It was the day Paul Mitchell’s world came crashing down. When the former MK Dons captain was left fearing the worst following a seemingly innocuous challenge at Meadow Lane that changed his life and left his career in serious doubt.
It is hard to imagine a more frightening moment for a professional footballer. However, former team-mate Neil Roberts went to see his friend in hospital that night and never forgot how Mitchell refused to give up. The Mancunian duly attacked the first of four gruelling operations on a broken ankle and shattered tibia and fibula.
Mitchell, somehow, managed to return to action in 2008, but the midfielder was ultimately forced to hang up his boots. At just 27 years of age.
Mitchell’s time in football was far from over, though. If anything, the trauma only spurred him on further. So began a journey that has led Mitchell to Newcastle United as the club’s new sporting director.
“It’s nice to see him get a role like this because it’s testament to his determination, resilience and an inner drive that is ridiculous,” Roberts told ChronicleLive. “He’s a fighter and that will fit with Newcastle. I have no doubt about that.”
Roberts is well-placed to comment. The Welshman is one of the few figures in the game who know Mitchell well – going back to their time as players at Wigan Athletic – after the sporting director kept his inner circle deliberately small. Having worked in recruitment, himself, at Manchester City, Roberts has likened Mitchell to former colleague Txiki Begiristain, such is his standing in the game.
“Paul would have been on a lot of lists from a recruitment perspective in that role,” he explained. “Amanda [Staveley] has obviously worked very well and very conscientiously with this one because he’s had more than enough enquiries about his availability. Once he got himself settled, moving house and getting his family back closer to family in the North West, it was then time to look at what might be out there.
“He will be 100% all-in. He’s a family man but once he gets his teeth into something, he’s very much, ‘If you don’t embrace it fully, you don’t do the job properly.’ He’s the perfect appointment in that respect because Newcastle want to see a face and someone that’s willing to do the hard yards, and he’s done that.”
It has been quite a rise. From MK Dons, Southampton and Spurs to RB Leipzig, Red Bull, AS Monaco and now Newcastle.
