Nick Pope, Newcastle goalkeeper has spoken out about the madness that Toon fans caused when they hijacked an internet poll that put an England man first on Twitter.
Toon Polls, a Newcastle fan account, answered to a Burger King online poll asking for opinions on gherkins and tomatoes.
The account jokingly responded to the tweet "Nick Pope" and started a trend that saw Easyjet, McDonalds and Amazon all tweet the name of the Magpie's summer symbol.
In an interview with Sky Sports, the 30-year-old explained how he found out about the bizarre incident and how his phone blew-up with notifications.
Nick Pope has laughed off the absurdity of seeing his name as the top trending topic on Twitter
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'It was a strange situation to be in. I had to look at my phone a few times and pinch myself. The Magpies stopper said,
I thought: What's going on? What's going on? My phone didn't stop vibrating. I'm not used to it, not many people are.
'A couple of text messages were saying"What's happening?Gservers.org That's a bit of concern. I don't know the number of messages, it was constant. Something I am not used to, and quite funny when I realised what was happening and looked at some of the pictures. Then the boys started taking the mickey.'
Pope responded when Pope was asked which team member caused him the most stress over his new fame. He said that it was the team effort in the changing rooms that caused the humiliation.
Newcastle fans started the chaos by responding to an Burger King poll with Nick Pope's name
Pope joined the party by tweeting his name which became the top trending topic all over the world.
"They were able to spread the word and there were a lot around the world. Every time I walked round the corner, there was someone else. I would do the exact same thing if it was one of the other guys.
Pope's name was the most popular in the UK and number 10 worldwide, while McDonalds offered a free breakfast to Toon Polls, if the goalie could keep an unbeaten record against Brighton the following day - which he did following Newcastle's goalless draw at The Amex Stadium.
The poll went viral, but he wasn't alone. The buzz generated by the tweets was also shared by Nick Pope, an Arizona-based UFO expert. It wasn't the first time that the namesake and Nick Pope had crossed paths, the Newcastle Nick Pope explained.
Pope's victory over Brighton earned the account of the fan the privilege of a free McDonalds breakfast
"We had a little disagreement a couple of years ago when something happened. I believe he was being hounded by opposition football fans so I had to inform people that it wasn't me. You never know, one day I may need information regarding UFOs, and at the very least I have contact.'
Pope quickly settled in at St James Park, putting in impressive performances in the three initial Newcastle games.
There have been calls for the Toon number one to become England's new first choice goalie, but faces competition from current owner of the jersey Jordan Pickford as well as Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson.
Nick Pope on trending, his World Cup aspirations & more! YouTube - YouTube
