Newcastle United
Football Club is an English professional association
football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that will play
in the Premier League, the top tier of English football,
after winning the Championship title in 2017. Newcastle
United was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East
End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current
home ground, St James' Park, ever since. The ground was
developed into an all-seater stadium in the mid-1990s and
now has a capacity of 52,354. The club has been a member of
the Premier League for all but three years of the
competition's history, spending 85 seasons in the top tier
as of May 2016, and has never dropped below English
football's second tier since joining the Football League in
1893.
They have won four League
Championship titles, six FA Cups and a Charity Shield, as
well as the 1969 Inter-CitiesFairs Cup and the 2006 UEFA
Intertoto Cup. Newcastle United has the ninth highest total
of trophies won by an English club. The club's mos t
successful period was between 1904 and 1910, when they won
an FA Cup and three of their First Division titles. The club
were highly successful in the Premier League in the 1990s
and early 2000s without winning any trophies, but have been mostly struggling since the 2006–07
season, and were relegated in 2009 and 2016.
Newcastle has a fierce
local rivalry with Sunderland, and the two clubs have
engaged in the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898. The club's
traditional kit colours are black and white striped shirts,
black shorts and black socks. Their traditional crest takes
elements of the city coat of arms, which features two grey
seahorses. Prior to each home game the team enters the field
to "Local Hero", written by Newcastle native Mark Knopfler,
while "Blaydon Races" is invariably sung during games.
The club has been owned by
Mike Ashley since 2007, succeeding long term chairman and
owner Sir John Hall. The club is the seventeenth highest
revenue producing club in the world in terms of annual
revenue, generating €169.3m in 2015. Historically,
Newcastle's highest placing was in 1999 when they were the
fifth highest revenue producing football club in the world,
and second in England only behind Manchester United.
Online Sports Betting and Online Betting Odds at Sbobet Online ; Joins and gets bonus with new member register. Bet with the best odds with Sbobet Mobile, Casino, Poker, Slot Games, GClub and Bingo.
To date, inclusive of the
2015–16 season, Newcastle United have spent 85 seasons in
the top-flight. They are eighth in the All-time FA Premier
League table and have the ninth-highest total of major
honours won by an English club with 11 wins. The holder of
the record for the most appearances is Jimmy Lawrence,
having made 496 first team appearances between 1904 and
1921. The club's top goal scorer is Alan Shearer, who scored
206 goals in all competitions between 1996 and 2006.
Andy Cole holds the record for the most goals scored in a
season: 41 in the 1993–94 season in the Premier League.
Shay Given is the most capped international for the club,
with 134 appearances for Republic of Ireland.
The club's widest victory margin in the league was in the
13–0 win against Newport County in the Second Division in
1946. Their heaviest defeat in the league was 9–0
against Burton Wanderers in the Second Division in 1895. The
club's longest number of consecutive seasons in the top
flight of English football was 36 from 1898–99 until
1933–34.
Newcastle's record home attendance is 68,386 for a First
Division match against Chelsea on 3 September 1930. The
club's highest attendance in the Premier League is 52,389,
in a match against Manchester City on 6 May 2012. Newcastle
lost the game 2–0.The highest transfer fee received for a
Newcastle player is £35 million, from Liverpool for Andy
Carroll in January 2011, while the most spent by the club on
a player was £16 million for striker Michael Owen from Real
Madrid in August 2005.
The
first record of football being played on Tyneside dates from 3 March
1877 at Elswick Rugby Club. Later that year, Newcastle's first
football club, Tyne Association, was formed. The origins of
Newcastle United Football Club itself can be traced back to the
formation of a football club by the Stanley Cricket Club of Byker in
November 1881. This team was renamed Newcastle East End F.C. in
October 1882, to avoid confusion with the cricket club in Stanley,
County Durham. Rosewood F.C. of Byker merged with Newcastle East End
a short time later. In 1886, Newcastle East End moved from Byker to
Heaton. In August 1882, Newcastle West End F.C. formed from West End
Cricket Club, and in May 1886, the club moved into St James' Park.
The
two clubs became rivals in the Northern League. In 1889, Newcastle
East End became a professional team, before becoming a limited
company the following March.However on the other hand, Newcastle
West End were in serious financial trouble and approached East End
with a view to a take over. Newcastle West End were eventually
dissolved, and a number of their players and backroom staff joined
Newcastle East End, effectively merging the two clubs, with Newcastle East End taking over the lease on St James'
Park in May 1892.
