‘I played for Newcastle but ended up in prison – I was locked in my cell for 23 hours a day’

Former Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger went from earning £10,000 a week to serving a prison sentence and being locked in his cell for 23 hours every day

Former Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger plummeted from pocketing £10,000 a week to enduring a prison sentence and being confined to his cell for 23 hours daily.

The London-born forward burst onto the scene as a promising talent at Southampton before joining St James’ Park in 2008 as a highly-rated prospect. During his debut campaign, he netted 15 goals for the under-18s and seven for the reserves, and as the Magpies secured promotion to the Premier League, he broke into first-team reckoning.

Ranger signed a fresh five-year contract in December 2010, valued at £10k per week, and featured regularly under Chris Hughton and then Alan Pardew. Nevertheless, this would all crumble due to off-pitch issues. After sliding down the divisions following numerous brushes with the law, Ranger was imprisoned in 2017 for fraud, having previously served time as a teenager for armed robbery.

Reflecting on his initial prison stint, the 34-year-old told the BBC: “We weren’t going around shooting or stabbing people. We wanted to get some quick money, so we said: ‘Let’s just take phones off people.’

“One of our entourage had a knife but I don’t know why because he wasn’t using it. We were acting like idiots. Armed robbery is terrible. I wasn’t wanting to hurt them.

“I was just thinking about getting the goods and running off. Now I’m older, I do think I must have caused people trauma. At times, I was a lunatic. I don’t know what else to call it.”

Ranger faced charges for being drunk and disorderly in Newcastle in 2011, and also sparked controversy after posing with a replica firearm in a photo. In 2013, he was charged with common assault following an incident in Newcastle city centre, reports Chronicle Live.

His troubles persisted, leading him to leave Newcastle in 2013 for Swindon Town before later signing with Blackpool. In 2017, while playing for Southend United, he admitted to conspiracy to defraud by obtaining bank details and transferring money, resulting in an eight-month prison sentence.

He served his time at Pentonville Prison in north London, and shared: “There was a lot of alone time. I was banged up for 23 hours a day. I didn’t have any bad experiences, but I heard about people being attacked in the showers, that kind of thing.

“Moving to Newcastle, in my head I thought, ‘I’ve made it.’ Looking back, I’ve realised the many silly decisions that led to the situations I found myself in.

“I messed up,” Ranger, who now plays for Kettering Town after struggling to find a club in 2020, confessed. “Team-mates, friends and managers would say: ‘Nile, your chances are going to run out.’ I wouldn’t listen. I was wild, wild, wild.

“I know I have baggage. If I had behaved, I would have stayed at the top, but I was too unruly. I had a decent career. I was on decent money, and then I messed it all up.

“Chris Hughton would say to me, ‘You need to focus, you need to tell all your friends to go back to London.’ Because we used to cause havoc in Newcastle.

“People would cut their leg off for the opportunity I had. I would bring all my friends up to Newcastle [from London] for parties. I had more money than sense. There was no discipline from me. I was living life in the fast lane.”