1995–96 Newcastle United F.C. season

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Newcastle United
1995–96 season
ChairmanSir John Hall
ManagerKevin Keegan
StadiumSt James' Park
Premier League2nd
FA CupThird round
League CupQuarter-finals
Top goalscorerLeague:
Les Ferdinand (25)

All:
Les Ferdinand (29)
Highest home attendance36,589 (vs. Tottenham Hotspur)
Lowest home attendance36,225 (vs. Chelsea)
Average home league attendance36,506

During the 1995–96 FA Premier League season, English club Newcastle United participated in the Premier League, finishing in second place.

Season summary[edit]

The 1995–96 season saw Sir John Hall's millions allow Newcastle to invest heavily in players from across the world. With a total of some £16 million spent on the signings of Les Ferdinand, David Ginola, Warren Barton and Shaka Hislop before the start of the season, Kevin Keegan's team made a strong start. Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla and England midfielder David Batty were also attracted to the north-east in February 1996 for a combined total of around £11 million.

An explosive start to the season saw Newcastle storm to the top of the Premier League table. Newcastle led the league for virtually all of the season from August until mid-March, and by Christmas had established a 10-point lead over Manchester United. Though they lost 2–0 at Old Trafford on 27 December, they still managed to extend this lead to 12 points on 20 January 1996, putting them in prime position for the title with 15 matches remaining. However, Manchester United – bolstered by the return of Eric Cantona from suspension – then enjoyed a surge in form. Despite an emphatic 2–1 win at Middlesbrough largely inspired by debutant Faustino Asprilla, Newcastle lost five of their next eight.[1] Newcastle dropped vital points away to West Ham and Manchester City, whilst a 1–0 win for Alex Ferguson's team at St James' Park on 4 March ended Newcastle's 100% home record in the league and cut their lead to a single point, and further away defeats at Arsenal, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers allowed Manchester United to overtake them and establish a lead that would ultimately prove decisive.

Ferguson's mind games added further heat to the title race and provoked an infamous rant from Keegan live on Sky Sports on 29 April 1996,[2] following his team's 1–0 win at Leeds United. A 1–1 draw at Nottingham Forest three days later left Newcastle needing to beat Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester United needing to lose against Middlesbrough, if the title was to return to Tyneside for the first time since 1927. In the end, a 1–1 draw proved academic as Manchester United beat the Teessiders 3–0, thus winning by four points. Newcastle's second place finish was nonetheless their highest finish for 69 years.[3]

Analysis[edit]

The contest between Newcastle United and Manchester United for the Premier League title in the 1995–96 season has been described by Total Football magazine as "an absolute classic".[4] In 2012, the season was one of six nominees for the Premier League 20 Seasons Award for the best Premier League season ever.[5]

The 4-3 loss to Liverpool was voted the greatest game of the first decade of the Premier League at the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards,[6] attributing to the jubilant celebrations at Anfield whilst Keegan slumped over the advertising hoardings in distress.[7]

Newcastle's collapse in the Premier League title race has been the subject of continuous debate.[8][9] Newcastle's performance has been described by Graham Lister of Goal.com as having "entered football folklore as the Premier League's ultimate Devon Loch moment."[10] Rob Lee claimed that the failure to capture the title was due to falling player confidence,[11] whilst Ian Cusack believed that the return of Eric Cantona was the major difference, stating "Newcastle United had, player for player, the best team in the Premiership, but didn't have the best player."[12] Mark Lawrenson said the general consensus was Keegan's attacking philosophy having been instrumental in costing Newcastle the title, stating "I really think they should have won the league in the 1995–96 season...Kevin could have done it if he'd altered the system very, very slightly. But he didn't want to betray his principles...I think Kevin wanted it free-flowing in all departments and that doesn't necessarily happen."[1][13]

Final league table[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C) 38 25 7 6 73 35 +38 82 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Newcastle United 38 24 6 8 66 37 +29 78 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Liverpool 38 20 11 7 70 34 +36 71 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[a]
4 Aston Villa 38 18 9 11 52 35 +17 63 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
5 Arsenal 38 17 12 9 49 32 +17 63
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Liverpool qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up, as winners Manchester United already qualified for the Champions League. They defaulted their UEFA Cup spot from league position to Arsenal.


