Newcastle United F.C.
- For the Australian club, see Newcastle United Jets.
| Newcastle crest | |||
| Full name | Newcastle United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Magpies, The Toon | ||
| Founded | 1892 | ||
| Ground | St James' Park Newcastle upon Tyne England | ||
| Capacity | 52,387[1] | ||
| Chairman |  Chris Mort[2] (for Mike Ashley) | ||
| Manager | Sam Allardyce | ||
| League | Premier League | ||
| 2006–07 | Premier League, 13th | ||
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Newcastle United Football Club (also known as The Magpies or The Toon) are an English professional football team based in Newcastle upon Tyne. They play in the Premier League and are historically the eighth most successful club in English football.[3] This takes into account all results since the beginning of English league football in 1888.
The club formed in 1892 after the merger of two local clubs, Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has since played at St James' Park, the old Newcastle West End ground in the city. Newcastle United supporters refer to themselves as the "Toon Army". Newcastle's traditional local rivals are Sunderland, with whom they have contested the Tyne-Wear derby since 1898.
History
- For more details on this topic, see Newcastle United F.C. season 2007-08.
In November 1881, the Stanley Cricket Club of south Byker decided to form an association football club, to play during the winter after the cricket season had ended. Just under a year later, in October 1882, they changed their name to Newcastle East End FC to avoid confusion with the cricket club in the town of Stanley, County Durham. Meanwhile, across the city, another cricket club began to take an interest in football and in August 1882, they formed Newcastle West End FC. West End played their early football on their cricket pitch, but later moved to St James' Park. East End turned professional in 1889. West End, however, did not fare so well; in Spring 1892 they approached East End with a view to a takeover, the directors having decided that the club could no longer continue due to financial problems.[4] Ultimately, it was agreed that West End's players and most of its backroom staff would join East End. East End also took over the lease on St. James' Park, which effectively merged the two rival clubs together. By December 1892, they decided to give the club a new name and a new image. At a public meeting, several new names, including Newcastle Rangers and Newcastle City, were suggested, before all agreed on Newcastle United.
Newcastle United went on to lift the League Championship on three occasions during the 1900s; 1905, 1907 and 1909. The club's success continued in cup competitions, as they reached five FA Cup Finals in seven years, appearing in the final of 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910 and 1911. However they went on to win just one of them, the 1910 Final against Barnsley, in a replay at Goodison Park. However, there was still one particular low point during this period, as the team suffered a 9–1 defeat by fierce rivals Sunderland in the 1908–09 season. Sunderland still count the result as their record highest win.
After World War I, they won the League a fourth time during 1927. The team returned to the FA Cup final in 1924, in only their second ever final at Wembley Stadium. They were successful in defeating Aston Villa and therefore winning the club's second FA Cup trophy in its history. Notable players during this period include the likes of Hughie Gallacher, Neil Harris, Stan Seymour and Frank Hudspeth.
During the 1950s, United lifted the FA Cup trophy on three occasions within a five year period. In 1951 they defeated Blackpool 2-0, a year later Arsenal were beaten 1-0 and in 1955 United defeated Manchester City 3-1. The Magpies had gained a high profile, and so had their players; 'Wor Jackie' Milburn and Bobby 'Dazzler' Mitchell in particular.
An old war horse returned to revitalise the Magpies in the shape of Joe Harvey, who had skippered the club to much of their post-war success. He teamed up with Stan Seymour to rebuild Newcastle United and they returned to the elite as Second Division Champions in 1965. Newcastle then became very much an unpredictable and inconsistent side, always capable of defeating the best, but never quite realising their potential.
Joe Harvey's side qualified for Europe for the first time in 1968 and surprised many the following year by lifting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (Although not sanctioned as an official European Competition by UEFA, the thirst for a third official European competition became overwhelming, and two years later UEFA instigated a formal contest known as the UEFA Cup), beating Sporting Lisbon, Feyenoord and Real Zaragoza along the way, before triumphing over two legs against Hungary's Újpest FC in the final. United possessed a reliable team and Newcastle's tradition of fielding a popular goalscorer at number 9 continued, as Welshman Wyn Davies was prominent.
