Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Newcastle United Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.
Newcastle United is located in the central part of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle is located in the far northeastern part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is called St James’ Park, which holds a little more than 52,000 people. Newcastle have been at St James’ Park since 1892, but soccer has been played on the land where St James’ Park is located since 1880.
Origin
Newcastle in its current iteration was founded in 1892 but the club has ties that go back to the 1880s.
In the early 1880s, two of a handful of soccer clubs playing in the Newcastle area were named Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End respectively. By 1884, both clubs had become the strongest sides in the area. By the 1891-1892 season, West End were struggling financially. In May 1892, East End took over the lease for West End’s stadium (which was St. James’ Park) and some of West End’s assets including players, which effectively meant the two clubs merged.
East End kept their name for a few months but on December 9, 1892, at a meeting of the club’s directors in the Bath Lane Hall, the club voted to change the name to Newcastle United in a bid to attract support from the whole city. The legal name of the club didn’t formally change until 1895 but 1892 is seen as the club’s founding date.
Nicknames
The club 3 nicknames. United, the Magpies, and Toon.
United clearly comes from the club’s official name.
The Magpies nickname comes from the club’s colors. Newcastle has played in black and white striped shirts since 1894. Magpies are small, black and white colored birds that are very common in the UK. Newcastle played in kits that resembled the birds, hence the nickname for the club.
The Toon nickname comes from the local pronunciation of the word town as people in Newcastle (also called Geordie’s) speak their own dialect. Even though Newcastle United doesn’t have the word town in its club name, this different pronunciation of the word has become so synonymous with the city of Newcastle that it’s been extended to apply to the city’s only prominent soccer club, Newcastle United. Most interestingly, research has shown that the Geordie pronunciation of the word town (so toon) is actually the original pronunciation of the word. The toon pronunciation dates back to 500 AD before the Great Vowel shift, which apparently is a real thing that happened in the middle of the last millennium, changed the pronunciation of lots of words.
Crest
The club’s current crest, which has been used since 1988, takes many of its elements from the coat of arms for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The castle at the top of the crest is derived from a new castle that was built in 1080 AD by Robert Curthose. That’s also where the name of the city comes from.
Coming out of the top of the castle is a lion that guards the castle and holds a flagstaff with a modified version of the St. George’s pennon flying.
The mythical seahorses on either side of the crest are a reference to Newcastle being a seaport town.
The shield comes directly from the coat of arms and the black and white stripes on the shield come from Newcastle United’s iconic colors.
Lastly, the scroll with Newcastle United at the bottom is obviously the name of the club.
Important Events
I wanted to mention 5 events in this section.
(1) On May 7, 1955, Newcastle United beat Manchester City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final. The club had also won the 1951 and 1952 FA Cups, so this 3rd FA Cup win in 5 years earned the club the nickname of ‘Cup Kings’ at that time.
(2) The next event I’d like to mention came almost 15 years later. Newcastle finished 10th in the 1st Division in the 1967-1968 season but qualified for the next season’s Inter-Cities Fairs Cup through a weird quirk in the rules. The inter-cities fairs cup was the predecessor to the UEFA Cup/Europa League. It was the club’s first time competing in Europe and they were 1000-1 odds to win the tournament. Improbably they made the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final where they played Ujpest Dozsa from Hungary. Ujpest were overwhelming favorites in the final as well, but Newcastle won both legs of the final to seal a 6-2 aggregate victory. They raised their first and only European trophy on June 11, 1969.
(3) The third event I want to discuss came at the end of the 1991-1992 season. Newcastle was in danger of being relegated to the third division for the first time in the club’s history. The club was in a bit of financial trouble at the time too and it’s not clear if the club could have survived relegation to the third tier. On May 2, 1992, the club played Leicester City in their final match. Newcastle was out of the relegation zone, but could still be caught by 3 other clubs behind them in the table, so they needed to win. After going 1-0 up, the club surrendered an 89th minute equalizing goal that put their fate out of their own hands. Only 1 minute later though, Newcastle forced a Leicester own goal, which sent the team and travelling fans into delerium as it meant the club was safe.
I also wanted to quickly mention two other matches.
(1) On April 3, 1996 Newcastle lost heartbreakingly to Liverpool 4-3 in one of the greatest matches in Premier League history. Newcastle were chasing the Premier League title that season and this heartbreaking result more or less sealed their fate as not winning the title that season.
(2) And finally, on February 5, 2011, Newcastle trailed Arsenal 4-0 after 26 minutes but the Toon scored 4 goals in the final 21 minutes of the match to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in Premier League history.
