Pick axes were raised when I left Liverpool - but I never had second thoughts about making transfer

There have been many Liverpool and Newcastle United double-agents over the years, with the likes of club legends Ian Rush, Kevin Keegan and, more recently, James Milner representing both clubs. Meanwhile, a number of stars have made direct switches between Tyneside and Anfield.

Gini Wijnaldum, Didi Hamann, Peter Beardsley, Alan Kennedy and Terry McDermott are some of the Reds’ most successful signings from the Magpies. Yet Newcastle have not quite enjoyed the same success the other way around.

McDermott would return to Newcastle after leaving Liverpool, while they have also signed Mike Hooper, Reds legend John Barnes and academy graduate Danny Guthrie over the years.

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Consequently, Barry Venison is perhaps the Magpies’ most successful signing from the Red side of Merseyside.

The former England international made 158 appearances during six years at Anfield, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, before being sold to Newcastle in an £100k deal in the summer of 1992.

He would go on to make 130 appearances for the Magpies, helping them win promotion to the Premier League in his first season, and was named Newcastle’s Player of the Season in 1994/95 after remaining a vital member of Kevin Keegan’s great entertainers of the mid-nineties.

Such form would even earn him a belated maiden England call-up and debut in 1994 at the age of 30.

However, Venison was originally not a popular signing at Newcastle, due to his previous Sunderland allegiances. Liverpool had signed the defender from the Magpies’ bitter-rivals in a £200k deal in 1986.

Making 205 appearances for the Black Cats in five years, he had memorably become the youngest captain at a Wembley cup final when, aged 20 years and 220 days, he skippered Sunderland against Norwich City in the 1985 League Cup final.

Suffering relegation to the old Second Division, Venison stayed one more year with Sunderland before deciding to move on. He would eventually earn his move to Liverpool after writing to manager Kenny Dalglish and offering his services.

While his Sunderland career might have come to an end six years prior to moving to Newcastle, the defender was well-aware that Geordies would not overlook his past.

And he has joked that supporters had pick axes at the ready following his arrival when recalling how Keegan had met him in the motorway services and persuaded him to drop down a division and join the Magpies.

"I’ve heard a few people say ‘eyebrows were raised’ when I, a former Sunderland player, signed for Newcastle,” he admitted when speaking in Will Scott’s recent book, ‘The Entertainers Kevin Keegan's Legacy’.

“I think it was more likely pick axes were raised rather than eyebrows! I could hear fans in my imaginary mind saying, 'Get that Mackem bar steward out of here!’

“Not many people know this but I was rejected by Newcastle as a youngster. I used to train with them but they wouldn’t sign me as a schoolboy and that is how I ended up at Sunderland.

"I met Kevin halfway down the motorway, we had a good chat. You know what Kevin’s like, he could sell second-hand shoes to you if he wanted to.

"I’d been at Liverpool for six years. I knew my worth, what I could bring to a team, what I could bring to a club, and what I could give to a manager because I had confidence in my ability.

"Straight away I bought into his vision for the club and where he wanted to take it. He told me about the players he was going to bring in and I never had any second thoughts about joining.

“The fact that I had played for Sunderland in the early part of my career didn’t even cross my mind. I think the fans could see I was fully committed to the club through those early games where we won 11 games in a row.

"I’ve given my all for every club I’ve played for, I’ve had to because I wasn’t talented enough so, I had to work hard. I was all about energy, passion, organisation and helping those around me. I certainly enjoyed my time at Newcastle, that’s for sure."