In the years that followed European success, manager Harvey brought in a string of talented entertainers who thrilled the Gallowgate crowd. Players such as Jimmy Smith, Tony Green, Terry Hibbitt and in particular centre-forward Malcolm Macdonald all became favourites amongst supporters. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Malcolm Macdonald was one of United's most popular figures and is still held in high regard by supporters to this day. He had an impressive goalscoring tally, which led United's attack to Wembley twice, in 1974 and 1976, against Liverpool in the FA Cup and Manchester City in the League Cup. But on each occasion the Magpies failed to bring the trophy back to Tyneside. A small consolation was back to back triumphs in the Texaco Cup in 1974 and 1975.
By the start of the 1980s, United had declined dramatically and were languishing in the Second Division. Gordon Lee had replaced Harvey as boss, yet he in turn soon gave way to Richard Dinnis and then Bill McGarry. But it was Arthur Cox who steered United back again to the First Division with ex-England skipper Kevin Keegan the focus of the side, having joined the club in 1982.
With managers such as Jack Charlton, Willie McFaul and Jim Smith, Newcastle remained in the top-flight until the team was relegated once more in 1989.
Later, Kevin Keegan returned to Tyneside to replace Osvaldo Ardiles as manager on a short term contract in 1992, taking what he claimed to be the only job that could tempt him back into football. United were struggling at the wrong end of Division Two; Sir John Hall had all but taken control of the club and he needed a minor miracle to stop the Magpies from tumbling into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Survival was confirmed by winning both of their final two league games, at home to Portsmouth and away to Leicester City, the latter to a last minute own goal, although as it transpired, Newcastle would have survived even if they had lost at Leicester .
The 1992-93 season saw a dramatic turn around in the club's fortunes. They won their first eleven league games before a 1-0 home defeat against Grimsby Town ended the run, two games short of the English league record of 13 consecutive wins. Playing an exciting brand of attacking football Newcastle became Division One champions with a 2-0 away win, coincidentally at Grimsby, and gained promotion to the Premier League.
Under Keegan, Newcastle continued to succeed, impressing with their attacking flair and a third place finish during the 1993-94 season, this was their first season back in the top flight. The attacking philosophy of Keegan led to Newcastle becoming labelled by Sky television as "The Entertainers". The following season Newcastle sold top scorer Andy Cole to Manchester United and finished 6th that season.
With the transfer money in 1995-96, Newcastle rebuilt with the signing of David Ginola and Les Ferdinand amongst others. The club came very close to winning the Premier League that season, and were at one time 12 points ahead of nearest rivals Manchester United, but eventually lost out. One match in particular from that season stood out, the 4–3 defeat to Liverpool, which has since been described as the greatest ever Premiership match[citation needed]. On 30 July 1996, the disappointment of missing out on the title was lessened to an extent, as the club signed Alan Shearer for a then world record fee of £15 million. The 1996–97 season saw Newcastle once again finish in second.
After short and unsuccessful spells as manager from Kenny Dalglish and Ruud Gullit, former England manager Sir Bobby Robson was appointed as manager. His first home game in charge was particularly impressive; it was an 8-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, which remains the club's record home win.[5] Good performances such as these helped the club ensure survival in the Premiership in Robson's first season. A title challenge emerged during the 2001–02 season, and Newcastle achieved qualification for the Champions League after finishing in 4th place. However, Robson was sacked in 2004 after failing to qualify for the Champions League. Robson is still held in high regard by Newcastle supporters.[6]
Graeme Souness was his replacement, but he proved to be an unpopular and unsuccessful choice being sacked on 2 February 2005, despite signing Michael Owen for a record £17 million. Glenn Roeder replaced Souness; during this time Alan Shearer overtook Jackie Milburn as the club's highest ever goal-scorer. Shearer retired at the end of the 2005–06 season, with a total of 206 goals for the club.
