St James' Park reverberated with excitement and anticipation as Newcastle United outplayed, outthought and outclassed Manchester United. Demba Ba had fired the Magpies ahead with an acrobatic finish just after the half-hour mark and the lead was double minutes into the second-half with a stunning free-kick from French magician Yohan Cabaye.
The icing on the cake came with the full-time whistle approaching when a long punt forward was comically diverted into his own net by visitors defender Phil Jones. The Gallowgate faithful roared their approval, all four corners of the Magpies famous old home rocked as Alan Pardew’s side continued their unlikely push for a European spot.
High in the stands, watching on in awe, sat a player used to plying his trade in the eighth tier of English football and scoring goals at the more modest homes of Isthmian League rivals Whitehawk, Worthing and Eastbourne Town. For 23-year-old Bognor Regis Town striker Jason Prior, this was the beginning of one of the most surreal periods of his football career.
“I was doing well at Bognor Regis but I was getting itchy feet because no Football League clubs wanted me,” he told Chronicle Live. “They agreed a deal with Eastleigh, who were backed by Stuart Donald, and that deal was going through.
“Then I was sat in my car one morning when I got a call from the Bognor manager and he said ‘I hope you’re sitting down, Newcastle want you in on trial for two weeks’. I spoke to my agent to make sure it was legitimate, he said it was, so we drove up to the North East in time for the game against Manchester United.
“He was also Ryan Taylor’s agent, so we ended up going out with him, Rob Elliot, Demba Ba and a few others for Japanese food after the game. They talk about the famous Newcastle atmosphere and that was one thing that hit me at the stadium and around the city, it’s like a religion up there.”
Cedwyn Scott did not need to be made aware of the atmosphere on Tyneside when his big chance arrived. The young striker, once of Berwick Rangers and Dunston UTS, was banging in goals with unbelievable regularity on the other side of the Tyne with Ebac Northern League club Hebburn Town.
A stunning four-goal blast at Ashington in November 2020 took the striker’s tally for the season to 21 as clubs across the Football League sat up and took notice - but the first approach came from closer to home. He explained: “The approach was to the club because I came into training after the four goals at Ashington and they sat me down in the clubhouse with my dad for a meeting.
“The chairman, the owners, manager and director of football wanted me on a contract and told me Newcastle wanted me to go on trial. They asked my opinion, I said it was surreal, but I had absolutely nothing to lose, I couldn’t let the opportunity pass.”
Whitley Bay’s prolific teenage Lee Kerr was not used to letting opportunities pass. The 19-year-old had forged a fearsome reputation in the Northern League and was making some major non-league clubs sit up and take notice of his undoubted ability in front of goal.
Yet it wasn't a club from the North East’s vibrant non-league scene that made a move for his services during the early months of 2007, it was the biggest club in the region. He explained: “Ian Chandler (Whitley Bay manager) got me a trial at Stockport and I went down there for a week.
“During that week, Chan rang me to to say Newcastle wanted to have a look at me to go in for a three-day trial. My head was all over the place if I am honest, I didn’t know what was going on. Stockport wanted to take me on and progress it further but it was a dream to go to Newcastle. I couldn’t let that go by really.”
If Newcastle had made an impression on Jason Prior, Jason Prior was about to make a serious impression on Newcastle. Less than 24 hours after he witnessed the Magpies take apart the reigning Premier League champions, the non-league striker plundered his way to a hat-trick in a training ground game against a side made up of first-team players that had not featured against Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.
Facing a side containing Hatem Ben Arfa, Gabriel Obertan and Dan Gosling, the Bognor Regis striker was the star of the show and seriously grabbed the attention of the opposition goalkeeper. “I was fortunate to score a hat-trick in that game and Alan Pardew said he hadn’t seen a first day of training like it,” recalls Prior.
“The adrenaline just surged through me but you could see the levels that were expected of me, even though I’d done fairly well in the game. I was stood in the changing rooms after the game and Rob Elliot came over and asked where I had played, if I’d been at a Football League club and if I was an out-and-out striker.
“I answered and asked him what position he played. He said ‘Are you joking? I’m the goalkeeper you’ve just scored a hat-trick against!”
Cedwyn Scott’s introduction to life with the Magpies also provided an immediate indication of the levels he would have to meet if his stay with United was to be extended beyond the four-week opportunity he had earned. With strict Covid protocols in action, the Hebburn striker trained with the club’s U-23s players and was given a warm welcome by Magpies youngsters.
“When go into higher standard and environment, you can feel like an imposter,” he revealed. “You are asking yourself questions every minute. “Do I belong here? Am I out of place? Will I really fit in?
“But then you realise they are just human beings, they are just normal people, albeit lads that are very skilled and very talented. I got used to it, the players were great with me and they really helped me settle into training and into the dressing room.”
For Scott, one player stood out, just as he is hoping to stand out in front of current first-team manager Eddie Howe during pre-season. “Elliot Anderson was training with the first-team but he played for the U-23’s and you could just see what he had so clearly.
“The way he took the ball, he just doesn’t have nervous energy, he’s so comfortable on the ball and, most of of all, he has a wise head on young shoulders. He has a big future.”
Lee Kerr’s first moments on United’s training ground came working alongside some of European football’s biggest names, rather than the Magpies stars of the future. “I was in with the first-team at first and then went with the reserves because the first-team had a UEFA Cup tie that week."
