Fans left stunned as Newcastle star Matt Ritchie gets HGV licence and joke he’ll be ‘driving the team coach next season’

NEWCASTLE should look no further than Matt Ritchie if they need a new coach driver.

The Toon winger, 34, is set leave this summer when his contract expires.

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But while minutes have been hard to come by this season, Ritchie has been putting his time to good use - by getting a Large Goods Vehicle licence.

After a brief cameo in Wednesday's 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, he popped up on social media beaming with his certificate.

Colin Smith posted the photo on X alongside the caption: “Well done Matt Ritchie, just passed his test with Tyne and Wear Lgv. Get in lad.”

And Magpies fans loved the bizarre extracurricular activity that the former Bournemouth man had been getting up to with one suggesting he will be driving the team bus from now on.

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They joked: “NUFC getting their money's worth out of Matt Ricthie by appointing as their new team coach driver.”

Another fan wrote: "When they said Ritchie might get a job as a coach I didn’t think they meant driver!"

And a third posted: "I think he's misunderstood Eddie when he said he wanted to park the bus..."

Regular minutes have been a rarity in recent times for Ritchie who has been somewhat left behind since the Saudi revolution on Tyneside.

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He has managed just 215 minutes in all competitions this season, which despite being shockingly low is still three minutes more than he racked up last term.

The 16-time Scotland international arrived at St James' Park from Bournemouth back in 2016 and has amassed 213 appearances for the club in his eight years of service.

But with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, and his name well down Eddie Howe's pecking order, it looks as though his time in the north east will be coming to an end.