Lascelles].”
So ahead of his final time in black-and-white at St James’ Park, Chronicle Live has put together tributes from Howe, as well as Trippier’s Newcastle team-mates, about the impact he has had on the club.
The ‘powerful’ speech that changed everything
Trippier joined Newcastle at the peak of his powers. A league winner in Spain and a regular starter for England, Trippier was joining a dressing room that was battling to avoid relegation. But Howe remembers a speech in his first days at the club that struck a chord with his team-mates and instantly cemented him as a dressing room leader.
“I always go back to his first speech that he gave,” Howe explained. “So the training ground looked very different then when he first came to the football club. I remember Kieran delivering a speech of real leadership, real strength.
“I mean, you come into a new dressing room and he may have known some of the lads, but that feeling of your first day at a football club is still very, very difficult for a player. And we were in a relegation battle, as you know, and he stepped forward and delivered a speech that I was like, ‘Oof, that’s powerful. That’s positive.’
“That’s a player within the group now really sort of throwing down the gauntlet to everybody, of where we’re going to go and what we’ve got to do to be successful and what we’ve got to do to stay in the league.
“I remember leaving that meeting with a really positive impression of Kieran, of how much he’d grown from my first experiences with him, how much he had matured as a person. How much his experience had helped him at other clubs.
“He unfortunately missed quite a bit of that season through injury. But, we then saw the benefit of that when he returned to fitness the next season, and together with the other experienced players in the team, I think he sort of helped really lead that team through that season, and he hasn’t really changed from that period onwards. I think he’s still got that desire to be successful, even this week that desire to win. And I think that speaks volumes for him.”
‘A role model’
To this day, Trippier remains a role model to the club’s younger players. Lewis Hall, a left-back by trade, started at right-back against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Trippier was the first team-mate to offer the 21-year-old some advice about playing the role.
“He’s going to be a massive miss,” Hall told Chronicle Live. He’s obviously an incredible player and an incredible person. The way he helps everyone off the pitch is unbelievable.
“Today, me playing in a different position in our training this week he’s given me advice, telling me different things to do and things like that. He’s been a great role model for me in learning the position of left-back. He’s an incredible person.”
The leaders’ leader
The best way to gauge Trippier’s legacy is his standing among his team-mates and it says a lot two of the club’s biggest leaders – club captain Bruno Guimaraes and local hero, Dan Burn – have paid tribute to the impact he has had on them.
“He was one of the leaders of this project four-and-a-half years ago and I have learned so much with him, what a guy,” Guimaraes told Newcastle’s matchday programme. “He’s a legend for everyone here, I respect him a lot.
“The fans will judge him as a player and his many many important games, but I want to say what a guy he is as a person. I always tried to learn at the beginning, listening to what he was saying to the team. I learned from his words and his attitude on the pitch as well. He always gives 100% for the club, for his team-mates. I wish him all the best and it has been a pleasure to play alongside him.”
Burn added: “Honestly, I don’t think anything that’s happened in the last four years would have happened if Tripps hadn’t been here. When the takeover happened, there was a lot of talk about players coming in, but until Tripps came and took that risk – and let’s be honest it was a risk, he was playing for Atletico Madrid and winning La Liga – it would have taken someone to make that move. After that, everything fell in place.
“First of all, how good he is as a player. Probably one of the best right-backs this country has ever produced. He’ll be a huge miss as a player but also a person in the training group.
“He’s a huge influence in the training ground, always keeping people smiling and laughing and joking. A top player but an even better person, and I’m very thankful we crossed paths when we did.”
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