Results by round[edit]

Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAAHAHHAAHAHHAHA[a]AHHAHAHHAAAHHAAHAHHAAH
ResultWWWWLWWWWWDWWDWDLWWLWWWWWLDLWLLWLWWWDD
Position11111111111111111111111111111222222222
Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss;   = Leader, 1996-97 UEFA Champions League;   = 1996-97 UEFA Cup;   = 1996–97 Football League

Kit[edit]

Newcastle United's kit was manufactured by the company Adidas and sponsored by Tyneside-based brewery Newcastle Brown Ale.

Players[edit]

First-team squad[edit]

Squad at end of season[14]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Czech Republic CZE Pavel Srníček
2 DF England ENG Warren Barton
3 DF England ENG John Beresford
4 DF England ENG Darren Peacock
6 DF England ENG Steve Howey
7 MF England ENG Rob Lee (captain)
8 MF England ENG Peter Beardsley
9 FW England ENG Les Ferdinand
10 MF England ENG Lee Clark
11 FW Colombia COL Faustino Asprilla
14 MF France FRA David Ginola
15 GK England ENG Shaka Hislop
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 FW England ENG Darren Huckerby
17 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Jimmy Crawford
18 MF Northern Ireland NIR Keith Gillespie
19 DF England ENG Steve Watson
22 MF England ENG David Batty
23 MF England ENG Chris Holland
25 FW England ENG Paul Brayson
26 DF England ENG Robbie Elliott
27 DF Belgium BEL Philippe Albert
28 FW England ENG Paul Kitson
30 GK England ENG Mike Hooper
32 GK England ENG Steve Harper

Left club during season[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
5 MF England ENG Ruel Fox (to Tottenham Hotspur)
11 MF England ENG Scott Sellars (to Bolton Wanderers)
12 DF Switzerland SUI Marc Hottiger (to Everton)
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW Wales WAL Malcolm Allen (retired)
22 MF England ENG Ritchie Appleby (to Ipswich Town)
25 DF England ENG Nathan Murray (to Carlisle United)

Reserves[edit]

The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK England ENG Peter Keen
DF England ENG Stuart Elliott
MF England ENG Paul Arnison
MF England ENG Paul Barrett
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF England ENG David Burt
MF England ENG Jamie McClen
MF England ENG Alan Pouton
FW England ENG Michael Chopra
FW England ENG David Eatock

Appearances, goals and cards[edit]

Starts + substitute appearances)
No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
15 GK Trinidad and Tobago Shaka Hislop 24 0 0 0 4 0 28 0 0 0
2 DF England Warren Barton 30+1 0 2 0 5 1 37+1 1 4 0
4 DF England Darren Peacock 33+1 0 2 0 5 2 40+1 2 3 0
6 DF England Steve Howey 28 1 1 0 4 0 33 1 2 0
3 DF England John Beresford 32+1 0 1 0 2 0 35+1 0 4 1
18 MF Northern Ireland Keith Gillespie 26+2 3 0 0 4 1 30+2 4 3 0
10 MF England Lee Clark 22+6 2 1+1 0 3 0 26+7 2 1 0
7 MF England Rob Lee 36 8 1 0 3 1 40 9 1 0
14 MF France David Ginola 34 5 2 0 4 0 40 5 6 0
8 MF England Peter Beardsley 35 8 2 1 3 2 40 11 6 0
9 FW England Les Ferdinand 37 25 2 1 5 3 44 29 4 0
1 GK Czech Republic Pavel Srníček 14+1 0 2 0 1+1 0 17+2 0 0 0
27 DF Belgium Philippe Albert 19+4 4 2 1 2+1 1 23+5 6 4 0
19 DF England Steve Watson 15+8 3 1 0 3+1 1 19+9 4 0 0
11 FW Colombia Faustino Asprilla 11+3 3 0 0 0 0 11+3 3 2 0
22 MF England David Batty 11 1 0 0 0 0 11 1 2 0
26 DF England Robbie Elliott 5+1 0 1+1 0 2 0 8+2 0 1 0
28 FW England Paul Kitson 2+5 2 2 0 0 0 4+5 2 1 0
11 MF England Scott Sellars 2+4 0 0 0 2 1 4+4 1 0 0
5 MF Montserrat Ruel Fox 2+2 0 0 0 1 0 3+2 0 0 0
12 DF Switzerland Marc Hottiger 0+1 0 0 0 1+1 0 1+2 0 0 0
16 FW England Darren Huckerby 0+1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0+2 0 0 0
17 MF Republic of Ireland Jimmy Crawford 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 0+1 0 0 0
23 MF England Chris Holland 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 0+1 0 0 0
25 FW England Paul Brayson 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0

