Newcastle United have been a long established club and are only really here today in the Premier League due to the magnificent team they had under the leadership of Kevin Keegan.
The club were originally formed in 1881 under the name Stanley, but due to other clubs in the area sharing a similar name (Stanley Nops & Stanley Albion) the club decided to change their name to Newcastle East End in October 1882.
And, shortly after that charged their name again to Newcastle West End after amalgamating with Rosewood, and played on a pitch which was part of the Town Moor. They took up there residency at St. James' Park in 1892 which was at the time home to Newcastle Rangers FC having previously played at South Byker (1881) and Chillingham Road (1886).
West End went out of business and the remaining committee members invited East End to move to their present ground; they changed there name once again to Newcastle United.
The Magpies have been champions of the Football League on four occasions whilst they won promotion to the Premier League in 1993 but they have yet to taste success in the leagues elite, however they have come close in 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons campaign when they finished runners-up behind Manchester United.
Club Guide
Team: Newcastle United |
Stadium and Pitch: 7/10
Climbing the fourteen flights of stairs was challenging enough, even for a twenty-three year old but was we descended to what seemed an age to climb was well worth the wait! Yes, the view was very high (see image) and at times difficult to see the other end of the pitch despite the floodlights being on.
The ground is more or less up to full capacity and may find it difficult to expand and will probably some time in the not too distant future need to relocate. United fans were housed in the second tier tucked away in the corner, the main stand to our right and the stand behind goal was a sweeping two tiered structure whilst the rest of the ground was just a casual one tiered stand.
The stairs is the only drawback to this ground, but was very impressed with ease it was to get to the ground and away from it, having said that Newcastle is a Town and not a City which helps a bit. Nether the less it is a great stadium, which was on my 'to do' list for a few seasons now, and I would go again.
Programme: 6/10
The 'Black 'n' White' cost £3.00 and was bought at a nearby service station just five miles from the ground. For your 64 pages the visitors saw an in-depth interview with former Newcastle star Keith Gillespie which traditional player write-ups were given for the remainder of the squad.
The fan feature of 'my special United match...' was interesting with Magpies fan Paul Fahey choosing their 4-3 victory over Manchester United during the 2001-02 campaign.
A 'moments in history' feature was also interesting, giving a match report of a previous game, maybe if they had chosen a game against the Blades and not their 2-1 win over West Ham United in 1966 would have made it more enduring for the visitors.
Overall the programme was pretty 'crap' for the visitor or neutral to engross. They did feature and glory their 1-0 win at Palmero in the UEFA Cup which they made their main feature.
Performance and Result: 8/10
Newcastle United 0-1 Sheffield United: The Blades travelled to Newcastle for a Saturday night game which was shown live on Sky TV. Fans didn't expect to get much from this game after previous away games against Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton had found themselves with just one point to show for their efforts and not one goal scored in either of them.
United, who had some advantage as there home opposition were without some key personnel but on paper the Magpies should have beaten a struggling Blades side. In the end the visitors capitalized when Nick Montgomery found the stooping head of Danny Webber who was unmarked to head home past the keeper with almost 15 minutes remaining.
Atmosphere: 6/10
Two thousand Sheffield United fans turned up to Newcastle that day and more tickets could have been sold if permitted, not bad for a live television game either. The match kicked off at 5:15pm and the Geordies were in at the last minute to see the teams start the game.
Newcastle fans were surprising quite and can't remember a single moment in the game when the home faithful as much as made a cough let alone a sing song.
Overall: 27/40
:: Previous Visits to St. James' Park ::
- 04.11.2006 - Newcastle 0-1 Blades