Freddy Shepherd dead: The man who was so full of colour, but bled the black and white of Newcastle United

Martin Hardy recalls his decade of dealing the man with a personality the size of St James' Park

Shepherd passed away in his sleep at the age of 76 (Getty )

Michael Owen and his advisors were stood at the top of the tunnel that leads out to the St James’ Park pitch and a stadium where around 10,000 Newcastle supporters were waiting for his unveiling.

There was a slightly pensive mood and then Freddy Shepherd turned to Tony Stephens, Owen’s agent. “Can we play Is this the way to Amarillo? When we all walk out?” he said, smiling.

It was 2005 and Tony Christie’s 1970s hit was back in vogue following a Comic Relief performance by Peter Kay.

An ashen faced Stephens turned and said no. Shepherd still walked onto the pitch with his £16m signing and there was acclaim. He liked a laugh and a joke and making Newcastle United the centre of the footballing world.

“We were never dull!” he told The Independent, earlier this year. Say what you like about Freddy Shepherd, who died in his sleep at the age of 75 on Monday night, but he had black and white in his blood.

A son of the north east - although he lived in Australia for a part of his youth - his father, who formed Shepherd Offshore, made him qualify as a marine engineer. He still had the uniform he wore for those eight years encased on a wall in the company’s boardroom, on the banks of the River Tyne. “I can’t get into it now mind,” he said laughing.

He returned to the family business, of servicing vessels for oil rigs and storage of offshore equipment in his 20s. His father was best friends with John Hall. By 1991, Hall was involved in a fight to take control of Newcastle United, a club in deep trouble, and Freddy Shepherd’s life was about to change direction forever. His family was asked for £250,000 to join forces with Hall to help win a bitter boardroom battle. They did and the Halls and the Shepherds won. And Newcastle United was never the same.

When the club dipped a foot in what was then Division Three, in 1992 after a five-two defeat at Oxford, and John Hall was speaking of his support for the then manager Ossie Ardiles, Shepherd, Douglas Hall (Sir John’s son) and the chief executive Freddie Fletcher were flying to Spain to meet Kevin Keegan to tempt him out of retirement.

Shepherd was credited with helping bring Alan Shearer back home (Getty)

It does not get much more inspired than that.

A football club and a city took off, and Shepherd was at the heart of it. “It was such an exciting time with Kevin,” he told me. “Kevin has to be given credit for what he did. I don’t think the city will ever be at those levels again.”

Shepherd did not become chairman of the club until October 1997, but was still hugely influential to the deals that made Newcastle United unmissable. He was sat in David Platt’s mum and dad’s farmhouse when the club outwitted and outspent Manchester United to land Alan Shearer in 1996. Last year he unveiled a statue of the greatest goalscorer in Newcastle United’s history, next to St James’ Park.

“So sad to hear my great friend and former Nufc chairman Freddy Shepherd has passed away,” said Shearer in tribute today on Twitter. “I owe him a huge debt for bringing me home.”

Newcastle changed direction in 1997, when they became a plc and lost the inspiration of Keegan. From there it often seemed relentless. There was a second runners-up spot in the Premier League, two FA Cup finals, four FA Cup semi-finals, a Uefa Cup semi-final, more than 49 trips around Europe, the Champions League, an unforgettable victory over Barcelona (just before he became chairman), Toongate, a resignation and a return and the sacking of Sir Bobby Robson. “Like shooting Bambi,” he famously said.

I remember calling Freddy soon after Jonathan Woodgate had been sold in 2004.

“We’re in crisis, are we?” he shouted. “That’s what your paper’s headline said!”

There was a rant, but it would always pass, and then came a question, “Anyway, what you after son?”

“It’s been suggested you’re after Callum Davenport,” I replied.

“Never f****** heard of him.”

He went through seven managers in his 16 years at the club, and they were the biggest names the game had, Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Ruud Gullit and Keegan, with Sam Allardyce his last appointment.

Shepherd admitted to The Independent that signing Owen was a mistake (Getty)

He was lying seriously ill in the Newcastle Freeman hospital in 2007 with severe pneumonia and a collapsed lung when the call came from Douglas Hall that his father had sold the family’s shares to Mike Ashley. He said on three occasions he would have fought a takeover if he had not been hospital ridden.

Letting go was not easy - his family made £38m from the sale - but he started the agency Triple S with his son Kenneth and Paul Stretford and returned to the family business, and was fit and healthy when he spoke to The Independent in February – the final interview he gave. “We have 3000 people work for us now,” he said.

Shepherd also admitted then the Owen signing was a mistake. “He was the worst value for money in all my time at the club. Was the boat pushed out too far in that transfer, yes?”

Tributes flowed through throughout Tuesday afternoon when the family announced the news.

“He was a passionate Newcastle supporter and had a big part to play in the club’s modern day history,” said Lee Charnley, Newcastle’s managing director. “He was a driving force in the redevelopment of our stadium. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

The former Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given added: “Terrible news that Freddy Shepherd has passed away, we had so many great memories at the Toon.”

Nobody can question that.