Iain Stirling has found himself in hot water with Newcastle United fans after labelling the team 'a pony club' during Monday's Love Island.
Given that contestant Gemma Owen's dad is none other than football star Michael Owen, viewers have naturally come to expect a few references to the beautiful game on the ITV2 dating show this year, any fans of the Magpies who happened to watch the latest episode probably wouldn't have been expecting the scathing dig against the side.
The Love Island narrator, who played the Tyne Theatre in April, said "Luca's grabbed Gemma for a catch up. Gemma was telling me today that she once joined a pony club. Coincidently her dad Michael once joined a pony club...it's called Newcastle United."
Within seconds of Iain's scathing insult being uttered, social media was awash with retaliations to Iain's insult, with one NUFC fan firing back: "Iain Stirling, wind your neck in," with, another, being slightly less diplomatic tweeting: "f**k you fuck you iain stirling."
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A third reacted: "does iain stirling want a fight" while another wrote: "Iain Stirling... I'm going to find you mate!"
The thing that annoyed Newcastle fans most about Iain's quip was the fact that rather than being 'too good,' for Newcastle, Michael Owen didn't exactly delive4rs the goods during his four year stint on Tyneside. After signing for the Magpies in summer 2005, things went wrong for Michael and his new club when he broke a metatarsal bone in his foot, ruling him out for months.
The situation got even worse when Michael sustained a knee injury while playing for England in the 2006 World Cup within the first minute of a tie against Sweden. That injury led to him being out for nearly a year and led to a high profile case for compensation.
Gemma's dad record for Newcastle picked up slightly in early 2008, under Kevin Keegan, where he scored six goals in six games and finishing that season with 11 in total. After the following season started with Michael coming down with a bout of bumps, he scored four times, but that was nowhere near enough to stop Newcastle from being relegated.
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