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(Image: John Peters)

Steve Harper vividly recalls the moment he became a Newcastle United player.

Kevin Keegan turned up at his family home “in yellow shell-suit bottoms” and handed the young Seaham Red Star keeper a one-year contract.

A place at John Moores University, Liverpool was deferred for a year.

Eighteen years (and 12 Newcastle managers) later, Harper will play his last game for the Toon against Arsenal on Sunday - a front-line witness to the unique chaos, and joy, that Newcastle United serves up.

The highs of title challenges, FA Cup finals (ultimately unfulfilled), Champions League nights and promotion; the lows of relegation, a string of managerial sackings and, on Thursday, a brave admission.

Harper, 38, revealed he spent “dark days” battling depression a few years ago, and needed medication and counselling to overcome his slump.

That will surprise many.

Harper is a rock of the dressing room, the life and soul of the club in many ways, and a player whose wit and anecdotes about the likes of Sir Bobby Robson bring the house down at talk-ins around the North-East.

But he explained: “There have been many highs. But yes, there were those wilderness years.

“There was a time when Graeme Souness was here and I was struggling, really struggling. Some good people at the club helped me through it. But there were some dark times.”

Asked what he meant by dark days, he replied: “It seems to be a bit more open about these things now, but I probably was a little bit depressed back in that time.

“When you have a good club like this and you have been part of it for a long time it is only right that players admit to suffering.

“I was probably about 30 at the time, and it was really tough. You need help. You can’t fight it yourself. You have to speak to people and get help. That is what I did.

(Image: Action Images)

“There have been times when it has been anything but comfortable.

“The way I got through it was through the support of my family, particularly Lynsey, my wife, by going to see a little old lady, a counsellor, and with medication from the doctors.

“It helps you through it, because it was very tough and the more you try to fight it yourself, it gets a hold of you.

“Fortunately, more people are speaking of it now and it is almost more acceptable.

“But yeah, seven or eight years ago, having had that tough time, I like to keep an eye on players now who I think are maybe struggling.

“As an older pro, many's the time I have gone up to somebody who I think might be struggling and said, 'Are you alright?' And they have gone, 'Yeah, yeah', and I've responded: “No. Are you alright...'

“I've said to them, 'Listen, I had a hard time once, let me know if you are struggling because I am here for you.'"

But Harper wants to be remembered for happier moments.

He’s had spells as Newcastle's No1, sparring with Shay Given for years over being first choice, and in recent times anchored the side that won a return to the Premier League.

His favourite memories include the 1-0 Champions League win over Juventus 10 years ago, and the promotion season where he regards the “dressing room spirit” as the strongest he’s witnessed.

Best manager? “I’ve had 18 here. if you include caretakers! It’s too many.

"If you turn off the tape-recorders, I could tell you about them.

"The differences in them are vast. For me, I think the best managers are the good man-managers. I am doing my coaching badges and if that is something that I am going to go into, then I have a very big pool of knowledge to pick from. In fact, it is a big shark-infested pool!”

Best player? “Easy, that would have to be Alan Shearer, he was just amazing. His goals, he was always the toughest opponent in training.

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Daftest player? "Steven Taylor would be up there. So would Tino Asprilla."

Favourite save? "I made one on my debut against Middlesbrough, from Brian Deane. The ball had bounced and I got it over the bar, but it was pretty much all downhill from there! A couple away at Sheffield United were very important in the Championship season.”

So why didn’t Harper leave after Given secured the No1 spot? He’d surely have been first-choice elsewhere.

“I probably blame Sir Bobby, to be honest. I remember rapping on his door many a time and asking for a move and he said, 'I need you, Shay might get injured.'

“He had that persuasive, loveable thing where you might enter the room like a bear with a sore head and leave it giving him a hug!”

Harper has similar qualities.

On Sunday he will have his kids James, nine, Olivia, seven, and Leo, two, as team mascots, and you wouldn’t bet against tears being shed.

If he could leave a message daubed on the dressing-room wall to help fill the hole he will leave at the club, what would it be?

Harper concluded: “Just 'Give it your all, day in day out.'

“At this club, the people - the fans and everyone - know if you’ve put the shift in, day in day out, and given your all out on the pitch. They’ll back you to the hilt.

“It’s a great club to play for, but it can be a difficult club to play for. It can be a heavy shirt, the Newcastle shirt, and you need to stand up and be counted.”

Steve Harper did just that in good times, and bad.