Peter Beardsley

Despite being born and bred in Newcastle, Peter Beardsley's career proper actually started at Carlisle after his home-town club released him as a teenager. He joined Canadian side Vancouver Whitecaps in 1982, and had a short spell at Manchester United before eventually finding his way back to Newcastle in 1983. Beardsley became a belated hero with the Toon faithful when his partnership with Kevin Keegan helped the Magpies win promotion back to the First Division in his first season.

Beardsley's career flourished back on Tyneside, to the extent that Liverpool were forced to pay a British record £1.9million to sign him in 1987. He won two League titles at Anfield before crossing Stanley Park to join fierce rivals Everton in 1991 – a move for which Reds fans blamed their board rather than the player himself.

Two years later, Beardsley made an emotional return to Newcastle for what would be his third and final spell at St James' Park, a four-year stint in which he came within a whisker of captaining the side to the 1995-96 Premier League title, only for them to be pipped at the post by Manchester United. After leaving Newcastle in 1997, Beardsley led a nomadic existence, playing for five different clubs in the space of just two seasons, before finally hanging up his boots in 1999.

Beardsley won 59 caps for England over the course of a decade, appearing at both the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals and Euro 88. He formed an impressive strike partnership with Gary Lineker, and was part of the team that came so close to glory at Italia 90. He played his last match for England in 1996 after narrowly missing out on a place in the squad for the European Championship finals.