CRAIG HOPE: Jamaal Lascelles entered Newcastle's ZOMBIE ZONE

Jamaal Lascelles entered Newcastle’s ZOMBIE ZONE after staying out until 4am…the city is a great place to live, play and party but can turn ugly in the early hours

• Video footage shows the Newcastle defender involved in a brawl on a night out
• A group of ‘six to eight men’ allegedly attacked the 29-year-old Magpies captain
• Would Mohamed Salah ‘do the dirty’ on Liverpool by leaving? And what about Man United ‘diving’?: Listen to It’s All Kicking Off, Mail Sport’s new podcast

Newcastle city centre on a Saturday night has long been a playground for invaders wearing L-plates and mankinis. If your day job involves wearing the captain’s armband for the town’s football team, it perhaps isn’t the wisest place to party, not when the accents you hear are as likely to be Glaswegian and Cockney as they are Geordie.

Worse still if Saturday night staggers towards 4am on Sunday morning, as Newcastle United’s Jamaal Lascelles discovered this month. A good-natured jibe of a few hours earlier can soon descend into a bad-tempered jab, when nightclubs kick out and alcohol kicks in. From playground to fighting ground.

As exclusively reported by Mail Sport on Monday, Lascelles found himself at the centre of one such street brawl involving a gang of six-to-eight unknown men on August 20, hours after his team’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City. 

He was punched in the head and narrowly avoided having his head taken off by a flying bottle of vodka. His brother was left with a bloodied face and their friend knocked unconscious and taken to hospital. Onlookers thought he was dead as paramedics worked to revive him for 15 minutes.

Lascelles, it is claimed, acted in self-defence as he shoved a man and threw a punch in attempting to protect his younger sibling, who was allegedly assaulted as they left Chinawhite nightclub. The gang of men, it is said, even threatened to shoot Lascelles. The police have appealed for more information.

Police are investigating a city-centre brawl involving Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles 

Lascelles left a club called Chinawhite when a man allegedly elbowed his 19-year-old younger brother while a bottle of vodka is said to have been thrown at the Newcastle defender 

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Wrong place, wrong time? Or was it never likely to be the right place and time for such a recognisable face?

Premier League footballers should be free to enjoy a night out. Eddie Howe had given his squad two days off. But will the head coach question the wisdom of his club captain leaving himself exposed to such a vicious and potentially harmful incident?

The North-East is a fun place with friendly folk but, like anywhere, its city streets can feel like the Wild West after 2am. Those in the nightclub industry call it ‘The Zombie Zone’. In footballing speak, ‘The Danger Zone’. Just don’t go there.

Newcastle’s British-based owners are often seen out in town, but always at a more sociable hour and with a bodyguard for company, so reducing greatly the risk of incident. 

And while Lascelles was, seemingly, the victim of an unprovoked attack, he failed to play the percentages. If a lesson has been learnt from a situation that is said to have left the player shaken, it is this – protect yourself without the need for throwing punches.

The likes of Alan Shearer, Rob Lee and Shay Given would never shy away from a night on the town, but never far away were some well-known local minders keeping an eye on their every step. Or, more pertinently, the advances of others. Newcastle is safe place, but it helps to play it safe.

For there are, down the years, scores of tales of famous black and whites who have ended up black and blue in the Bigg Market and beyond.

In 2019, Newcastle pair Karl Darlow and Jonjo Shelvey were caught up in a 3am street fight after the latter was called a ‘bald ****’ during a take-away row. Darlow was alleged to have kicked a man in the back after Shelvey told his abuser to, ‘Go back to your council house’. 

Video footage obtained by Mail Sport shows Lascelles (in the green gillet) involved in a fight

Lascelles (right) was allegedly attacked by a group of ‘six to eight’ men in a brawl on a night out

Lascelles and his entourage were allegedly assaulted as they left the city’s Chinawhite nightclub (pictured)

Police have made an appeal for information relating to the incident on Westgate Road (above)

Lascelles (right) has fallen down the pecking order at Newcastle since Eddie Howe’s arrival 

Their team-mate Rolando Aarons, meanwhile, was lucky to avoid jail after admitting affray during a clash at footballer hotspot Livello on Newcastle’s Quayside in 2016.

In 1995, winger Chris Holland had ammonia sprayed in his eyes at the Ritzy nightclub. He had to spend six weeks in a confined hospital room and was fortunate not to lose his sight. Wrong place, wrong time, for sure, but a nightclub after midnight and targeted because of who he was, nonetheless.

In 1991, Paul Gascoigne was in Walker’s nightclub when he was attacked and aggravated the knee injury he suffered in that year’s FA Cup final. Even Gazza, adored by the majority, was still a scalp for one mindless idiot.

The Tuxedo Princess, the floating nightclub on the River Tyne, was the place to be in the 1980s. But as cult hero Bjorn Kristensen found, the water soon felt choppy if running into Sunderland fans in the small hours.

Newcastle goalkeeper Mark Gillespie (middle) on a night out

Former Newcastle pair Karl Darlow and Jonjo Shelvey (pictured) were once caught up in a 3am street fight in the city

Former Newcastle star Rolando Aarons avoided jail after admitting affray during a clash at footballer hotspot Livello on Newcastle’s Quayside in 2016

‘I had a brand new Armani suit on, I felt great. Suddenly, some guys were not very keen on us. I said, “I’m going now”,’ he told me during an interview – in a quiet pub – in his native Denmark.

’Just as I got outside, I got smacked on the back of the head and fell. I jumped up and started running, straight over the Swing Bridge. I was quick so they could not catch me, but I fell again. I was safe, but then I looked down. The knee and elbow of my suit were ripped, “Oh f***!”.’

That is a lighter tale but, more recently, the club investigated a bar brawl involving their Under-23s players, leaving one man with a serious facial injury. This happened at Tup Tup Palace, the favourite haunt of Geordie Shore stars. Those are just a few of the stories we can publish, but there are countless more known to us, some involving current players.

Newcastle is a city that is protective and adoring of its heroes, it is why they are lured to its bars, clubs and restaurants. But beyond the red rope of the VIP section, those stars can soon find themselves on the ropes, especially if partying into the darkest of hours. Injury-time, indeed.

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