Former Newcastle United shot-stopper and current Academy Director, Steve Harper, has praised the overseas support for the club following a visit to Orlando, Florida, where the Magpies were part of the Premier League's Morning Live activation.
Harper was joined by former team-mate Shay Given for two days of activities in the USA, which included community activations and supporter Q&As along with previews and insights on live broadcasts with NBC Sports.
The club were taking part in Premier League Mornings Live for the first time, kicking off with Harper and Given visiting a local school and taking part in a number of coaching clinics for youngsters, with the duo rolling back the years as they were assigned as goalkeepers for mini games at the school.
Speaking at the community activation, Harper commented: "It's important to spread the word about the great things happening at the club. There's a growing number of football fans over here in the US and combining that with the exciting things happening at Newcastle, then it proves to be an important, worthwhile trip.
"Newcastle is a fantastic club with incredible support around the world and seeing more black and white shirts shows the size and potential of this club. More and more supporters' groups are popping up around the world and for us to be able to meet our fans overseas is very exciting.
"All of the fans that we have met have different stories on their love for the club and it's great to hear all of these. Some fans here have fallen in love with the club because of individual players, others because their grandparents lived in the North East, and fans who love seeing the raw passion of fans back home and want to be part of it.
"It is always special to see and hear from our fans overseas and I'm confident that our support will only grow as we continue to push for more success throughout all areas of the club."
During the weekend of activities, Harper and Given were joined by Magpies legend Alan Shearer for a live broadcast across the USA on NBC Sports, who were on the ground at Universal Studios for the Fan Fest, with Given echoing Harper's thoughts during the interviews.
"It's nice to come and meet Newcastle fans here," he said. "There's hope and excitement around the city and fans can dream again, which is great to see.
"This is the first time that the club has taken part in these overseas events and hopefully there will be a lot more to come. It really is an exciting time and it has been great to be part of it. The welcome that we have received from our fans has been great."
Whilst on the ground in Orlando, the club held its second overseas Q&A and meet-and-greet session in as many months, following the team's visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December, where over 100 fans took part in an exclusive all-access session with co-owner Amanda Staveley, CEO Darren Eales, fan favourite Shola Ameobi, Eddie Howe and a number of players.
The Premier League's two-day fan event took place at Universal CityWalk, Universal Orlando Resort's entertainment complex, and featured live action from Premier League fixtures presented across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, Telemundo and Universo.
Thousands of football fans registered to attend the weekend of action, with more than 50,000 supporters attending the Premier League Mornings Live activations across the US during this season.