Good for team team spirit, I'm sure, and it brought back memories of Kevin Keegan's famous Entertainers.
Famously it was the Entertainers who stunned shoppers on Northumberland Street back in 1995.
Clad in fancy dress, the likes of Les Ferdinand, Rob Lee, John Beresford, David Ginola and Lee Clark somehow found themselves having a kickabout on Newcastle’s main shopping street.
United midfielder Rob Lee: “We had such a good team spirit. We were on a team night out at Christmas and suddenly a ball appeared from nowhere.
“So we ended up having a keepy-up competition in the middle of Northumberland Street! A huge crowd gathered and were cheering us on.
“They were great days but it showed how together we were as a group.”
And thankfully Newcastle’s current crop of players managed to get through the Christmas team night out in Dublin without any major problems – and in fancy dress too. It was good to see.
And refreshing that a team that had just beaten Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford were allowed to enjoy their night in Ireland without overdoing it.
Rob Lee: “It’s really important that you get the bond going in any dressing room. We had team nights out on a regular basis. They were compulsory. We had a meal and even if you didn’t drink you had to come.
“Peter Beardsley didn’t drink but still came along in those days. They’re important nights because you are away from the manager and if anybody has anything they need to talk about it comes out.
“It stops little issues turning into big problems.
“And it was good to see the Newcastle lads doing the fancy dress night in Dublin this week, it shows they are getting on together as a group.
“If they weren’t you wouldn’t see them doing something like that, that’s for sure.”