On 23 May 2007 English businessman Mike Ashley bought the Hall's stake in the club of 41.6% for £55m and then launched a formal takeover bid. On 7 June, Freddy Shepherd and Shepherd Offshore Services Ltd. agreed to sell their stake in Newcastle United and released a statement urging other shareholders to do the same.[7] It was announced that Shepherd would remain in the role of chairman.[8] Confirmation came on the 15 June that Mike Ashley and St. James' Holdings had acquired slightly over 77% of the club. This meant that Mike Ashley could delist the company from the stock exchange.[9] On 26 June, Ashley gained the 90% of shares needed to complete the takeover.
On 16 July 2007, Northumbria Police confirmed that Newcastle were one of three football clubs to be involved in an investigation into alleged corruption. A search warrant was served and a Northumbria Police spokesman confirmed that an operation had been carried out at St James' Park. However, in a statement issued by the club, Newcastle pointed out that the club itself wasn't the subject of the investigation, but rather it could be one of their past or present employees.[10]
On 24 July 2007, it was announced that Chris Mort had replaced Freddy Shepherd as Chairman of the Football Club.[2]
Colours
Newcastle originally wore red and white stripes when the East End and West End clubs unified, continuing the tradition of the defunct Newcastle East End.[4] To avoid confusion with their neighbours Sunderland, Newcastle changed to their now familiar black and white stripes in 1904. Ever since then, this basic colour design of the home kit has remained steadfastly unchanged, although the sock colour has occasionally changed from black to white over the years - notably during the Ruud Gullit era, who believed white was lucky. They have also sometimes worn white shorts when playing other stripe-wearing teams who also wear black shorts.
Conversely, Newcastle's change or away colours have been very inconsistent, with no one particular colour being more consistently recognisable than others. In the late 1960s to mid 1970s the change strips were All Blue: in the 1980s, the change kits were mostly yellow and green, similar to Norwich City's home kit. Since the 1990s, the away strip has often been return to a shade of blue. For the 07/08 season, the away kit is all sky blue. Other common away colours are all black, all white, yellow or grey. The most unusual away colour is arguably the maroon and blue horizontal hoop colours from the 1995-96 season. These colours later returned for the 2006-07 season.
Newcastle's European shirt colours have been inconsistent. Some recent examples of colours used by the club in European competition are; all yellow with black shorts, all grey with a black trim and most recently, sky blue and black.
Newcastle's shirt sponsors were Scottish & Newcastle Breweries from 1982 - 1986. In 1986, Greenalls took over and ran until 1990 when S & N returned for a ten year stint. In 2000, NTL took over for three years, and then the club was sponsored by Northern Rock. Newcastle's home and away kit is currently manufactured by Adidas and in the past has been manufactured by Bukta, Umbro and Asics.
Stadium
- Main article: St James' Park
Newcastle's home stadium is St James' Park, which has been their home since the merger of East End and West End in 1891, though football was first played there in 1880. At the turn of the 20th century the ground could hold 30,000, but this was soon expanded to 60,000.[11] However, the ground was altered little in the next 70 years, and by the 1980s was looking dated.
The Bradford fire in 1985 prompted renovation, but progress was slow due to financial difficulties. The takeover of the club by Sir John Hall in 1992 resolved these difficulties, and the stadium was redeveloped to comply with the Taylor Report. In the mid-1990s, the club wished to build a new ground in the nearby Leazes Park, however these plans were quashed. In response to this, the club expanded St. James' Park further. Following the completion of the construction in 2000, St James' Park became the club ground with the second highest capacity in England with 52,387 seats,[1] behind Manchester United's Old Trafford. It later became the third highest capacity after the completion of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.