“Solano, Owen, Milner, Martins, Butt, they were all there at the time, so the standard was so high. I scored five past Srnicek in my first training session and I could see him looking at me, staring at me, that was intense. I told my Dad and he just laughed about it.
“The next few sessions were intense and going from Whitley Bay, which I thought was intense, it was nothing like that and I had to adjust and get up to speed mentally and physically. But I just play football, I don’t think who I am up against, I just play, no matter how surreal it may have been.”
Unlike Kerr, Jason Prior’s future would be decided after an appearance for the Magpies' second string. Lining up alongside the likes of Sammy Ameobi, Dan Gosling and Haris Vuckic, the striker scored United’s third and final goal in a 3-1 win against their Wigan Athletic counterparts on a windy night at Darsley Park.
His memories of the game, and his big moment in front of goal, remain vivid. “The players were great with me ahead of the game because I think they could see I had nerves.
“This was an audition, but they were good as gold with me and you could sense they were a tight bunch. I didn’t know their patterns of play, what runs to make and when. It was tough.
“But I got my goal and I remember getting a pass from Gosling and trying to take a shot with the instep of my right foot to send it across goal. I don’t know if it bobbled but it ended up going inside the near post and into the top corner so it probably looked a better finish that it actually was!”
For Kerr, the contrasts between life in the Northern League and testing his fortunes at Newcastle could not have been more extreme as he walked out in black and white for the first time. The teenager had gone from partnering part-time players at Hillheads to walking out alongside £10million former Deportivo La Coruna striker Albert Luque in a reserve team fixture against Bolton Wanderers.
Not content with partnering a former La Liga star, Kerr would link up with a future £35million frontman in the second-half when Andy Carroll replaced the misfiring Spaniard at half-time. There were opportunities for Kerr to do what he did on a regular basis in the Northern League - but the deadlock remained unbroken throughout a low-key 90 minutes at Kingston Park.
“It was only meant to be a three-day trial with the first-team but [Glenn] Roeder liked what he was seeing so I played in a game against Bolton. I got permission from Whitley Bay so I ended up playing alongside someone that cost £10million. It made me think I could do it because he didn’t stand out, he didn’t look anything special.
“Andy Carroll came on, he was only young, but you could see what he had and the difference in mentality between him and Luque. You could see he was destined to be a professional footballer.”
Scott’s first opportunity to shine came in a dramatic U-23 fixture against Leeds United. The Whites has raced into a three-goal lead by the time a half-hour had passed - but an own goal and regular strikes from Yannick Toure, Elliot Anderson and Stan Flaherty helped the Magpies battle back to take the points.
Scott would make two more appearances but ultimately had not done enough to earn himself a deal and returned to Hebburn for a short period before being granted what would be an ultimately successful trial at League Two Carlisle United. He understood the reasons behind United’s decision and believes his time amongst the Premier League hopefuls played a big role in his goal-laden spell at Gateshead and a subsequent move to Notts County this summer.
“I had a meeting with Chris Hogg and Peter Ramage and they were complimentary about me as a person, about my personality and about my footballing ability. They said they liked me, and if I was a year younger we would be having a different conversation and that was fine with me.
“I got that, I was 23, I would have had one season to step up from Hebburn to the Premier League squad and that’s a bit extreme. But it played a part in where I am now, it was a snowball.
“Those four weeks gave me a bit of belief and reinstalled that belief I could kick on. It got my fitness levels up before I went to Carlisle, I did well there, scored in reserve games and did well in training.
“Gateshead came about and everyone knows how well the season went and it’s let me kick on again and move to a club like Notts County. It was a big part.”
The biggest moments of Lee Kerr’s career were yet to come. His disappointment at discovering United would not be taking a chance on him was all too obvious but he went on to enjoy something no other Magpies player would achieve.
Kerr was part of Whitley Bay’s three consecutive FA Vase Final wins between 2009 and 2011 and the former United trialist scored in all three Wembley dates. That provided perspective for his letdown by the club he has supported throughout his life.
“Glenn Roeder said he was happy with what I had done but said he didn’t think I was ready to be in the first team squad. He said I needed to work my way through and I would only be in the reserves, which I would have accepted because it seemed the right way to do it.
“I was coming in from non-league and I would have taken that, but he said he wouldn’t offer anything at the moment. I went on to play non-league for years, I wore the number nine at Newcastle and I played a game for the club. That made me more than happy, I would have loved more, but if I’d signed I wouldn’t have won and scored at Wembley three times.”
Prior would also meet disappointment as his time with United came to an unsuccessful end two weeks after watching Alan Pardew’s men dismantle Manchester United on that memorable night at St James Park. An injury suffered in training and the upcoming January transfer deadline day both played a part in his trial coming to an early conclusion - but not before an unexpected brush with Newcastle’s latest number nine hero.
The current Havant and Waterlooville striker said: “Pardew said I had done well but I needed a decision because the end of January was approaching. He said I needed to play in another reserve game, that was going to be Man United away but I still wasn’t fit and I wanted to try my luck elsewhere because there was interest.
“As I walked out I walked past Papiss Cisse and he was just completing his medical and was about to sign. Pardew said he wanted someone that could make an immediate impact and he got that with him.
“I had a good career, although I broke my leg at AFC Wimbledon so my Football League experience wasn’t what I wanted it to be but I have still scored a lot of goals in non-league. I’ll never forget that short time with Newcastle.”
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