**Newcastle United have at times found it hard to recruit the game's bigger stars thanks to a bizarre myth that persists that Newcastle isn't as glamorous as London or even Manchester.**
The Magpies lost out to several targets in the summer window who opted for struggling Manchester United over a move to Tyneside, other players joined the revolving door that is Chelsea rather than move to the north east, and a lot of it stems from lazy stereotypes that the weather is so cold up here (compared to London just a few hundred miles away? howay, man!) or that the city isn't as cosmopolitain as London or Manchester, or even Liverpool.
This is the crap that is pedalled by lazy journalists and pundits with zero connection to the north east and therefore don't know what they're talking about.
Current players tend to listen to it and predjudge the North East based on the words of people who have paid no more than a passing moment in the region.
> [](https://twitter.com/EnglishAbroad1/status/1974777100050829769)
Jonjo Shelvey has hit out at the lazy stereotyping of Newcastle
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Former Newcastle midfielder [Jonjo Shelvey, who is now playing in the third-tier in Saudi Arabia, has spoken to the BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cx2n8wd2znzo) about his time at Newcastle and spoken about how so many people get it wrong about the club and the area.
> "There's this debate about whether Newcastle are able to attract the big players compared to the Manchester clubs and the London clubs but, until you go there, you don't understand what it does to you. There are loads of things to do. "I don't care what anyone says. If players are going to listen to this, it's a no-brainer to go there and play football. You will not find love at a football club like I found at Newcastle, with how they take to their players and how much they back you. But I've only got good things to say about my time at Newcastle. I loved it. Even when I first got the call about going there, I drove 12 hours from Swansea because of the traffic. I just wanted to get up there, get my medical done and get signed.
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> "I had experienced playing against Newcastle at St James' Park and you get a real buzz, but you never understand how big the club is until you are there."
We need more Jonjo Shelveys singing the praises of Newcastle
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Players who arrive at Newcastle from elsewhere rarely leave with anything negative to say about the place, even those who didn't have the greatest of times here still fell in love with the place.
The more people like Jonjo who speak out about the myths, the more chance there is of them disappearing from urban legend.
It still baffles us how much people think the climate changes from London to Newcastle, as if we're in the Arctic.