Why Leon Best #wasmint during his stay with Newcastle United

Best may not have enjoyed legendary status during his two and a half year stay on Tyneside.

But for a while, he certainly enjoyed being something of a cult figure.

And for certain, he will leave St James' Park a better player and stronger character after a testing few months early in his career at United after arriving from Coventry City during the Chris Hughton era.

It was Liam Brady who told Hughton to take a punt on Best.

However, he didn't pull up on any trees during his early days at the club and struggled to get between Andy Carroll and Peter Lovenkrands during the promotion season.

From the day he walked into St James', he admitted he had a tough challenge on his hands.

Yet he also insisted he would sweat blood for the cause.

At the time of his arrival the number 9 shirt was vacant at St James',

And when asked if he'd fancied wearing it after joining from the Sky Blues, he said: "That type of shirt is something you have to earn up here."

From that moment on, it was obvious that Best - while sometimes erractic in front of goal - knew that his only currency in Newcastle would be goals.

At the beginning he was unlucky to join a club when Carroll and Lovenkrands were in such great form.

There seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel as he scored in a pre-season friendly at Carlisle to get his first goal for the Magpies at Brunton Park.

But more bad fortune followed.

An ankle injury in training ruled him out of action for the first half of Newcastle's return to the Premier League.

Some United fans had witnessed enough in the Championship to describe - perhaps in cruel manner - Best as a failure.

Under a new manager in Alan Pardew he was handed another chance once fit.

In his return game at Wigan he fluffed a one on one chance through a lack of sharpness during a 1-0 win.

Groans of "here we go again" were muttered from the away section by a few fans.

But in his next game he didn't half ram those words down the throats of those who doubted him - not once, not twice but three times with a stunning hat-trick against West Ham.

Other highlights included Best playing a big part in the amazing 4-4 draw with Arsenal, scoring and winning a penalty in a historic match.

With Andy Carroll by this time sold, Best had a real opportunity on his hands at 24-years-old but he'd finish the season by being hit with injury again.

That was enough to earn cult status but if anybody doubted that popularity then they should have been in America during the club's pre-season tour last year.

Best was virtually mobbed by Stateside-based fans with some supporters even going to the point of wearing t-shirts with the Twitter catchphrase #leonbestismint printed on them,

During the never to be forgotten trip to the US, Best confessed aftewards he would never use Twitter in order to stay out of trouble but appreciated the support.

He started last season in real style netting three goals in the early stages before but injury problems haunted him again.

With Demba Ba on African Nations duty Best was given the chance to lead the line in his absence and a cracking goal against QPR offered hope he could fill those red hot scoring boots.

Sadly though it proved to be the last of his 10 goals for the Magpies as Papiss Cisse arrived, Best was injured again, and things were never the same again.

If his status as a cult hero had been short, it had also been sweet.

Those who interviewed him always walked away with a smile on their face.

After helping Newcastle to third in the Premier League at one stage last season he said: "I'm just going to pause the telly and look at the league table while I eat my dinner."

The 4-4 draw with Arsenal resulted in the comment: "We've got Northern Rock on our shirts - but you saw the real Northern Rocks out there in the second half."

Best wanted to be known as "Geordie Best" after his goalscoring start to the season continued, but even though the goals dried up, he leaves a popular figure.

He was always happy to meet the fans, always happy to talk the media to communicate with the Geordie public and generally seemed proud to play for Newcastle.