Previously jailed ex-Newcastle player now given football banning order after trouble at pub

Previously jailed ex-Newcastle player Andy Ferrell has now given football banning order after trouble at a pub before a Chelsea match.

A group of supporters engaged in a fight in Newcastle before the fixture against Chelsea at 5:30pm on November 12, 2022.

The disorder started at Barrack Road’s Black and White Bull Pub before Newcastle won.

Northumbria Police said that four men were served with banning orders for football. This prohibits them participating in any regulated matches in the UK in the next three-years.

❌Four men who were involved in disorder which flared before Newcastle United’s game against Chelsea have been banned from every stadium in the UK

Read more: https://t.co/NenPGHKUTK pic.twitter.com/1gLVhVoD3G

— Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) March 30, 2023

38 year old Andy Ferrell, from Newburn, Newcastle, previously played also for the likes of Watford, Hereford United, Kidderminster, York, Gateshead, Barrow, Blyth Spartans, Bedlington Terriers, Ashington and Whitley Bay.

Ferrell was charged with conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs and was jailed for four years in June 2013, claiming he got involved in the supply of drugs to fund his gambling addiction.

He was arrested in 2013 for his involvement in a major drug-dealing gang.

After a lengthy investigation into drug dealing in Newcastle and organised criminals, Ferrell was one of the 10 people sentenced. Ferrell was believed to have been a taxi driver, a courier, and a supplier.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years imprisonment.

Ferrell was also banned from being within a specified distance of Newcastle’s St James’ Park on matchdays.

They will also not be permitted within one mile of any away ground in England or Wales where a match involving Newcastle and England is taking place.

Officers stated that more than 20 people were involved in the fracas.

Detective Inspector Gillian Beecroft, of Northumbria Police, said: “We are pleased to have secured banning orders against these four individuals.

“The overwhelming majority of football fans in the North East are a credit to the clubs they support as well as the region as a whole.

“However, before this particular game, the behaviour of a small minority of supporters was totally unacceptable. This type of violent incident will simply not be tolerated.

“We hope that the banning orders handed down act as a warning to anyone thinking of taking part in disorder. You will be identified and brought before the courts to face the consequences of your actions.”

This is what Twitter users said as the previously jailed ex-Newcastle player is now given a football banning order after trouble at a pub…

@ChrisLongstaff8 (Replying to @northumbriapol): Utter crap this! You weren’t where you were supposed to be on a match day! The lads were protecting their friends and families from attack by away fans and they’re the ones punished?? It’s the met police that should be investigating the away fans for causing what occurred!

@AdamP1242: The police are supposed to monitor Barrack Road on a matchday to avoid fights and confrontations between both sets of fans. You clearly failed to do that.

@StellaCrewNCL: Wouldn’t of happened if the police did their job “proud to protect”

@_ale3eee: Disgusting, are they not allowed to defend themselves? They were attacked in their own pub!

@fez_1892: Your 👮‍♀️ who I don’t think it’s fair to name admitted in court that this game was not classed as a high category game to which he said he never understood why it weren’t. Thousands off ppl have travelled with me for years up and down the country and not had 1 single incident.

@TomLeeDonk:
Hi Northumbria police,
This is a massive miscarriage of justice & it’s a disgrace.
These brave souls were defending their local pub & community.
These lads should be rewarded not punished.
They should have their pictures in the windows of Greggs & free tickets.

@Nufcjay1892: Let’s hope you actually have police on barrack rd this weekend then as the precedent you’ve now set with this is people aren’t allowed to defend themselves and their own if attacked/provoked while enjoying a drink in a bar 🤨

@LA88NUFC: Sounds like a shambles from you lot based on what those who were there are saying. Well done 👍🏻

@davethemag1965: If this is meant to gain confidence and respect in the community then its a massive own goal
We all know what happened you just chose to ignore it. How many chelsea fans got banning orders ?

@Danielwoodward6: Considering the amount of responses in the comments makes you wonder did you ask any witnesses to come forward ?

@newbrook82: This is on @northumbriapol you didn’t police or marshall the Chelsea fans properly. Some of them came looking for trouble and started several fights. These lads defended themselves and the women, kids and elderly that were caught up in around the trouble. If they’d took a Kicking off the Chelsea lot would they be in this position? @fez_1892 has ran away day coach groups for years to get fans too and from games. This should have been avoided. These lads shouldn’t be banned. #nufc

@fez_1892: Ppl can’t just sit there and accept that so rightly or wrongly ppl went outside to defend themselves and protect other ppl because the powers that be were nowhere to be seen.

@JasonRi71609990: It’s an absolute disgrace is anyone taking this further? They haven’t a clue! I’ve been to many Barnsley games with a lot worse and nothing happens! The lads in question are good lads! Hope all gets sorted ✅

@nufcporter: What’s the crime in 4 decent blokes defending frightened women and children trapped inside the bar due to Chelsea fans storming the place throwing bottles etc. Police say they are “proud to protect” but they were nowhere to be seen. What a joke

@TonyBurn2: Obviously wasnt there but Im seeing many, many, accounts from all across social media about what happened & how these lads stood up to being attacked & defended not just themselves but others that were peacefully enjoying themselves in the pub too. Are you sure you’re right?