Two stands, the Sir John Hall stand and the Milburn stand, have two tiers and are of cantilever construction, whereas the East Stand and the Gallowgate End are roughly half as high, and each have a single tier. This can make the stadium look quite lopsided. The Gallowgate End is traditionally home to Newcastle's most vociferous supporters, as it was once the stand with no roof covering. In recent years, a fan based group named Toon Ultras has began to assemble in Level 7 of the Sir John Hall Stand to attempt to "Bring Back The Noise" which supporters feel was lost when the club expanded the stadium and split fans to cater for executive boxes.
It was announced on 2 April 2007 that the club intend to submit plans for a new £300 million development that would increase the stadium's capacity to at least 60,000.[12]
Supporters
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Newcastle have a large fanbase and the 2nd highest average attendance in England.[13] Newcastle's supporters are considered to be a passionate set of fans.[14] They are often referred to as the "Toon Army" or the "Geordies". The name Toon originates from the geordie word for town.[15] It is not known for sure where exactly the term Geordie comes from. It may originate from the Geordie lamps, which were miner's lamps developed by George Stephenson in 1815. However it has also been claimed that in 1745, George II recruited many troops from around the Newcastle area. They were known as "George's men", which became "Geordies men" in the local dialect, hence Geordies.[16]
The club is based in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne and is the only major club in the city. In recent times, where other clubs have attracted fanbases from all around the world, Newcastle's fanbase is still mostly within Britain, with a percentage from other parts of the world, particularly Scandinavia,[17] North America[18] and Australia.[19]
Like all major English football clubs, Newcastle has a number of domestic supporters' clubs. The club's supporters publish fanzines such as True Faith and The Mag. In addition to the usual English football chants, Newcastle's supporters sing the traditional Tyneside song "Blaydon Races".[20] Mark Knopfler's guitar classic "Going Home" from the soundtrack to Local Hero is also used before kick-off at Newcastle's home matches.[21]
Newcastle's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbour, Sunderland, colloquially known as "The Mackems", a term used by Newcastle and Sunderland residents alike. Matches between the two are referred to as the Tyne-Wear derby. Newcastle also have a smaller rivalry with Middlesbrough, with whom they contest the Tyne-Tees derby. It is believed that Middlesbrough's supporters consider the rivalry to be more intense than Newcastle supporters, who in turn see them as being highly insignificant.[22]
Newcastle in popular culture
In the British sketch show entitled Harry Enfield's Television Programme, one of the sketches featured a fictitious Newcastle United player named Julio Geordio.[23] The character was said to be Colombian, which suggests he may have been influenced by an actual former player - Faustino Asprilla, who played for the club at around the same time.
The club was the focus for another film, Purely Belter (2000).[24] It features two teenage Newcastle United supporters desperately trying to get money by any means necessary, in order to afford season tickets for home games played by Newcastle. Alan Shearer makes another cameo appearance; he signs autographs before the boys steal his car.
Newcastle also formed the backdrop to one of the most successful football-related films, Goal! (2005).[25] The film is centred on a young man named Santiago Muñez (played by Kuno Becker), hoping to become a professional football player. He is signed up by Newcastle United and works his way up into the first team. On the last day of the season he scores the goal which qualifies Newcastle for the European Cup. Numerous Newcastle players appeared as themselves in the film, such as Alan Shearer, Kieron Dyer, Hugo Viana and Patrick Kluivert.
Statistics and records
Jimmy Lawrence holds the record for the most Newcastle appearances, having played 496 first-team matches between 1904 and 1921 as a goalkeeper.[26] Former captain and left back Frank Hudspeth comes second, having appeared 472 times and scoring on 37 occasions.
