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Symbolism is at the very core of Newcastle United. Even the smallest nod towards the club’s historic foundations, or to one of its prized quirks, can immediately endear someone to the Toon faithful.

To some who have arrived on Tyneside over the years – be they players, managers or even the club’s current owner – these concepts have been alien in nature.

Yet to those who were born and raised on the terraces at St James’ Park it is entrenched within their very soul – and they just ‘get’ the club, its quirks and its inner-workings.

Amid a raft of changes at the Magpies this summer, one person was not being introduced to Newcastle United for the very first time.

Instead, he was – in his own words – returning “home”.

Steve Black, a Geordie born and bred and a man who has worked with some of the biggest names in professional sport, understands this symbolism.

Upon joining Steve McClaren’s new-look backroom staff as a “consultant” fitness coach, Black has implemented lots of small yet extremely significant changes to the way things are done.

One such minor adjustment is before every game, the Newcastle United side now begin part of their warm-up by doing a series of sprints and running drills – always facing towards the Gallowgate End.

As trivial as this may seem, this harks to the very essence of Newcastle, the very heartbeat of the club – the supporters.

Black knows the importance of harnessing the power of the Toon Army to drive the team on and that is best achieved by establishing a bond with them.

All four stands at St James’ Park are sacred territory for Newcastle supporters but the Gallowgate End, the goal in which Alan Shearer broke Jackie Milburn’s all-time scoring record, resonates most prominently with the Toon faithful.

One man who understands this inherently is Steve Black. He cannot merely be pigeon-holed as a fitness coach – though he is highly regarded as such – because he is so much more than that.

On his own website, the blurb even explains Black has been described – among other things – as a “motivator, coach, psychologist, priest, councillor, psychiatrist, comedian, strategist, facilitator and friend”.

Quite a mouthful, but that barely even scratches the surface in terms of what Steve Black offers to United’s players and to the club as a whole.

A man former Newcastle Falcons and England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson described as “an exceptional human being and a treasured friend,” Black was a hard-nosed bouncer during his formative years who re-invented himself as a fitness coach and motivator after undertaking a sports-science degree.

His methods are built on a belief teamwork and trust – as well as individual management – are part of the very essence of a successful side.

Newcastle United are now very much about the collective, not the individual. That is largely Black’s doing. It was under Kevin Keegan’s revolution at St James’ Park during the 1990s Black came to really understand how to utilise his understanding of Newcastle United and he has returned to re-instill that feeling at the club.

Stints at the Falcons, with Wales’ rugby side – when World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry described him as the “best motivator” he had even met – the British and Irish Lions, Fulham, and Queens Park Rangers (working with Joey Barton and Charlie Austin) followed – but now Black is back home.

As well as the subtle, apparently insignificant but extremely important changes to the attitude displayed during Newcastle training and the like, Black has also gone about transforming how the club deals with injuries.

An expert when it comes to soft-tissue injuries, Black and his fellow backroom staff members have been tasked with eradicating them from a Newcastle squad riddled with such problems for more than a decade.

Training has been revamped. Now the Magpies train hard on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before “tapering” down towards the back-end of the week when the focus shifts to tactics, gameplan and the opposition.

Still in its embryonic stages it may be, but already there have been far fewer soft-tissue injuries within the Newcastle squad than there was last season. A coincidence?

Perhaps, but the likelihood is this is a result of Black’s influence again but in a different guise.

So is Black a ‘coach’? Is he a ‘fitness guru’? Is he a ‘motivator’? He is all of those thing sand he is also none of those things.

He has a multi-faceted role at Newcastle United and he is integral to the make-up of the backroom staff.

You see, the thing about Steve Black is nobody can pinpoint exactly what his role is.

A subtle remodelling of every aspect of the football club – and a tipping of the hat towards symbolism, of course – is part of it but there is so much more to Steve Black than that.

Just ask Jonny Wilkinson, or Charlie Austin – or any member of the Newcastle United squad.

The Gallowgate End has become firmly rooted within the hearts and minds of the Newcastle United players once more, and rightly so.

Symbolism matters – and Black knows it.