New Newcastle United skipper Dan Burn has revealed it’s a dream come true to be leading his boyhood heroes this season.
However, the big defender is surprised it’s not Eddie Howe giving him the honour.
Burn was given the armband permanently by new head coach Matthias Jaissle this weekend upon his return from some hero cameos with England at the World Cup.
And he proudly wore it properly for the first time in front of the St James’ Park crowd for the final pre-season game of the summer - a penalties loss to Strasbourg.
United lost 3-2 having drawn 1-1 in 90 minutes. Will Osula got the only goal of the game for the Magpies.
And while he’s over the moon to be given the honour of captaincy - he admits he was surprised to see Howe walk out on United this summer.
When asked whether he knew Howe’s exit was coming, Burn said: “No, if I’m honest. I didn’t think he was going to do it. I knew he was disappointed after the Fulham game, but I thought after the summer he was going to be ready to come back.
“I spoke to him regularly in the off-season, but yeah, I was in Canada when I found out, I just had a few texts when I woke up. Listen, there’s always time for change, and Eddie obviously thought that it was time for him to step away. For lots of reasons people did think it was time for a change. Either way, I was sad to see the manager go, but change can be a good thing and hopefully we’ll see the start of that this week.
“I’ve played under a lot of managers, so I’ve tried to take a little bit from everyone. But in my experience change can be good if you put that effort into it and embrace the new change and the new philosophy. As a club and as a city, I hope that’s what we’re going to do this season. The younger lads are going to need a lot of support this year. I’m hoping that the crowd can bring that.”
Now, under Jaissle, after the exit of Bruno Guimaraes, Burn has the chance to lead the players into the 2026/27 season, having capped a remarkable few years with England caps at the World Cup.
He said: “I’m very proud to be named club captain. Some things you can’t really dream of when you’re a kid, but for me that was a dream from very early on to be captain of Newcastle, so very grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to leading the lads this season.”