Coaching staff[edit]

Position Staff
Manager England Kevin Keegan
Assistant Manager England Terry McDermott
First Team Coach England Arthur Cox
First Team Coach England Chris McMenemy

Source: [citation needed]

Matches[edit]

Pre-season[edit]

22 July 1995 Hartlepool United 0–4 Newcastle United Hartlepool
Allen 22', 45'
Kitson 57'
Brayson 70'
Stadium: Victoria Park
Attendance: 5,300
5 August 1995 Celtic 1–1 Newcastle United Glasgow
Collins 29' (pen.) Ferdinand 56' Stadium: Celtic Park
Attendance: 31,000

Premier League[edit]

22 August 1995 Bolton Wanderers 1–3 Newcastle United Bolton
16:00 Bergsson 51' Ferdinand 17', 84'
Lee 77'
Stadium: Burnden Park
Attendance: 20,243
30 August 1995 Newcastle United 1–0 Middlesbrough Newcastle upon Tyne
Ferdinand 67' Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 36,500
Referee: R. Hart
9 September 1995 Southampton 1–0 Newcastle United Southampton
Magilton 65' Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 15,237
Referee: G. Ashby
24 September 1995 Newcastle United 2–0 Chelsea Newcastle upon Tyne
Ferdinand 41', 57' Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 36,225
Referee: Peter Jones
1 October 1995 Everton 1–3 Newcastle United Liverpool
Limpar 81' Ferdinand 11'
Lee 59' (pen.)
Kitson 65'
Stadium: Goodison Park
Attendance: 33,080
Referee: Keith Cooper
14 October 1995 Queens Park Rangers 2–3 Newcastle United London
Dichio 45', 71' Gillespie 46', 71'
Ferdinand 65'
Stadium: Loftus Road
Attendance: 18,254
Referee: Paul Durkin
21 October 1995 Newcastle United 6–1 Wimbledon Newcastle upon Tyne
Howey 31'
Ferdinand 35', 40', 63'
Clark 59'
Albert 84'
Gayle 60' Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 36,434
Referee: Graham Poll
4 November 1995 Newcastle United 2–1 Liverpool Newcastle upon Tyne
Ferdinand 3'
Watson 89'
Rush 11' Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 36,547
Referee: Mike Reed
18 November 1995 Aston Villa 1–1 Newcastle United Birmingham
Johnson 22' Ferdinand 58' Stadium: Villa Park
Attendance: 39,167
Referee: Stephen Lodge
25 November 1995 Newcastle United 2–1 Leeds United Newcastle upon Tyne
Lee 70'
Beardsley 72'
Deane 31' Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 36,572
Referee: Steve Dunn
3 December 1995 Wimbledon 3–3 Newcastle United London
Holdsworth 18', 65'
Ekoku 21'
Ferdinand 9', 29'
Cunningham 35' (o.g.)
Stadium: Selhurst Park
Attendance: 18,002
Referee: G. Ashby
9 December 1995 Chelsea 1–0 Newcastle United London
Petrescu 25' Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 31,098
Referee: Roger Dilkes
16 December 1995 Newcastle United 1–0 Everton Newcastle upon Tyne
Ferdinand 17'
Beresford Red card 32'
Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 36,557
Referee: Paul Durkin
27 December 1995 Manchester United 2–0 Newcastle United Manchester
Cole 6'
Keane 53'
Stadium: Old Trafford
Attendance: 42,024
Referee: Paul Alcock
14 January 1996 Coventry City 0–1 Newcastle United Coventry
Watson 44' Stadium: Highfield Road
Attendance: 20,547
10 February 1996 Middlesbrough 1–2 Newcastle United Middlesbrough
Beresford 37' (o.g.) Watson 74'
Ferdinand 78'
Stadium: Riverside Stadium
Attendance: 30,011
Referee: Steve Dunn
21 February 1996 West Ham United 2–0 Newcastle United London
Cottee 7'
Williamson 82'
Stadium: Boleyn Ground
Attendance: 23,843
Referee: Paul Alcock
24 February 1996 Manchester City 3–3 Newcastle United Manchester
N. Quinn 16'
A. Quinn 62'
Rösler 77'
Albert 44', 81'
Asprilla 71'
Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 31,115
Referee: Martin Bodenham
23 March 1996 Arsenal 2–0 Newcastle United London
Marshall 3'
Wright 17'
Stadium: Arsenal Stadium
Attendance: 38,271
Referee: Paul Durkin
3 April 1996 Liverpool 4–3 Newcastle United Liverpool
Fowler 2', 55'
Collymore 68', 90'
Ferdinand 10'
Ginola 14'
Asprilla 57'
Stadium: Anfield
Attendance: 40,702
Referee: Mike Reed
8 April 1996 Blackburn Rovers 2–1 Newcastle United Blackburn
Fenton 86', 89' Batty 76' Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 30,717
Referee: Gary Willard
29 April 1996 Leeds United 0–1 Newcastle United Leeds
Gillespie 18' Stadium: Elland Road
Attendance: 38,862

