An Ode to Paul Dummett

Ahhh Paul Dummett. It’s difficult to recall a time when Newcastle’s very own cheeky-grinned, fringe-slicked tough-tackling son wasn’t involved in the first team picture.

As the magpies’ current longest-serving player, Paul has had a front-row seat of the chaos and the redemption of this incredible football club in recent times; rising to the challenge of promotion in 2017, cementing himself as a dependable option in the Rafa years, and living every Newcastle fan’s dream as he watched the club blossom into European hopefuls once more. Now, as we prepare to wave a fond farewell to our homegrown boy, we’d like to look back on five of our favourite Paul Dummett moments…

5th - Shutting out Jack Grealish and Co. in the League Cup (2023)

This season has perhaps proved more than ever that the club has outgrown Dummett on the pitch, as he received some vitriolic abuse from a small minority of hotheaded fans after his wrestlemania cameo v Everton in April (insert link to our article about this abuse?). But in our short-lived but highly enjoyable venture into the League Cup this past season, Paul got to enjoy a starring role in back-to-back clean sheets versus both sets of Mancs. Both games feature in our Top 10 games of the season list (insert link?), but we particularly enjoyed Paul’s performance here, as he denied Jack Grealish a shot at goal with a characteristic full-blooded challenge. Firm, but fair, and any opportunity to see Miguel Almiron’s antagonist on the floor is a welcome one.

4th - Last-minute Equaliser v Manchester United (2016)

Reuters

A fantastic game in an awful season for Newcastle. And when the Mancs raced into a 2-nil lead, it looked like an all-too-familiar scene for Steve McLaren’s misfiring mags. But when Newcastle pulled it back to 2-2, there were hopes of a rare Magpies win over Man United, only for regular agitator Wayne Rooney to curl in a sumptuous third for the reds with just ten minutes remaining.

Geordie heads dropped, all except for Paul Dummett’s; who popped up with his own long-ranger (we’ll ignore the slight deflection) and silence Louis van Gaal and send SJP into raptures. An unlikely hero for an unlikely scoreline.

3rd - Breaker of Hearts on Tinder (2020)

Okay, so this one is ridiculous, but it lives rent-free in my head so I had to include it. A Newcastle fan thought he’d struck gold with a lass on dating app Tinder, when he used a picture of himself standing beside a platinum-bleached Paul outside SJP. Unfortunately for the fan, he received a message from the girl saying “Babe thought you were the blonde guy. I’m so sorry ha x” - truly humbling.

Tough to take for the Newcastle fan, but he did at least get a response from Dummett himself when he shared his mishap on social media, with Paul offering his condolences for the unlucky lad.

Plenty more fish in the sea mate 🤷🏼‍♂️👊🏼

2nd - Lifting the Championship Trophy (2017)

The second relegation of the Mike Ashley era saw another big shakeup of the first-team squad, with high profile departures including Georginio Wijnaldum, Andros Townsend and Moussa Sissoko. That meant certain fringe players had to step up to the plate, and Paul Dummett certainly did so, along with Jamaal Lascelles, Karl Darlow and a handful of others.

Dummett was a virtual ever-present in the Newcastle backline that season, missing just one game in the Championship; and the fact Paul chose a picture of himself with the trophy in his goodbye message to fans on social media shows just how much that season meant to him; as both a player and a fan.

1st - Exchanging Barbs with Bruce and Winning Man of the Match (2019)

Instagram @pauldummett

Perhaps this should have taken the #2 spot, but I always like a curveball in my list articles. The match in question for Paul Dummett’s finest hour was a 1-0 away win at Spurs’ new megamillion stadium, and remembered mostly for Joelinton scoring his first (of very few) Newcastle goals while playing up top as the number 9.

Two games into the season, and new manager Steve Bruce was already under-fire, after Paul Dummett had criticised the squad’s pre-match warmup before a 3-1 humbling at relegation fodder Norwich City. However, Dummett didn’t hide after his outburst, and was instead front and centre in a match that highlighted all the best parts of his game; bravery, dedication, teamwork and incredible tackling - a true warrior of a performance that brought him a rare ‘Man of the Match’ trophy.

Signing off on a turbulent week via social media, the defender uploaded a picture of himself with the award and the caption; “Warm up was good today”. Never change, Dummy.