Former Newcastle United front man, Les Ferdinand, reacquaints himself with former strike partner Alan Shearer this October as the duo, who came so close to firing the Magpie to the Premier League title in the mid-nineties, manage a Newcastle Legends side at Kingston Park.

Ferdinand, who joined the Magpies the season before Shearer and wore the famed number nine jersey whilst banging in 29 goals in all competitions during the 1995-96 campaign, will be Shearer’s assistant for the charity fixture in aid of The Alan Shearer Foundation.

Scoring in the original fixture against Manchester United some twenty years ago, one of his and Newcastle United’s finest moments in their recent history, Les is looking forward to hopefully getting another one over the Red Devils and their manager for the day, Keith Gillespie.

“The original game, back in October ’96, was a one we owed them really and to win as emphatically as that, is something that still sits with Newcastle fans to this day,” began Ferdinand about that game in October 1996.

“For strikers like Al and myself, to score against the best teams in the country, teams like Manchester United, is what we strive for. It wasn’t just for us though for after the game, when we were leaving the stadium, you realise what it meant to all those fans at the time.

“The fans at St James are in their own as well, and one thing that stands out from there is that being clapped off, even when losing, was a remarkable thing. If you give your all to the fans, if you entertain them, for it wasn’t for lack of trying with us, and give and provide a confident, effortless performance, they’ll appreciate that.”

One thing that does stand out for Ferdinand as he looks towards the Entertainers Game is not the strikers, even though a highly successful one himself, but the goalkeepers, and two in particular.

The last time he played was Steve Harper’s testimonial game back in September 2013 as AC Milan came to St James Park in front of 50,000 fans; that and of course Wor Pav.

“I probably won’t play in this match in October for the last time I played, in Harper’s testimonial, I had to take off near 160ml off my knee,” explained Ferdinand.

“It twists and turns a lot now and as I’ve never had a big reason to play, I can’t risk it. I would love to be able to play games like this though, these and testimonials so I’ll try looking at getting the knee strengthened.

“As for Pavel, he was a true gentleman of the game.

“I had and still have enormous respect for him and this will be a great occasion where I’m sure he won’t be far from the lads’ minds.

“It’s great that I can come back here and I’ve always received a great reception from the fans; that I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again.

“It’s fantastic what Big Al is doing and he’s done a great job with it. Hopefully we’ll raise a lot of money on the day for what is a fantastic charity.”

Tickets for the game, which takes place on October 9 and kicks off at 1:30pm (gates open at noon) are available now priced at £10 for adults and £5 for children; corporate packages are also available.

You can purchase tickets from www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk and the ticket hotline of 0871 226 6060, and for corporate packages telephone 0191 214 2892.