It was a family photograph with a difference at St James' Park. Three generations of Newcastle United's goalkeeping union were stood arm in arm in front of the Gallowgate End.
Newcastle had just defeated Arsenal 2-0 in the Magpies' final home game of the campaign and head of goalkeeping Simon Smith, his successor Adam Bartlett and shot-stoppers Martin Dubravka, Karl Darlow and Mark Gillespie lined up for one final picture together on the lap of honour. Dubravka and Darlow's babies were even in place for a photograph fittingly titled: 'Newcastle United goalkeepers past, present and future'.
After the photo was taken, Smith slipped away to make his way towards the packed Gallowgate to applaud the supporters. It was the first and last time Smith ever did so and that emotional moment ended up proving a farewell of sorts last May. Deep down, the 60-year-old knew: 'I've had my time'.
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"Without a shadow of a doubt," he told ChronicleLive. "I felt I was done if I'm being honest.
"I was there when Sir Bobby was there and we played Wolves in the last game of the season and so many had left after the game, which was the worst feeling ever. The Arsenal game was nearly the best ever walking around. The reaction of the fans was unbelievable.
"That's why I don't have any regrets because I actually said my goodbyes to that part of my career. I haven't retired. It was just like, 'This is the end of an era. I worked with some great people and great goalies, and the fans were unbelievable, but this is my time to go on and do something else.'"
That 'something else' has seen Smith help goalkeepers of all levels and ages around the world with his own website and the Geordie is also doing some consultancy work with the FA to support young coaches coming through. It goes without saying that they are in safe hands.
After all, to even try and put Smith's service to Newcastle into words is difficult. There were two spells, three owners, seven permanent managers, more than 500 Premier League games on the bench and 45 European fixtures to boot over the course of 12 years. In that time, Smith helped Shay Given, Martin Dubravka, Steve Harper, Karl Darlow and Rob Elliot hit new heights - and these shot-stoppers would be the first to say that.
It was rather telling that Smith was valued by so many managers from so many different backgrounds. Rafa Benitez even personally phoned the goalkeeping expert when he decided to leave Newcastle, spending an hour explaining his decision, while Sir Bobby Robson became a trusted friend after he was unceremoniously sacked by the club.
Smith clearly proved his worth under a host of bosses, but there were never any guarantees when a new man came in. You only had to look at the uncertainty surrounding who would replace Steve Bruce in 2021 to realise that.
"People were telling me that it was going to be Unai Emery," Smith remembered. "I knew for a fact that Unai Emery brought [goalkeeping coach] Javi Garcia with him all the time because I have spoken to him. I'm then basically sitting at home waiting to be sacked. That's the reality of it.
"Then I'm thinking, 'Actually, my title is head of goalkeeping. Maybe I could go back to the academy to keep my job at Newcastle United? Is that what I really want to do?' You go through all those ridiculous thoughts and, all of a sudden, it's not Unai Emery. It's Eddie Howe. Oh, right. OK. Let's see what happens there. Is he going to bring his own goalkeeping coach?"
Howe kept faith with Smith, going on to call his former colleague a 'wonderful coach' as well as a 'great guy', but even the backing of a new manager brings with it its own questions for a head of goalkeeping. Would Smith still sit on the same seat on the bus? Would he keep his place in the dugout? Would he pass on details of substitutions to the fourth official as he always did? Did the new manager want three goalkeepers to travel to away games or two?
That is before you even address the actual performance side and Smith admitted that 'you don't realise until you step right away how much pressure there is on you' in what is an intense, results-driven business. As much as Smith loved his role, the former Gateshead shot-stopper was the first to recognise it was 'actually quite stressful'.
Smith ultimately decided to step down at the end of last season, delivering the news to Howe in his office, before speaking to the people he felt he 'needed to', such as Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow. There was to be no grand farewell at the training ground, but Smith's legacy lives on with his successor, Bartlett, who assisted his former colleague last season before taking over as head of goalkeeping following his departure.
"The relationship that we had was excellent," he said. "It really was. Adam coming and taking over from me was something else that meant I left happy because it was like one of mine was going to carry on.
"Adam is somebody you listened to and thought, 'He sounds like I do, he's saying the same thing or I was just about to say something and he said it'. I see him on the bench there and there's a bit of me that's fatherly proud. I know the work that the goalies are getting is going to be great so I'm quite happy with that. Let him take the responsibility!
"I saw that he was doing the subs like I used to a couple of weeks back and I thought, 'Good lad. He's doing it right.' He's Newcastle United through and through and I know the experience he's having and how he's going to be feeling. When you're a fan as well as working there, it makes it even more special."
It is all the more special for Smith when, remarkably, the 60-year-old coached Bartlett during his first spell at Newcastle when the goalkeeper was a youngster on the club's books. Bartlett was even on standby for a Champions League tie against Inter Milan in 2003.
The mere mention of that competition takes Smith back to one of his favourite eras and the Geordie is 'delighted' by the prospect of those nights potentially returning to St James' one day. It could happen sooner than anyone imagined.
Newcastle are currently in fifth place, just two points behind Spurs, having played two games less than Antonio Conte's splintering side, and a strong finish to the campaign could see Howe's team return to Europe's top table. That is a prospect that has supporters excited and Smith certainly knows just what it is like to 'take the whole of Newcastle with you' to some of the most iconic stadiums in the world.
"Coming from playing for Gateshead to, all of a sudden, being faced with the standard of the Champions League, it was like a dream come true," he said. "I was running into people on the pitch and seeing people who have been heroes of mine on a level playing field.
"I remember we played Schalke [in a friendly] and their goalkeeping coach was Harald Schumacher. I looked at him and thought, 'Oh my goodness. I'm not playing but I'm on the same pitch as these people.'"
As well as preparing his goalkeepers for those occasions, it would sometimes fall to Smith and his colleagues to sneak into the stadium and watch the opposition train on Sir Bobby's behalf. This was the lesser seen side of an elite manager as well as larger than life personality.
It said it all that Smith still referred to Sir Bobby as 'boss' even after they stopped working together. As Smith put it, Sir Bobby had an 'aura about him' and the 60-year-old felt it was an 'honour to go on that little journey with him'.
"I remember one day we got beat," he added. "I think it was Blackburn away. We didn't play very well and we crossed the Tyne Bridge on the bus.
"Sir Bobby said, 'Look down there at the thousands of people on the Quayside. We have let them down today. We can't do that again.' He really meant it.
"That was the first time that it really brought it home. That really brought home that we were representing Newcastle - wherever we went in the world."
For more information on Simon Smith Goalkeeping, please visit https://simonsmithgoalkeeping.com/goalkeeper-coaching.
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