Not many academy graduates have set up a £40m signing on their professional debut, but Tom Allan has.
It was Allan, after all, whose smart cross picked out Joelinton for Newcastle United's final goal in a 4-1 win against Rochdale in a FA Cup third-round replay back in 2020. It seems a lifetime ago now, but club staff hoped that goal would help lift a weight off Joelinton's shoulders after the struggling number nine had previously been jeered by a section of his own supporters in the reverse fixture.
Was it any wonder, then, that Steve Bruce made a point of taking Allan aside to personally thank him for his contribution from the bench? As strange as it sounds, it was fitting that victory at St James' Park proved Allan's one and only outing for the first team. How could it get any better for a Geordie whose proud mother, Karen, was in tears in the crowd that night.