Here he is appearing on Under The Cosh a year ago…

In 2015, he talked about losing it all and getting his life back on track, going from talented prospect with the future at his feet to getting caught-up in a drug-dealing ring to feed his gambling addiction, which saw him spend time behind bars.

Andy, who began training with Newcastle United at the age of nine, opened up to The Chronicle: “I’m not a criminal, I’m just a normal lad. I got caught up in that and now it’s something I have got to live with. I did throw everything away, but I’m not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself. I have made a mistake, there’s no one else to blame, but I want to get my life back on track. Until the day I die Newcastle United and football will be my life. And I’m back in football now, and that’s when I’m happiest ”

“I had always been a fan and a season ticket holder so I was living every Geordie’s dream,” he said. “For me football was all I had ever known, and I was one of the fortunate ones who got to play professional. It was an absolute dream come true. I was a normal lad from a council estate in Newcastle who was training with Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy, and Bobby Robson was my boss.”

Andy talked about having free time with Michael Chopra, gambling their wages…

“We used to get about £70 a week as YTS players and went straight to Nobles Amusements. It just seemed like a bit of fun at the time. But then as I got more money I wouldn’t think twice about putting £1,000 on a horse, a dog or a roulette table. The more money I had the more I would gamble. When you are earning a lot you don’t realise how much you are losing. Casinos became a massive problem for me. I would get up in the middle of the night and go.”

“You think the football will go on forever. When you are 16 or 17 that’s all you know. You are young, you’ve got enough money to do what you want, and you have got too much time on your hands. I’m a lad who has to be busy all the time, but I was finished training in time to be in the bookies for the 1.30pm raise at Cheltenham or wherever.”

Dropping down the leagues inevitably meant a drop in wages, which meant he was unable to keep up with the costly gambling habit he developed while earning thousands a week.

“I didn’t think I had a problem,” he said on his gambling habit, as he dropped through the leagues and saw less wages. “I was taking wage drops so I didn’t have the money I used to have. I just saw gambling as easy money. I didn’t think of the consequences and I didn’t think of my family. I was just in that bubble.”

His gambling addiction became more serous when returning to the North East.

He got reacquainted with people in Newcastle’s West End, being offered the chance to earn some extra money and became involved in a plot to supply cocaine and amphetamine across Tyneside.

He said: “I didn’t think of the consequences. I just saw a way to get some money for a bet. It was always about the gambling. There were no financial gains for me. It was just to put that next bet on. It wasn’t about the drugs. I have never taken drugs in my life.”

He was taken into police custody after they stormed nine homes during an operation against the drug ring that he was involved in. Between £1.5m to £1.7m worth of drugs were seized during the raid.

He was just arrested – hours after playing for Bedlington Terriers in their 4-2 win over West Auckland – conspiracy to supply class B and A drugs. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment in June 2013.

After serving two years in Durham prison, he was released on licence, then went to Kirklevington, North Yorkshire.

He made the most of his time in his home and enrolled in brick-laying and PE classes, as well as receiving help with his gambling addictions.

“At Durham I was mixing with murderers but I also met some decent people,” he said. “I did a bricklaying qualification in there. It kept me busy. I had never had a proper job in my life. My family took it hard though. It wasn’t nice for my mam and dad, my partner and my stepdaughter. But the full family were 100% behind me and visited me in prison.”

Peter Ramage helped out Andy’s family financially while he was inside, before being released from jail and returned to the home he shared with his partner and step-daughter in Pendower, Newcastle.

He went to work driving cars for Kenton Auto-Parts, and his love for football was a motivation, as Bedlington Terriers took him in as an assistant manager, before making him manager in May 2015 and was relieved of his duties in September 2016 after overseeing relegation in his first season.

He said: “I was fortunate to have an 11-year career playing professionally. I have played under Bobby Robson and Ray Lewington at Watford who is still England’s Assistant manager, and you can only learn off people like that.”

Andy said he wanted to see football clubs do more to help young players cope with the pressures of the professional game.

“There are a lot of people in sport with gambling problems and I don’t think there’s enough help out there for young players,” he said. “I’m not the only footballer to fall into this trap.

“I think the academies need to do a lot more. I had to go to jail to get a qualification. Football academies should be putting on things like plumbing and brick-laying in the afternoons. They have got all these amazing training facilities, but it’s all about football. And not everyone is going to make it as a footballer. And if it doesn’t work out these kids are not going to be brain surgeons and they miss out on things like going to college.

“At the time you take football for granted and you can’t see it ending.

“I’m a big believer that you can’t cure gambling. To this day I still put a bet on. But I have got control over my gambling now.

“I’ll never risk going back to jail again. It’s just not worth waking up on Christmas morning in a cell. I’m busy now and I have got a lot to do. I have got to make the best out of a bad situation.”