Foluwashola "Shola" Ameobi (born 12 October 1981) is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Premier League club Newcastle United as a forward. Born in Nigeria but raised in England, Ameobi has been capped by the English under-21 team. He is the older brother of fellow footballers Tomi and Sammy. Ameobi has made more appearances for Newcastle than any other current player at the club, and received a winner's medal in 2010 when the team lifted the Championship trophy.

Born in Zaria, Nigeria, Ameobi moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, England when he was five. His initial promise was spotted whilst attending the Walker Central Boys Club, before he was invited to attend Newcastle United's Academy.

Ameobi signed a pre-contract with Newcastle on 1 July 1997. He progressed through the youth setup, making his debut in the reserves in 1998 on the 11th of October against Sunderland. He made his first team debut two years later, 9 September 2000, in a home game against Chelsea. He went on to make 22 appearances for Newcastle that season, in lieu of the injured Alan Shearer and Carl Cort.

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a French-born Senegalese footballer who plays as a striker for Newcastle United and the Senegal national team.

Ba was born in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, and was the sixth child of seven. He grew up in Saint-Valery-en-Caux, Seine-Maritime. He joined a youth club in Montgaillard in 1992, he played for Port Autonome du Havre between 1998 and 2000, and then for Frileuse between 2000 and 2001.

In 2001, his family moved to Châtillon and Ba played for Montrouge. He played there until 2004, at which point he decided to concentrate on his football. He had trials with Olympique Lyonnais and then with Auxerre, both of which were unsuccessful. He then left France to take part in trials at Watford and Barnsley, and was offered a one-year deal at Watford. After Watford manager Ray Lewington was sacked in 2005, Ba found that he was not in the first team plans of Aidy Boothroyd, and left the club in March 2005.

Ba signed with manager Alain Michel because they were both moving to French club Rouen on a one year contract, and Ba enjoyed a highly successful season with the club

Samuel "Sammy" Ameobi (born 1 May 1992) is an English footballer of Nigerian descent, currently playing for Premier League club Newcastle United as a striker or a left winger.

Ameobi joined the Newcastle United Academy in July 2008 after finishing school and made his reserve team debut on 29 September 2008 against Blackburn Rovers. He made his first-team debut on 15 May 2011 as a second-half substitute against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a 2–2 draw, alongside his brother Shola, coming on for Peter Løvenkrands just before Chelsea made the game 2–1. This prompted Newcastle fans to change a favourite chant from "There's only one Ameobi" to "There's only two Ameobis". They became the first pair of brothers to play for Newcastle in a league match since George and Ted Robledo in 1952.

Ameobi scored his first senior goal on 15 July 2011 in a pre-season friendly against Darlington. Prior to the goal, supporters chanted, "If Sammy scores we're on the pitch" and thus the goal was followed by a pitch invasion which caused the game to be delayed for 10 minutes. He scored his first competitive goal on 25 August 2011, scoring the winner in extra time against Scunthorpe United in the second round of the Football League Cup.

Joseph Phillip Yobo (born 6 September 1980 in Kono, Nigeria) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a centre back for Fenerbahçe, on loan from Everton. He is also an international for the Nigerian national team, for which he currently captains and has 87 caps making him the most capped Nigerian player ever.

Yobo was born in Kono, but he grew up in Port Harcourt and is close friends with Crewe Alexandra player George Abbey with whom he grew up. He later consulted with Abbey when deciding whether to move to England.

Yobo left Nigeria to join Standard Liège in 1998. He made his first team debut in 2000, and went on to appear 46 times. In 2001, he was bought by Marseille.

Soon after making his debut, Yobo was loaned to Tenerife. After around nine months, Yobo returned to Marseille, before joining Everton, again on loan, in July 2002. A £1 million fee was required to register the player, and he became the first signing of David Moyes. An option to make the move permanent was taken up and completed in 2003 after a dispute between Yobo and Marseille was settled, with Everton agreeing a fixed additional fee of £4 million.