Nick Pope, Odysseas, John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie as well as PDP (Professional Development Phase) goalkeepers, observed the hour-long session at the Magpies' Little Benton Academy, which included fit and available goalies ranging from under-9 to under-16 level.

The club-wide goalkeeping day, designed to bring all of Newcastle's goalkeepers and goalkeeping staff together, proved a great success as the youngsters were put through the paces in front of their senior peers.

Tony Caig, Newcastle United's Head of Academy Goalkeeping, told newcastleunited.com: "The goalkeepers who trained were all the under-9s to under-16s and the PDP (Professional Development Phase) goalkeepers were around to support along with the first-team goalkeepers.

"It was a really good opportunity for the young goalkeepers to meet not only the first-team goalkeepers, but even the older ones within the Academy as they don't often get to see each other due to training at different times in different sites.

"It helps that we get that opportunity to train and meet them, feeling a part of something that's much bigger than being away with their particular age groups."

The goalkeeping department at Newcastle's Academy is led by Caig, who spent three years at United as a player between 2003 and 2006, and the former Carlisle United shot-stopper was delighted to see the Magpies' first-team goalkeepers supporting the talented crop of youngsters bidding to follow in familiar footsteps.

He added: "They were interacting with the young goalkeepers, giving them little pointers and praising them for the good things they were doing which was brilliant for the camaraderie of the group.

"The young keepers probably get more out of the experience than the senior ones but it was brilliant for them to give up their time and help towards putting this event together.

"Having worked with the first-team goalkeepers recently, they're all good guys and they've all started somewhere, having slightly different pathways but having lots of similarities in some ways.

"Some have been at big clubs, with Odysseas starting at Stuttgart as a six-year-old and talking about how goalkeeping training and coaching differs in Germany. Nick Pope has come through a slightly different way, starting at Ipswich and then going into non-league on loan with different elements to it.

"The one common denominator is they're all stood there appreciating how difficult the position is and look at the details and intricacies around goalkeeping understanding it."

Newcastle United's Head of Goalkeeping, Adam Bartlett, was also in attendance and Caig highlighted the departmen's strong structure in place to allow goalkeepers to progress through the club's youth ranks in their pursuit of first-team football in the future.

"Adam's had a strong Academy background before his current role with the first-team so he's got a good handle on it," Caig added.

"There's a good relationship between me and him after knowing each other for over 20 years, being his coach at other clubs when he played, so there's a lot of connections and we have quite similar beliefs and values on goalkeeping.

"They're strong in how we should help to develop goalkeepers so there's a great alignment throughout the club. The staff who have came in such as Shwan (Jalal) and Dani García at first-team level, Ben (Ascroft) with the PDP as well as James (Montgomery) and Amrik (Hare) gives it a nice way of working and it's quite evident from today's practice sessions.

"They're all smaller mirrored versions of what the first-team goalkeepers might do and there's just adjustments

made based on the ages and abilities of them. There'll be no shocks for them as they move through the age groups because each stage is a little more of a layer in.

"It shows we can do similar practices with slightly different age groups but it still works and there's still enough challenges there."