United with Pride co-chair on Shearer, sexuality - and life since takeover
- Published
Ian Pearson-Brown was brought up with Newcastle United in his blood.
He was there for the club’s remarkable rise up through the leagues - and has followed them, home and away, from the heyday of Kevin Keegan’s time in charge to the turbulence of the Mike Ashley era.
Like many LGBTQ+ people, he struggled with his sexuality – and, in his own words, he became "the most homophobic gay man you’d ever meet", as he hid the fact he was gay while sometimes even joining in with discriminatory chants on the terraces.
So, to say a young Ian would have been surprised to see himself as co-chair of United with Pride – Newcastle United’s LGBTQ+ supporters group – would be a massive understatement.
And it's fair to say neither Ian nor United with Pride have had the easiest of times since the Saudi Arabia-backed takeover of the Magpies.