A picture special turned into a 48-page editorial and commercial supplement as the return of a sporting legend gripped Newcastle.

The Evening Chronicle had planned to run a special pull-out featuring snapshots of Kevin Keegan as a Newcastle United player, his first stint as a manager and then his triumphant return again as boss.

But as the editorial team compiled the supplement, it became apparent that more and more people wanted to contribute.

Deputy editor Chris Styles said: “It kind of grew legs as it was going along.

“We’d always planned to do a Keegan special but our advertisers became more interested and the size of the supplement grew.

“The huge supplement contained stories, text messages from fans and messages through our website.

“Our advertisers across the board were interested – there were an awful lot of messages saying ‘good luck’.”

Chris said Keegan’s return had had an almost tangible effect on the city – which could only be good for the Chronicle.

The supplement carried a Chronicle-Keegan face mask which fans sported at the stadium for Saturday’s game against Bolton.

And last Wednesday the Evening Chronicle performed a 6.30pm print run of 15,000 special copies to sell at the stadium as news broke of Keegan’s return.

As a consequence millions of TV viewers saw fans waving the paper on the BBC as the team prepared to face Stoke City in the FA Cup.

Chris added: “We’re reporting on the club day in, day out, and we will still be here when other media interest has wained.

“The face mask was a fun thing that raises our profile.

“And the exposure we’ve had, from a marketing point of view, is fabulous.”