Top News

Over a period of more than 10 years, Tim Krul grew into one of the most loved players at Newcastle United as he came up through the ranks at St James’ Park.

The Dutch goalkeeper made more than 180 appearances for the Magpies and delivered many memorable moments for the club before his time on Tyneside was cut short after he suffered an injury while away on international duty.

Now, as the 38-year-old reflects on his career, he says there is only one regret that has stayed with him — that he was not able to say goodbye to the Newcastle supporters on his own terms.

By 2015, Krul had been Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper for five years, but then suffered a major knee injury while on international duty with the Netherlands.

“I came for a cross and Virgil van Dijk gave me a little nudge when we went for the same ball,” he told FourFourTwo. “I was off-balance and tore my ACL.

“I’m a believer that things happen for a reason. It changed me as a person. It was a difficult time because it was a long project, especially with new managers coming in.

“It took more than 14 months to get rid of the pain in my knee. It was mentally very tough.”

During that period, Krul had to deal not only with the physical side of his recovery but also with a mental struggle, as he had to confront the possibility that the injury might even bring his career to an end.

“There are always doubts,” he admitted. “That’s why I had to go back to Holland, on loan with AZ Alkmaar, to get that feeling back.”

That spell took him to the Dutch Cup final, and although his team lost 2-0 to Vitesse Arnhem, it proved to be an important step in his comeback.

“I had to play. It was a difficult time, but I had a good experience in Holland. I’d always wanted to tick that off and got to play a cup final with AZ.”

The 15-cap Netherlands international was then prepared to return to St James’ Park, only to find that the club had chosen to go in another direction.

“Rafa Benitez, the Newcastle manager by that stage, decided he wanted a different keeper and I had to leave through the back door,” Krul continued.

“That’s the only regret, that I was never able to leave organically. I had to force a deal to go to Brighton to save my career, because it wasn’t going to happen under Rafa.”