Once Upon a Toon

18 Years Inside Newcastle United

By: Paul Ferris, Alan Shearer - foreword

Narrated by: Ruairi Conaghan

Bloomsbury presents Once Upon a Toon: 18 Years Inside Newcastle United by Paul Ferris read by Ruairi Conaghan, with the foreword read by Alan Shearer

‘A must-read for any Newcastle fan.'
ALAN SHEARER

‘A brilliant read.'
SHAY GIVEN

‘A triumph... Beautifully written'
LES FERDINAND

Fascinating chronicles of an utterly unique life in football and 18 years at Newcastle United, with a foreword by Alan Shearer.

Once Upon a Toon offers a unique perspective on life behind the scenes at one of England’s most famous football clubs. No other individual has had the immense privilege of working at Newcastle United in the capacity that Paul Ferris once did: as a player between 1981 and 1986, as a physiotherapist between 1993 and 2006, and finally as a key member of Alan Shearer’s management team in 2009.

This is a light-hearted, often hilarious and sometimes unbelievable retelling of the events Paul experienced and characters he encountered. His numerous, otherwise forgotten, tales from the bygone era of 1980s football include the likes of Kevin Keegan, Jack Charlton, Arthur Cox, Paul Gascoigne, Peter Beardsley, George Best and more. Ferris’s chronicles from 18 years at Newcastle United also feature managers such as Graeme Souness and Sir Bobby Robson, the tumultuous 1993–2006 period and Alan Shearer’s ill-fated short tenure.

If you are a Newcastle United supporter, football fan or loved The Boy on the Shed, this book is the ultimate way to revisit the club’s precious glory days of football.

©2025 Paul Ferris (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Fantastic

I’m not the biggest football fan but I have to say I really enjoyed this book. A roller coaster of emotions from start to finish.
Paul has an amazing way of bringing you into his world and keeping you captivated from start to finish. A lot of laugh out load moments and definitely a few tears shed. His fantastic sense of humor really shines through in this book as it does in his previous books, The boy on the shed and the magic in the tin.
I would definitely recommend this book.