With
only one senior club in the city for fans to support, development
of the club was much more rapid. Despite being refused entry to
the Football League's First Division at the start of the 1892–93
season, they were invited to play in their new Second Division.
However, with no big names playing in the Second Division, they
turned down the offer and remained in the Northern League, stating
"gates would not meet the heavy expenses incurred for
travelling". In a bid to start drawing larger crowds,
Newcastle East End decided to adopt a new name in recognition of
the merger.
Suggested
names included Newcastle F.C., Newcastle Rangers, Newcastle City
and City of Newcastle, but Newcastle United was decided upon on 9
December 1892, to signify the unification of the two teams. The
name change was accepted by the Football Association on 22
December, but the club was not legally constituted as Newcastle
United Football Club Co. Ltd. until 6 September 1895. At the start
of the 1893–94 season, Newcastle United were once again refused
entry to the First Division and so joined the Second Division,
along with Liverpool and Woolwich Arsenal. They played their first
competitive match in the division that September against Woolwich
Arsenal, with a score of 2–2.
Turnstile numbers
were still low, and the incensed club published a statement
stating, "The Newcastle public do not deserve to be catered for as
far as professional football is concerned". However, eventually
figures picked up by 1895–96, when 14,000 fans watched the team
play Bury. That season Frank Watt became secretary of the club,
and he was instrumental in promotion to the First Division for the
1898–99 season. However, they lost their first game 4–2 at home to
Wolves and finished their first season in thirteenth place.
The club found
it difficult to adjust to the Second Division and were nearly
further relegated in the 1937–38 season, when they were spared on
goal averages. However, when World War II broke in 1939, Newcastle
had a chance to regroup, and in the War period, they brought in
Jackie Milburn, Tommy Walker and Bobby Cowell. They were finally
promoted back to the First Division at the end of the 1947–48
season. During the 1950s, Newcastle won the FA Cup trophy on three
occasions within a five-year period, beating Blackpool in 1951,
Arsenal in 1952, and Manchester City in 1955.
However, after
this last FA Cup victory the club fell back into decline and were
relegated to the Second Division once again at the end of the
1960–61 season under the management of Charlie Mitten. Mitten left
after one season in the Second Division and was replaced by former
player Joe Harvey. Newcastle returned to the First Division
at the end of the 1964–65 season after winning the Second Division
title. Under Harvey, the club qualified for European competition
for the first time after a good run in the 1967–68 season and the
following year won the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final,
triumphing 6–2 over two legs against Hungary's Újpest in the
final.
Sir John Hall
became the club's chairman in 1992, and replaced Ardiles with
Keegan, who managed to save the team from relegation to the Third
Division. Keegan was given more money for players, and he brought
in Rob Lee, Paul Bracewell and Barry Venison and the club won the
then First Division Championship at the end of the 1992–93 season,
earning promotion to the then new Premier League. At the end of
the 1993–94 season, their first year back in the top flight they
finished in third, their highest league finish since 1927.The
attacking philosophy of Keegan led to the team being labelled "The
Entertainers" by Sky Sports.
Keegan took
Newcastle to two consecutive runners-up finishes in the league in
1995–96 and 1996–97, coming very close to winning the title in the
former season. This success was in part due to the talent of
players like David Ginola, Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer, who was
signed on 30 July 1996 for a then world record fee of £15 million.
Keegan left Newcastle in January 1997 and was replaced by Kenny
Dalglish, however the club endured a largely unsuccessful season
with a 13th-place finish in the 1997–98 FA Premier League, failure
to progress beyond the group stages of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions
League despite beating Barcelona and group winners Dynamo Kiev at
St James Park as well as coming from 2–0 down to draw 2–2 with
Valery Lobanovsky's team in Ukraine and defeat in the 1998 FA Cup
Final.
Dalglish was
replaced as manager early in the following season by Ruud Gullit.The
club once again finished thirteenth in the league and lost the 1999
FA Cup Final. Gullit fell into disagreements with the squad and
chairman Freddy Shepherd, and quit the club four games into the
1999–2000 season with the team bottom of the table to be replaced by
Bobby Robson. The club managed to reach an FA Cup Semi-final and to
stay in the Premier League.
Despite finishing
the 2005–06 season in seventh, Roeder's fortunes changed in the
2006–07 season, with a terrible injury run to the senior squad, and
he left the club by mutual consent on 6 May 2007.Sam Allardyce was
appointed Roeder's replacement as manager on 15 May 2007. On 7 June,
Freddy Shepherd's final shares in the club were sold to Mike Ashley
and Shepherd was replaced as chairman by Chris Mort on 25 July.
