Pope on Newcastle, England and Burger King fame!

Of all the hundreds of millions of pounds the new owners have invested in Newcastle’s squad since taking over, the ?10m they spent on Nick Pope may prove to be the shrewdest acquisition of them all.

The goalkeeper, who arrived from Burnley over the summer, is slowly getting used to life in the spotlight of this football-obsessed city. It’s taken him far less time to establish himself as Eddie Howe’s first choice and a fans’ favourite – three games into the league season he’s been one of Newcastle’s stand-out performers and can already boast his own song.

He knew from the 24 hours he spent in Newcastle when he signed and had his medical, that the club and its following was unique; he found out just how different a few weeks ago. The squad had landed ahead of the match against Brighton and Pope’s phone was in overdrive.

What had started as a simple “tomato or gherkin” question from a well-known burger chain had seen Nick Pope go global all thanks to the online account Toon Polls, who were not keen on either so suggested their goalkeeper was a far better option. Before long so too did millions of others and Pope was trending number one in the UK and 10th in the world.

“It was a strange scenario to land to. I looked at my phone and had to blink a couple of times and pinch myself,” he tells Sky Sports. “I thought: What is going on? What is happening? My phone didn’t stop vibrating. I am not used to it, not many people are.