Alan Shearer is the club's top goalscorer with 206 goals in all competitions between 1996 and 2006[27] having surpassed Jackie Milburn's tally of 200 in February 2006. Milburn had held the record since 1957, his striking partner Len White is the third highest scorer at Newcastle with 153 goals. Albert Stubbins could be Newcastle's all time leading goal scorer but his goals are not counted as the majority were scored during World War II.[28]
Newcastle's record home attendance is 68,386, against Chelsea on 3 September, 1930.[29] The capacity of St James' Park is currently 52,387,[1] so it is unlikely that these records will be broken in the foreseeable future. The highest attendance in the Premier League is 52,327, in a match against Manchester United on 28 August, 2005.[29]
Players
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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- Players in bold have represented their country at senior level
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserves
Notable players
Managers
As of May 15, 2007. Only competitive matches are counted.
Honours
- First Division and Premier League[33] titles: 4
- Champions: 1904-05, 1906-07, 1908-09, 1926-27
- Runners-up: 1995–96, 1996–97
- Old Second Division: 2
- Champions: 1964-65, 1992-93
- Runners-up: 1897-98, 1947-48
- FA Cups: 6
- 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, 1955
- Charity Shields and Community Shields[34]: 1
- 1909
- Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1
- 1969
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1
- 2006
- Texaco Cups: 2
- 1974, 1975
- Anglo-Italian Cup: 1
- 1973
- Kirin Cup: 1
- 1983
Footnotes
- ^ a b c "Modern St James' Park in detail". nufc.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
- ^ a b "New Chairman Announced". Newcastle United FC. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
- ^ "Newcastle United Football News". Premiership Latest. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
- ^ a b Joannou, P. "A brief history of Toon - Part 1: 1881-1939". P. Joannou. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ "Sir Bobby : Ten Facts". BBC Tyne. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ "PREMIERSHIP: Sir Bobby Robson, Newcastle United, 1999-2004". squarefootball.net. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
- ^ "Ashley to take over Newcastle Utd". BBC News. bbc.co.uk. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Shepherdchairmanwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^
"Ashley boosts stake in Newcastle". BBC News. bbc.co.uk. 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Police raid three football clubs". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
- ^ "The St James' Park Story: Part 1". Newcastle United official website. Retrieved 2006-03-09.
- ^
"Newcastle announce ground plans". BBC News. bbc.co.uk. 2007-04-02. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Top 30 English Football Clubs by League Attendances". footballeconomy.com. Retrieved August 21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Winter, Henry. "Shepherd the bad guy in Geordie soap opera". The Telegraph. Retrieved June 9.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Geordie Slang Dictionary". Geordies.co.uk. Retrieved March 28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "North East dialect origins and the meaning of 'Geordie'". North East England History. Retrieved March 28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Scandinavian Magpies Online". Scandinavian Newcastle United Supporters' Club Website. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ "Toon Army USA". North American Newcastle United Supporters' Club Website. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ "Aussie Mags". Australian Newcastle United Supporters' Club Website. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ "Toon Ultras". Toon Ultras - Bringing Back the Noise. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ Whetstone, D. (2006) City welcomes local hero. Available from: guyfletcher.co.uk - projects - news
- ^ "Football Rivalries: The Complete Results". thefootballnetwork. Retrieved June 30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Harry Enfield and Chums". IMDb. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ "Purely Belter". IMDb. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Goal!". IMDb. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Newcastle United Club Records". nufc.com. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ "Player profiles: Alan Shearer". Racing Post. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ "Obituary: Albert Stubbins". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ a b "Ground news". nufc.com. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ "2007-08 Squad Numbers`". Retrieved 2007-07-18.
- ^ "Report on Villareal CF Official site`". Retrieved 2007-08-03.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b c d e Served as caretaker manager.
- ^ Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division; since then, it has been the Premier League.
- ^ The trophy was known as the Charity Shield until 2002, and as the Community Shield since then.
External links
- Official websites
- nufc.co.uk Official club website
- Newcastle United at the FA Premier League official website
- Newcastle United at the UEFA official website
- General fan sites
- News sites
- Newcastle on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
- Newcastle United news from The Independent
- Newcastle United news from Sky Sports
- Fanzines