Allardyce departed
the club on in January 2008 by mutual consent after a bad start to
the 2007–08 season, and Kevin Keegan was reappointed as Newcastle
manager. Mort stepped down as chairman in June and was replaced by
Derek Llambias, a long-term associate of Ashley. Newcastle finished
the 2007–08 season in twelfth place, but as the season drew to a
close, Keegan publicly criticised the board, claiming they were not
providing the team enough financial support.
In September 2008
Keegan resigned as manager, stating "It's my opinion that a manager
must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon
any manager any player that he does not want". Former Wimbledon
manager Joe Kinnear was appointed as his replacement, but in
February 2009, due to his heart surgery, Alan Shearer was appointed
interim manager in his absence. Under Shearer, the club were
relegated to the Football League Championship at the end of the
2008–09 season, the first time the club had left the Premier League
since joining it in 1993.
Following their relegation, the club was put up for sale in June
2009, with an asking price of £100 million. Chris Hughton was given
the manager job on a caretaker basis before taking over full-time on
27 October 2009. On the same day, Ashley announced that the
club was no longer for sale.
Despite finishing
the 2005–06 season in seventh, Roeder's fortunes changed in the
2006–07 season, with a terrible injury run to the senior squad, and
he left the club by mutual consent on 6 May 2007.Sam Allardyce was
appointed Roeder's replacement as manager on 15 May 2007. On 7 June,
Freddy Shepherd's final shares in the club were sold to Mike Ashley
and Shepherd was replaced as chairman by Chris Mort on 25 July.
Allardyce departed
the club on in January 2008 by mutual consent after a bad start to
the 2007–08 season, and Kevin Keegan was reappointed as Newcastle
manager. Mort stepped down as chairman in June and was replaced by
Derek Llambias, a long-term associate of Ashley. Newcastle finished
the 2007–08 season in twelfth place, but as the season drew to a
close, Keegan publicly criticised the board, claiming they were not
providing the team enough financial support.
In September 2008
Keegan resigned as manager, stating "It's my opinion that a manager
must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon
any manager any player that he does not want". Former Wimbledon
manager Joe Kinnear was appointed as his replacement, but in
February 2009, due to his heart surgery, Alan Shearer was appointed
interim manager in his absence. Under Shearer, the club were
relegated to the Football League Championship at the end of the
2008–09 season, the first time the club had left the Premier League
since joining it in 1993.
Following their relegation, the club was put up for sale in June
2009, with an asking price of £100 million. Chris Hughton was given
the manager job on a caretaker basis before taking over full-time on
27 October 2009. On the same day, Ashley announced that the
club was no longer for sale.
The club's
home colours are a black and white striped shirt. Shorts and socks
are usually black with white trim, though white socks are
sometimes worn under some managers who consider them "lucky".
Newcastle's colours at the outset was generally the home kit of
Newcastle East End F.C., comprising plain red shirts with white
shorts and red socks. In 1894, the club adopted the black
and white striped shirts, which had been used as the reserve
team's colours. These colours were chosen for the senior team
because they were not associated with either of the two teams
United were merged from. They played in grey shorts until 1897,
and between 1897 and 1921, they played in blue shorts before
adopting the black shorts they play in now.
United's away colours have changed a number of times over the
years. They played in white shirts and black shorts from 1914
until 1961, and then white shorts until 1966. They then played in
yellow shirts and blue shorts for the 1967–68 season, but from
1969 to 1974 played in all red with an all blue third kit. In
1974, they returned to a yellow shirt, which they played with
various coloured shorts until 1983. They played in all grey from
1983 to 1988, before once again returning to the yellow kit until
1993. Since 1995, the away kit has changed consistently and has
not been the same for more than a single season. Through owner
Mike Ashley, the club also has a relationship with
the Sports Direct retail chain which he founded.
On 4
January 2012, Virgin Money, who had just bought Northern Rock,
signed a two-year deal to sponsor Newcastle United. In January
2010, Puma became the official supplier and licensee of replica
merchandise for Newcastle. The deal meant Puma supplied the team
kit, replica kit and training equipment for the 2010–11 and
2011–12 seasons. The current club crest was first used in the
1988–89 season. The crest includes elements from the coat of arms
of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne—the two sea horses representing
Tyneside's strong connections with the sea, the castle
representing the city's Norman keep. The city's coat of arms were
first embroidered on the team's shirts in 1969 and worn as
standard until 1976. A scroll at the bottom featured the city's
motto in Latin; fortiter defendit triumphans which
translates into English as "triumphing by brave defence." From
1976 until 1983, the club wore a specific badge which was
developed to wear in place of the city's coat of arms.
