"It was brilliant. I cannot thank the fans enough for buying into the concept of what we wanted to do. 

"I cannot thank Milan enough for their help and the lads from my 20 years coming back - the problem was getting them all on the pitch. We managed to do that and I would to thank every fan.

"I thought the tempo of the game got better as the game went on. The oldies were not too happy kicking up the hill in the first half!

"It tells me the fans are the best. 

"The whole concept we had here, they all bought in to it. When we came up with the concept of lowering the ticket prices, bringing the kick-off forward and inviting the players who have shared the last 20 years with me, we wanted to engage the fans.

"We wanted to use my time served here to get them to come along and every single penny has gone to charity. I can't thank them enough.

"I was close to checking in to The Priory a few times over the last few days, but not tears this time. The Foundation have done a great job. I was determined not to cry.

"The Arsenal game was all about me. Tonight I had 28 other players in that dressing room, great players coming to this pitch.

"The banter was great in the dressing room. Priceless. John Beresford was complaining that he was on the overlap and never receiving the ball from David Ginola. It was just the like olden days.

"Huge credit to him (Paolo Di Canio). One of the beneficiaries is the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and he would have loved that - he was a big fan of North East football.

"Paolo came here and played the whole game. It looked like he enjoyed every minute. He got his penalty and got too close to Joey (Barton) at one point."

24 hours before the game, an interview with Harper appeared in the Telegraph:

"If the club was a body, the fans are the heart. It’s a cliché, but the fans do bleed black and white. They are its heartbeat, but the link between the brain and the heart is no longer there. 

"Newcastle are bleeding. If that isn’t addressed, if the wound is not allowed to heal, whatever is special about the club is in danger of dying.

"The fans make the club tick, but they feel detached from it. Whenever the club has done well over, the fans have been on board. They have been fully behind their team, their club.

"I think their loyalty has been tested far too often in recent years. It’s one of the great clubs, but it should be competing amongst the very best in Europe. 

"It’s getting harder and harder to break on to the top table and opportunities have been missed. We finished fifth a couple of years ago, but to sustain that you need investment in the team.

"If I had a message to Mike Ashley it would be to engage with the fans, to repair that relationship. It’s not totally broken, but it doesn’t just need a plaster on it, it needs to be fixed.

"I’ve seen players chewed up and spat out by it. It’s not just those who go to the game, it’s the whole city. 

"Everybody knows what is happening at the football club and when things go badly, they let you know about it. If things go well, it’s the one of most amazing experiences you can have as a footballer playing in England.

"When there is a good feeling, when the momentum builds, you swim with the tide and you feel unstoppable. But when things turn sour, when the club is divided, you’re in a rip tide and it’s incredibly hard.

"The fans are demanding, even under Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson, they’d get restless if you weren’t winning at half-time, but all they really demand is you put a shift in. They are working class people who want to see players put in the same shift they do in the week to put money in their pockets.

"I’ve said to an infinite amount of players when they signed, just make sure you give everything you’ve got. It doesn’t matter which country you’re from, what colour your skin is, they want you to be committed to the shirt. 

"That’s the minimum they ask for, but you also have to have a certain character to succeed.

"I think a few players got a shock last season. It’s not only British players who get this club. It’s not a case of ‘you’re foreign and don’t understand’. Look at (Fabricio) Coloccini, Jonas (Gutierrez), they get it the same way Kevin Nolan did.

"Last year was a struggle and whenever you lose home games 0-3 to Sunderland and 0-6 to Liverpool, it’s going to open a few wounds and it did. It made a few people realise what’s needed to play here. It made a few players realise the size and the scale of the football club, as well as the situation we were in.

"I think it was a huge wake-up call for some people. Like others before them, it’s now up to the players who have come in over the last couple of years to show they can handle the weight of the shirt.

"When you’re here, you have to give 100% to Newcastle United, not worry about whether you are going to get a move elsewhere.”

Post-match player quotes:

Andy Cole (pictured here with Gary Speed's two sons after full time): 

"Only three or four teams can win the league and Newcastle used to be a lot closer to them. Kevin Keegan’s team had a fantastic opportunity but they have gone backwards since then.

"Apathy is something I’ve never associated with Newcastle United," said Cole. "To be told their biggest crowd of the season is for a testimonial match is a huge surprise and it’s worrying for them. If you’re not going to put finances into the football team and try to improve by buying better players, fans are going to vote with their feet.

“Newcastle have got a decent first choice team, but the game is about getting injuries and suspensions, players coming in and out of the side. The best clubs have the best squads. They have competition for places.

"It’s a rock and a hard place at Newcastle at the moment. They seem to get themselves on the right track and all of a sudden someone here derails them. The punters were fairly happy a couple of years ago, the team were moving in the right direction and then decisions are made at the top which throw a spanner in the works. It’s almost as if somebody running the club wants to upset the punters and I find that very strange.

"If you keep the punters on board here, it’s half the battle. If you upset them, they’re going to eventually vote with their feet because there is only so much they can take."

David Ginola:

"It is a bit of a shame to see the club struggling. When you look at the stadium and fans you realise they deserve some good results. If the club could get back to having good results again it would be amazing.

"It was great. We spoke in the dressing room together. It was fantastic in one way but terrible in another. That’s because we would all like to be able to do this every week again. We know that it’s impossible. If we could do that more often, that would be interesting. Other teams do it so why not us?

"We miss the game. The response of the fans was amazing. The stadium was full and that’s amazing. It was great for Steve Harper. You have to remember that it was a testimonial, but it’s only in a place like Newcastle where you can find this passion for the game.

“It wasn’t the Premier League it was a friendly with former players but the people still come, they are amazing. It was great to see families there, some of them remember us from the first time. It gives me so much satisfaction. 

"I got so many messages saying we can’t wait to see you back. They miss us and miss the team. We were sharing these thoughts with the lads and we all feel very emotional about it.

"That’s what Newcastle is all about.”

A remarkable turnout of 50,793 were present for the last hurrah of the Entertainers era at SJP on Wednesday, as Steve Harper brought down the curtain on his twenty year career as a Magpie.

Sadly for him though, his star-studded cast of former colleagues proved unable to muster a goal during 80 minutes against their distinguished Italian foes - and then failed from the penalty spot, leaving the Rossoneri veterans to claim the match silverware.

In the absence of memorable moments from the black and white old boys who had assembled, much attention was devoted to a certain 45 year old mackem dweller. The sprightly Paolo Di Canio played the part of pantomime villain and was booed throughout the evening, suffering from the attentions of Joey Barton at one point - to the great delight of those present. 

Opting to pass rather than shoot in the first half when presented with sight of goal, Di Canio did net during the shootout but managed only a low key celebration when trotting back to the halfway line. Perhaps he was too knackered to slide along the touchline - or didn't want to get his knees muddy. 

Despite a higher average age, the Italians showed the benefits of that Mediterranean diet and looked leaner and fitter than the black and white old boys. Of the former heroes on display, both Darren Peacock and Nicos Dabizas took up where they left off in 1998 and 2004 respectively.    

Andy Cole hit a post, while Alan Thompson and Paul Kitson were both denied by Massimo Taibi, before the ex Manchester United custodian pulled out all the stops in the penalty shootout, defying Peter Beardsley, Tino Asprilla (twice, when his first saved effort was retaken) and Harper himself.

10 year-old James Harper had been able to find the back of the same Leazes End goal with a half time spot kick during a shootout and although he only had a mascot clad in a Magpie costume to beat, his dad managed to cannon an effort off Taibi, who was moving to give Harps a free shot...