Ex-Newcastle United and Chelsea star reappears in Ireland with frenzied recreation of Liverpool trademark

Forgotten former Newcastle United star Damien Duff has popped back up into the consciousness of Magpies supporters with some dramatic antics at Irish football side Shelbourne.

The former Premier League winger was all over football fans' social media accounts over the weekend as he interacted with Shelbourne supporters after a late win over St Patrick's Athletic on Friday night.

Duff is best known for his three years at Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles and a League Cup, and for racking up over 200 appearances for Blackburn Rovers between 1996 and 2003.

The 44-year-old also spent a spell in the North East at Newcastle United between 2006 and 2009. Duff scored six goals in 86 appearances but his legacy at St James' Park was marred by a career-threatening injury and the memory of scoring a crucial own goal that relegated the club in 2009.

The winger had promised to stick it out at Newcastle United and help the club back into the Premier League but made just one Championship appearance before completing a move to Fulham.

Duff finished his career at Irish side Shamrock Rovers in 2015 and has enjoyed a few coaching and assistant manager posts since before being appointed as Shelbourne manager in 2021.

The Irishman's time in the role has largely gone unnoticed by football fans aware of his time in the Premier League - something the star has taken issue with when criticising the English football leagues for looking down upon players in the Irish league as 'cavemen'.

However, football fans were thinking of Duff once again this weekend as a video of him celebrating with Shelbourne fans went viral online. The 44-year-old aggressively punched the air in front of a packed stand, clapped his hands and ran around the pitch like a much smaller and much more Irish version of Jurgen Klopp experiencing a sugar rush.

Reacting to the video online, one Newcastle United fan said: "If Damien Duff put in this much effort during the 2008/09 season we’d have stayed up!"

Agreeing with that sentiment, another replied: "There have been very few players in a Newcastle shirt that have looked more disinterested in being in one than him."

Duff's Shelbourne were losing the Ireland Premier Division meeting 1-0 until 80th and 90th-minute goals from Euclides Cabral and Paddy Barett turned the match on its head.

There's clearly a lot of love for the former Newcastle United player in Ireland, with fans praising his work at Shelbourne when replying to the video. One Twitter user said: "Damien Duff has been the best addition to the League of Ireland (managerial wise) in recent memory. He loves it. You can't fault that."

Another said: "Duffer was a gentleman to a family in Cavan before the game. He made a young man’s night and with a family going through a tough time, he showed what a man he is. Goat."