The design
was of a circular shape, which featured the club's name in full,
it contained a magpie standing in front of the River Tyne with the
historic Norman castle of Newcastle in the background. A more
simplistic design followed in 1983, featuring the initials
of the club's name, NUFC with the small magpie used in the
previous crest within the horizontally laid "C," this logo was
relatively short lived and was discontinued after 1988.On 16 May
2013, Newcastle released the away shirt for the 2013–14 season
which for the first time featured the Wonga.com logo, which
attracted criticism from many Newcastle supporters; the shirt was
navy blue with light blue bands.
The
shirt received mixed reviews from Newcastle supporters, who
described the shirt as both "awesome" and "bland, " as quoted in the
Newcastle daily Evening Chronicle. In July 2013, Newcastle striker
and practicing Muslim Papiss Cissé refused to wear any official kit
or training wear with reference to Wonga.com, subsequently failing
to travel to the team's 2013 pre-season tour of Portugal. The matter
has since been resolved.On 15 May 2017, the home shirt for the
2017-18 season was revealed, featuring the logo of new sponsors
Fun88. The shirt was shown to include a gold and silver
commemorative crest to mark the club's 125th football season, based
on the city's coat of arms. It was also announced that the kit would
feature red numbers for the first time since the 1992-93 season.
Previous kit sponsors include Newcastle Breweries (1980–86),
Greenall's Beers (1986–90), McEwan's Lager and Newcastle Brown Ale
(1990–2000), NTL (2000–03), Northern Rock (2003–12), and Virgin
Money (2012–13).Newcastle's current kit manufacturers are Puma, in a
deal that started in 2010. Previous kit manufacturers include Bukta
(1974–75, 1976–80), Umbro (1975–76, 1980–86), Asics (1993–95) and
Adidas (1995–2010). Other current team sponsors include Fun88,
Carling, Coral, Pulman, Thomas Cook Group and Stelrad.
Throughout Newcastle United's history, their home venue has been St
James' Park, the oldest and largest football stadium in North East
England, as well as the sixth-largest football stadium in the United
Kingdom. It has hosted ten international football matches at senior
level, the first in 1901 and the most recent in 2005. It was used as
a venue for both the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 Rugby World
Cup.
Football had been played at St James' Park as early as 1880, the
ground being occupied by Newcastle Rangers, before becoming the home
of Newcastle West End F.C. in 1886. Its lease was then bought by
Newcastle East End F.C. in 1892, before they changed their name to
Newcastle United. At the turn of the 19th century, the ground's
capacity was given as 30,000 before being redeveloped between 1900
and 1905, increasing the capacity to 60,000 and making it the
biggest stadium in England for a time.
For most of
the 20th century, the stadium changed very little, despite various
plans for development of the ground. The old West Stand was replaced
with the Milburn Stand in 1987, the Sir John Hall Stand replacing
the Leazes End in 1993, and the rest of the ground renovated making
the ground a 37,000 capacity all-seater stadium. Between 1998 and
2000, double tiers were added to the Milburn and John Hall stands to
bring the venue up to its current capacity of 52,420.
There were plans to
build a new 90,000 seater stadium in Leazes park, just behind St
James' with Newcastle Falcons taking over St James' Park, but due to
protests the plans were dropped. St James' Park currently seats
52,420 people, but club owner Mike Ashley would consider taking the
roof off The Gallowgate end and adding another 6,000 seats making
the total capacity to 58,420, but only if the team manage to finish
in the top six places of the Premier League.
In October 2009,
Mike Ashley announced that he planned to lease the name of the
ground in a bid to increase revenue, and in November the stadium was
temporarily renamed sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium. This
name was only supposed to be used until the end of the 2009–10
season, but lasted until November 2011.On 10 November 2011, the club
officially changed the name of the stadium to the Sports Direct
Arena, although this will most likely be an interim name, as it is
only being used to showcase the sponsorship capabilities of the
stadium.
The company, owned
by Ashley, are not paying anything for the deal. However, if another
company purchases the naming rights, they will be expected to pay
between £8 million and £10 million. Many fans voiced their anger at
the renaming, but Managing Director Derek Llambias has said that it
is necessary to give Newcastle extra money so that they compete with
the bigger clubs in the league.Since 1982, the stadium is served by
St James Metro station on the Tyne and Wear Metro. The station is
decorated in a black and white colour scheme, with archive
photographs of the club's players.The club's current training ground
is located at Darsley Park, which is north of the city at Benton.
