Apollo, the star of Gladiators, has been explaining his love of Newcastle United.
The story going way back to and including a Sir Bobby Robson connection.
Gladiators star Apollo, his real name Alex Gray, is a long time Newcastle United fan for a quarter of a century.
Apollo (Alex Gray) explaining to BBC Sport: “I am from a small town in County Durham – my grandmother went to school with Sir Bobby Robson – so I had the choice of Newcastle United, Sunderland or Middlesbrough. I know it is absolute blasphemy to say this, but I like to see all the north-east clubs do well. Newcastle are my team though, because that’s who I went to watch first – I went to see them against Ipswich in 2000, and Alan Shearer scored a couple.”
Alex Gray had a sporting background, ahead of becoming Apollo and a Gladiator.
He played American Football for NFL side Atlanta Falcons and before that played Rugby Union for a number of clubs, including Newcastle Falcons.
The now Gladiator explaining further about Newcastle Upon Tyne and Newcastle United: “It is my city as well. I played rugby for them and I lived there. It’s a fantastic place and it’s even better when the team is going well.”
I wouldn’t disagree with any of that.
Speaking of winning…
Apollo/Alex Gray has no doubt about how Eddie Howe and his team will get on against Brentford: “This is going to be a (3-1) Newcastle United win, it’s just a case of how much. Brentford’s performance coach Ben Ryan used to coach me for England Sevens, then he went to Fiji and got a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, so it would be nice to get one over him as well.”