Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
Sport
Sean McCormick

Real Madrid and Spain legend Iker Casillas revealed Newcastle is his favourite English team

Newcastle United have a huge fanbase and the Toon Army come from far and wide and in all shapes and sizes.

The Magpies have a number of celebrity fans as well. We are all aware that Geordie celebrities - the likes of Ant and Dec, Cheryl, Jimmy Nail, Brian Johnson and Sting to name but a few - are followers of the Magpies.

Then you have the slightly less predictable Newcastle fans in the celebrity world. Musician James Bay, for example.

Former Manchester United and Tottenham star Dimitar Berbatov has openly spoken about how he followed Newcastle as a child, while Bournemouth defender Charlie Daniels admitted he was a Magpies fan last week.

And you can add to that list former Real Madrid and Spain legend Iker Casillas to that list, as he revealed Newcastle are his favourite English team.

In the #TeamWorld challenge on Twitter, the three-time Champions League winner and winner of three major tournaments with Spain made the revelation that he is a fan of the Magpies.

The 38-year-old, who has just announced his retirement from the game, also revealed that Real Madrid, Schalke, Napoli, Marseille, Ajax, Porto, Santos, Boca Juniors and Cruz Azul are his favourite teams in Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico respectively.

Casillas retires as one of only three people to have won the World Cup, the European Championships and the Champions League/European Cup as captain (Franz Beckenbauer and Didier Deschamps are the other two).

He lifted five La Liga titles and the Champions League three times with Real, making 725 appearances for the Spanish giants over 16 seasons between 1999 and 2015.

Casillas won 167 caps for Spain, bettered only by Sergio Ramos, and was captain when they became world champions in 2010 and triumphed at Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.

He sits second on the list of all-time appearances for Real, with only former team-mate Raul having made more.

The keeper also won two Portuguese titles at Porto after leaving the Bernabeu in 2015 but did not play again for the club after suffering a heart attack in training last year.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.