FA Cup[edit]

7 January 1996 Round 3 Chelsea 1–1 Newcastle United London
Hughes 35' Ferdinand 90' Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 25,151

League Cup[edit]

19 September 1995 Round 2 1st leg Bristol City 0–5 Newcastle United Bristol
Peacock 8'
Sellars 22'
Ferdinand 30'
Gillespie 46'
Lee 85'
Stadium: Ashton Gate
Attendance: 15,592
4 October 1995 Round 2 2nd leg Newcastle United 3–1 Bristol City Newcastle upon Tyne
Barton 48'
Albert 55'
Ferdinand 65'
Agostino ?' Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 36,357
25 October 1995 Round 3 Stoke City 0–4 Newcastle United Stoke-on-Trent
Beardsley 30', 39'
Ferdinand 53'
Peacock 73'
Stadium: Victoria Ground
Attendance: 23,000
29 November 1995 Round 4 Liverpool 0–1 Newcastle United Liverpool
Watson 77' Stadium: Anfield
Attendance: 40,077
10 January 1996 Round 5 Arsenal 2–0 Newcastle United London
Wright 44', 90' Ginola Yellow card 67' Red card Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 37,857

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Due to Wimbledon lacking a home stadium, they played their home games at Selhurst Park, which is the home stadium of Crystal Palace.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Adams, Tony (31 March 2011). "Newcastle's Entertainers fall at Anfield". ESPN. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  2. ^ Kelly, Ryan (29 April 2020). "Kevin Keegan's 'I will love it' rant: What outburst was about & full transcript". Goal.com. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. ^ Morton, David (30 April 2017). "How Newcastle United clinched their last league title - 90 years ago today". The Chronicle. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  4. ^ Wright, Simon (2013). "Premier League flashback - 1995-96 review: King Eric's one man crusade to the championship". Total Football. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Premier League 20 seasons awards – best season". Premier League. 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Premier League 20 seasons awards – best season". Premier League. 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  7. ^ Glenn, Moore (5 April 1996). "Keegan's philosophy faces reality test". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. ^ Delaney, Miguel (28 March 2020). "Keegan, Ferguson, Cantona and a collapse: The inside story of the 1995/96 title race". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  9. ^ Hardy, Martin (24 September 2015). "Newcastle United a far cry from Kevin Keegan's 1995 entertainers, 20 years on". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  10. ^ Lister, Graham (30 March 2012). "Manchester United in 1992, Newcastle in 1996 & the great title-challenge collapses Manchester City will be desperate not to emulate". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  11. ^ Smallwood, Jimmy (20 March 2012). "Are Man City about to relive the Newcastle collapse of 1996?". BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  12. ^ Cusack, Ian (13 July 1996). "Imperfect Match – Newcastle Utd 1995-96". When Saturday Comes. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  13. ^ Malam, Colin (20 January 2008). "Why Keegan's class of 96 blew a 12p-point lead". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  14. ^ "FootballSquads - Newcastle United - 1995/96".