Supporters
People from Newcastle are known as “Geordies” dating back to the city’s support of King George during a rebellion in the 1740s. With Newcastle United being pretty much the only major club in town, Newcastle fans are referred to as Geordies. Geordies have their own dialect and a strong accent that can sometimes be difficult for people to understand. I can attest to this as my high school soccer coach was from Newcastle and was often difficult to understand.
Another nickname for supporters is the Toon army, which is a reference to the club’s nickname of Toon.
Noteworthy Players
I’d like to discuss 3 players in this section.
Paul Gascoigne, nicknamed “Gazza”, joined Newcastle as a youth player at 16 years old and signed for the first team in 1985. He won the Young PLayer of the Year award from the Premier League in 1988 and joined Tottenham for a then British-transfer record fee. He was an incredibly talented player who wore his hear on his sleeve every time he played. His life off the field was tumultuous, but he was incredibly talented on the pitch. Even though his time with Newcastle was brief, he’s still regarded as one of the most talented players in their history.
Peter Beardsley was nicknamed Pedro and played attacking midfield for Newcastle. He scored 119 goals in 2 different spells with the club and had tons of assists as well.
Alan Shearer is the greatest striker in Premier League history, scoring a record 260 goals in the league. He’s originally from Newcastle but didn’t join the club until 1996, 8 years into his professional career. Although he didn’t win a trophy with the club, he scored a club record 206 goals in 405 appearances and was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world during his playing career.
Noteworthy Managers
I want to highlight 4 managers in this section.
Stan Seymour managed Newcastle in 3 separate stints and is one of the most influential people in the club’s history. He played, managed and was in the boardroom for the club. He actually played on the last Newcastle United team that won the First Division title and was the first person in English soccer history to win the FA Cup as a player and manager. He led the club to 2 FA Cups as a manager and was instrumental in the boardroom for helping the club winning a third FA Cup in the 1950s.
Joe Harvey was similar to Stan Seymour as he was a former player that led the club to trophies. He took over in 1962 and led the club until 1975. He managed the club to their only European title and has the most wins as manager in the club’s history.
Kevin Keegan took over as manager for the 1991-1992 season we already talked about and saved the club from relegation. He then led the club to promotion to the Premier League and the club’s exciting, attacking style of play earned them the nickname of the “Entertainers”. They nearly won the Premier League in 1995-1996 and he is regarded as one of the best managers in club history. He left the club in January 1997 but returned for a short 2nd stint with the club in 2008. That only lasted about half a year, but King Kev still has a fond place in Newcastle fans’ hearts.
Sir Bobby Robson was born and raised in the Newcastle area. He went on to a legendary playing and managing career all over Europe, winning domestic league titles and cups, as well as European titles in addition to managing the English National team at 2 world cups. He managed Newcastle at the end of his career, managing from 1999 until 2004. Though the club didn’t win any trophies during his tenure, they did qualify for the Champions League a handful of times and it was the club’s most successful period since Kevin Keegan left in the mid-90s.
Rivals
Newcastle’s biggest rival is Sunderland A.F.C. The two cities are only 12 miles apart and have been in conflict for over 300 years, well before the modern versions of soccer were created. The conflict actually starts when the trading of coal was awarded to Newcastle traders only by the King, which left Sunderland traders in a terrible spot. The two cities have been at odds ever since. The soccer clubs first played each other in 1888 and have since played over 150 times. When the two clubs meet, the matches are called The Tyne & Wear Derby. Matches are really intense affairs with hooliganism and violence by fans common, though modern technologies have helped to quell this a bit.
Newcastle’s second biggest rival is Middlesbrough F.C. The rivalry is nowhere near as intense as the Sunderland rivalry though. The cities of Newcastle and Middlesbrough are 42 miles apart, so although they are regional rivals, fans do not encounter each other on a daily basis as much as the Sunderland rivalry. The clubs have met in meaningful matches over the years but the rivalry doesn’t seem to be much more than not liking your neighbors. Newcastle also tends to dominate media coverage in the area, which can bother Boro fans and help fuel the rivalry.
Stats & Records
The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.
United have spent 86 seasons in the top flight in their history.
The club has 11 major trophies including:
- 6 FA Cups
- 4 1st division titles
- 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (predecessor to the UEFA Cup/Europa League)
The club’s record first team appearance holder is Jimmy Lawrence with 496 appearances.
The club’s record goal scorer is Alan Shearer with 206 goals.
The Magpies’ record transfer purchase was Michael Owen from Real Madrid in Spain on August 24, 2006 for about £16M.
And the club’s record transfer sale was Andy Carroll to Liverpool FC in January of 2011 for about £35M.
One last interesting fact about the club: Newcastle United jointly hold the record for the biggest scoreline in English Football League history. The club beat Newport County 13-0 on October 15th, 1946 in the 2nd division to set the record.
So there you have it… a bit of history on Newcastle United Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.
Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.
The Soccer Tavern 