The facility was opened in July 2003 and is also used by the
Newcastle Falcons rugby team.
Throughout Newcastle United's history, their home venue has been St
James' Park, the oldest and largest football stadium in North East
England, as well as the sixth-largest football stadium in the United
Kingdom. It has hosted ten international football matches at senior
level, the first in 1901 and the most recent in 2005. It was used as
a venue for both the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 Rugby World
Cup.
Football had been played at St James' Park as early as 1880, the
ground being occupied by Newcastle Rangers, before becoming the home
of Newcastle West End F.C. in 1886. Its lease was then bought by
Newcastle East End F.C. in 1892, before they changed their name to
Newcastle United. At the turn of the 19th century, the ground's
capacity was given as 30,000 before being redeveloped between 1900
and 1905, increasing the capacity to 60,000 and making it the
biggest stadium in England for a time.
For most of
the 20th century, the stadium changed very little, despite various
plans for development of the ground. The old West Stand was replaced
with the Milburn Stand in 1987, the Sir John Hall Stand replacing
the Leazes End in 1993, and the rest of the ground renovated making
the ground a 37,000 capacity all-seater stadium. Between 1998 and
2000, double tiers were added to the Milburn and John Hall stands to
bring the venue up to its current capacity of 52,420.
There were plans to
build a new 90,000 seater stadium in Leazes park, just behind St
James' with Newcastle Falcons taking over St James' Park, but due to
protests the plans were dropped. St James' Park currently seats
52,420 people, but club owner Mike Ashley would consider taking the
roof off The Gallowgate end and adding another 6,000 seats making
the total capacity to 58,420, but only if the team manage to finish
in the top six places of the Premier League.
In October 2009,
Mike Ashley announced that he planned to lease the name of the
ground in a bid to increase revenue, and in November the stadium was
temporarily renamed sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium. This
name was only supposed to be used until the end of the 2009–10
season, but lasted until November 2011.On 10 November 2011, the club
officially changed the name of the stadium to the Sports Direct
Arena, although this will most likely be an interim name, as it is
only being used to showcase the sponsorship capabilities of the
stadium.
The company, owned
by Ashley, are not paying anything for the deal. However, if another
company purchases the naming rights, they will be expected to pay
between £8 million and £10 million. Many fans voiced their anger at
the renaming, but Managing Director Derek Llambias has said that it
is necessary to give Newcastle extra money so that they compete with
the bigger clubs in the league.Since 1982, the stadium is served by
St James Metro station on the Tyne and Wear Metro. The station is
decorated in a black and white colour scheme, with archive
photographs of the club's players.The club's current training ground
is located at Darsley Park, which is north of the city at Benton.
The facility was opened in July 2003 and is also used by the
Newcastle Falcons rugby team.
Supporters of
Newcastle United are drawn from all over the North East and beyond,
with supporters' clubs in some countries across the world. The
club's nickname is 'The Magpies', while the club's supporters are
also known as the Geordies or the Toon Army. The name Toon
originates from the Geordie pronunciation of town. In a 2004 survey
by Co-operative Financial Services, it was found that Newcastle
United topped the league table for the cost incurred and distance
travelled by Newcastle based fans wishing to travel to every Premier
League away game.
The total
distance travelled for a fan to attend every away game from
Newcastle was found to be equivalent to a round-the-world trip. In
the 2009–10 season, when the club were playing in English
football's second tier, the Football League Championship, the
average attendance at St James' Park was 43,388, the
fourth-highest for an English club that season.At the end of the
2011–12 Premier league season, Newcastle United held the
third-highest average attendance for the season, at 49,935. This
figure was only
surpassed by Arsenal and Manchester United, the only two clubs in
the Premier League with larger stadiums.
The club's
supporters publish a number of fanzines including True Faith and The
Mag, along with NUFC.com, which was established in 1996. They set up
Newcastle United Supporters Trust in September 2008, aiming to
"represent the broad church of Newcastle United's support." In
addition to the usual English football chants, Newcastle's
supporters sing the traditional Tyneside song "Blaydon
Races."Traditionally, Newcastle's main rivals are Sunderland,
against whom the Tyne–Wear derby is competed.Many
Newcastle fans also consider Middlesbrough to be a secondary rival,
with whom they contest the Tyne–Tees derby.
