Newcastle United's first South American superstar to be honoured with a blue plaque

Newcastle United fans have a new hero - Bruno Guimarães.

The 24-year-old Brazil international sparked wild celebrations at St James' Park on Sunday when his two goals - including a thrilling last-minute header - earned a victory over Leicester City which all but secured the Magpies' Premier League status.

Bruno, who hails from Rio de Janeiro, is by no means the first South American to have captured the hearts of United followers. Other notables from down the years include fellow Brazilian Mirandinha (who enjoyed his own memorable terrace chant), Faustino Asprilla from Colombia, and Nolberto Solano from Peru.

Newcastle's first South American superstar, though, was a lethal goalscorer born in Chile called George Robledo who lit up Tyneside - playing in the same team as his younger brother Ted (shortened from Eduardo) - in the late 1940s and early '50s. Early next month, a blue plaque is set to be unveiled at the former Newcastle home of two Robledo brothers.

The pair had arrived in England from Chile as small children with their parents in the early 1930s, settling in South Yorkshire. As footballers, George, 23, and Ted, 20, signed for Newcastle United from Barnsley for a joint £25,000 fee in January 1949.

Back then, players in every team of the English football league were virtually without exception English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish, and the ambitious signing of two Chileans - the first South Americans to play professional football in England - must have seemed wildly exotic on grey, post-war Tyneside.

While half-back Ted was a solid performer playing 45 times for the club without scoring, it was hot-shot George who regularly grabbed the headlines. The striker would appear 164 times for United, netting himself a