Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Guimaraes: Newcastle & Ligue 1 McDonald's - a shared history
Newcastle United will face Olympique de Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The Tyneside club share plenty of historic links with Ligue 1 McDonald's.
Newcastle's French Revolution
"Bonjour, bonjour, we are the Geordie boys," could once be heard ringing around Tyneside. If you were to have gone to the club's training ground, you were as likely to hear French spoken as you were English, such was the extent of Newcastle's 'French Revolution', as it came to be known.
By January 2013, there was already a very considerable French contingent. Yohan Cabaye was already at the club, as were Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveaux, Romain Amalfitano, and Gabriel Obertan, following in the footsteps of perhaps the most famed Frenchman to pull on the black and white jersey, David Ginola, and Laurent Robert.
Prior to his move to St James' Park, Cabaye had played for formative club Lille. The midfielder exploded in the Premier League, impressing over the course of his two-and-a-half-year stint, before joining PSG for five times the price he was bought for. The midfielder would continue to Channel hop, going back to the UK to play for Crystal Palace, before concluding his career at Saint-Étienne.
Journeyman forward Ben Arfa also played for Newcastle, joining from Marseille back in 2010 and playing for the club until 2015 before returning to Ligue 1 McDonald's, where he would go on to play for Nice, PSG, Rennes, Bordeaux and Lille.
The likes of Cabaye and Ben Arfa were joined in Northern England by a batch of fresh recruits back in January 2013, with the likes of Moussa Sissoko, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Mathieu Debuchy, Yoann Gouffran, and Massadio Haidara all joining the club. Alan Pardew could have practically started a whole team of players from Ligue 1 McDonald's had he chosen to do so.
In a game against Southampton, back in February 2023, the club even celebrated their 'French Revolution', with the Marseillaise sang, fans holding up blue, white, and red cards to produce the French flag, and Can Can Girls dancing on the pitch pre-match.
One by one, the French Geordies left Newcastle, but there is a continued legacy. Allan Saint-Maximin, a former Nice winger, became a fan favourite on Tyneside, not only endearing himself to the locals through his extravagent play-style, but also through his personality. The 28-year-old played 124 times for Newcastle, following his €18m move back in 2019.
Three former Ligue 1 players at Newcastle
And whilst there are currently no French national team players in Eddie Howe's side, there nonetheless remains a Ligue 1 McDonald's influence. Bruno Guimaraes was of course one half of that excellent midfielder pairing at Lyon, alongside Lucas Paqueta, now at Premier League rivals West Ham United.
Former Angers and Lorient forward Yoane Wissa, who is yet to make his Newcastle debut, joined the club in the summer, and former LOSC centre-back, Sven Botman is now a rock at the back for the EPL side. He, like Guimaraes and Wissa, will be on familiar soil when they Newcastle come up against OM at the Vélodrome on Tuesday night.
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