Newcastle's midfield maestro, Jonjo Shelvey, has taken St James' Park by storm over the last year since he arrived from Premier League side, Swansea City.

Shelvey arrived at Newcastle last season to try and bolster the Magpies survival bid, which was ultimately unsuccessful, but Shelvey was a shining light in what was a poor season.

The former Liverpool midfielder has continued his fine form this season and he has been a key figure, as Newcastle have climbed to the Championship summit, looking well placed to bounce straight back to the top flight.

Shelvey started off his career with Charlton Athletic, before earning a big move to Premier League giant, Liverpool, in 2010, but he struggle to make serious inroads into the first team.

The move to the North-West never worked out, which resulted in him dropping down to Swansea.

Everyone knows most of the details surrounding Shelvey and his career, but here, FLW's Chris Wilson will look at TWO things you probably never knew about Jonjo Shelvey...

 

Family Man

Shelvey was born in Romford, London, but he grew up in Harold Hill, which at the time had a very high crime rate at the time the rest of his family still lived there.

When his sister fell pregnant, Shelvey paid for a new house for his sister in Brentwood, to get her into a safe place, which is the ultimate gesture from the Newcastle midfielder.

Shelvey also had a brother who was allegedly better than him, but his career was blighted, and ultimately ended, due to persistent partying and drinking.

 

International choice

 When Shelvey was an up and coming star, there was much debate about which country he would represent at international level, a battle which England won.

Shelvey was also eligible to play for Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, but decided to play for England, where he has gone on to achieve six caps.

The Newcastle midfielder made his international bow in 2012 against San Marino, coming on as a 66th minute substitute in a 5-0 win for England.