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.
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There was ultimately a strange sort of symmetry between the events of that night and Allan's departure nearly two-and-a-half years later. It was Steve Harper who told Allan to be ready to come on against Rochdale in his role as first-team coach at the time. It was also Harper, now employed as the club's academy manager, who levelled with Allan that 'you know how this is going to go' as he released the Geordie after a decade on Newcastle's books last month.
The news certainly did not come as a shock to Allan, who recognised it was time for a fresh start. Although Allan admitted that it was a 'bit strange knowing I'm not going to be there in pre-season', the 22-year-old noted 'how many lads in the North East would love to have lived the dream that I was living'.
"When I joined Newcastle at 12, if someone said I'd make it another 10 years and play for the first team in an FA Cup game and pre-season games, I would have snapped your hand off at the time so I can't have any regrets," Allan told ChronicleLive.
"It's still a bit crazy thinking back. All the times I went to watch Newcastle when I was younger with the family and to be able to play a game in front of my family, friends and all the fans is something that no one can take away from me. It will live with me forever."
Allan is now mulling over a number of offers and has already received advice from former team-mates Cal Roberts, Jamie Sterry and Owen Bailey, who have all bounced back after being let go by their boyhood club. Those working at the club have also been supportive.
Harper, for example, has been in regular contact in the days and weeks since while it has been made clear to all the 13 players who have been let go by the academy this summer that the club's psychologist is still available to talk.
That backing has helped soften the blow a little for Ryan Barrett, who was also released this summer after a decade at the club. The right-back, whose father, Paul, was also on Newcastle's books, revealed that club staff have been a 'great help' in recent weeks - right down to helping him compile his clips.
"Games get recorded so I just put together a big profile to try and showcase myself because I was injured for quite a bit of time so teams didn't really get a chance to see me play last season," Barrett told ChronicleLive. "It's just a bit of a showcase for me to help me put myself out there.
"I get the clips myself and I put them together with the club analyst and then he helps me create a profile. It was good from the club to help me do that.
"It will be passed on to teams and, hopefully, I can push on and get interest."
This sort of aftercare should not come as a surprise, but it was only a few years ago that a young player at another major Premier League club first learned he was being released after seeing the retained list on Twitter. That individual recovered, but not everyone has been so fortunate.
A study conducted by Teesside University in 2015 found that more than half (55%) of players released by professional football clubs experience clinical levels of psychological distress. Josh Lyons, for example, spiralled into depression after being let go by Spurs and took his life a decade later in 2013. At Lyons' inquest, the assistant deputy coroner, Dr Karen Henderson, said being let go by Spurs was the 'single most important factor that led' to his death and criticised the 'lack of support' in football.
More recently, in 2020, Jeremy Wisten committed suicide less than two years after being released by Man City. Wisten's father, Manila, told his inquest that his son 'did not believe he was receiving the right support at Manchester City'.
Progress has thankfully been made in that regard and Jake Turner, who has been let go by Newcastle this summer, confirmed academy staff told him 'they were all there for support if needed in the future, which is what you want to hear'. Having enjoyed loan spells at Morecambe and Colchester United during his time at the club, the goalkeeper is hopeful about what is to come.
"I've been working with my agent a lot," Turner told ChronicleLive. "I've been speaking to him most days. He's trying to contact a few clubs just to see what opportunities are out there, seeing who is needing a youngish goalkeeper.
"I feel quite confident with the experiences and the loans I've had. I think I've hopefully done enough. It's hard. You have to try and enjoy the first few weeks off but, at the back of your mind, you've obviously got a bit of worry that you've actually not got anything yet. You have to wait and these things take time sometimes."
Just as this can be an uncertain period, when Newcastle has been part of these players' lives for so long, it can also be the start of a second career. Take Mo Sangare, for example, who was snapped up by Accrington Stanley just days after his six-year stay at Newcastle came to an end.
The Liberia international expected to be let go by Newcastle, but still half-hoped he would have got another one-year contract following a previous spell on the sidelines. However, Sangare recognised that 'moving on now will be best for me' after Newcastle helped him 'grow as a person'.
"At first, it was very difficult to get my head around and kind of accept after being here at Newcastle for so long, but it was a buzz at the same time," Sangare told ChronicleLive. "It was a fresh start, somewhere to really go and kick on and show everyone what I'm capable of because I've played in the 23s for so many years.
"It was a relief, obviously, with the move being quickly sorted. I did panic because of the injury situation and not being up to speed with everyone, but I never had doubts in my ability in that sense. I knew, wherever I go, it will take me a bit of time to get going but once I get going, I'll be there. Definitely."
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