Howay

In 1995-96, one of the Premier League’s most exciting teams slumped to a despairing finish, after leading by 12 points with 15 games left. Newcastle’s chief protagonists pick out the key games of a thrilling season. You’ll love it...

Words Louis Massarella, Richard Edwards, Carl Worswick, Chris Flanagan

Newcastle United’s 1995-96 season, as the cliché goes, had everything. It had great moments (“I will love it if we beat them”), great games (that 4-3 defeat at Anfield), great stats (12 points clear in early February) and great myths.

Our memories tell us that Kevin Keegan’s side scored goals for fun that season, and conceded just as easily. In fact, they found the net just 66 times, one fewer than in the previous campaign, and conceded 37, only two more than eventual champions Manchester United. But why let the truth get in the way of a great story? And what a story it was. “The trouble is,” says left-back John Beresford, “we were having such a good time that it flew by – we didn’t get a chance to take it all in.”

Newcastle had returned to the top flight with a bang in 1993-94, scoring 82 goals as they finished third in their first season back. Nearly half of those had come from Andy Cole, though, who was sold to Manchester United in January 1995. After finishing sixth, and backed by Sir John Hall’s millions, the Toon regrouped that summer, signing Les Ferdinand from QPR and David Ginola from PSG, as well as goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and England right-back Warren Barton (Tino Asprilla and David Batty would join them in February). Inspired by Keegan – “We would have jumped off the Tyne Bridge for him,” reveals Beresford – Newcastle went for the jugular with a title challenge, only to fall short with a gung-ho approach and lack of title-winning experience.

“But I wouldn’t change a thing,” insists Beresford. “I know people will say it’s sour grapes, but I think it would have been great for football if we’d won the league title. We entertained. How many other teams are still remembered for finishing second?”

NEWCASTLE 3-0 COVENTRY

ST JAMES’ PARK, AUGUST 19, 1995

It didn’t take long for Rob Lee to realise that Newcastle’s class of 1995-96 were on the verge of something very special. “It was the opening game of the season,” the former England midfielder tells FFT. “The sun was shining, the atmosphere at St James’ Park was electric and we were 2-0 up – although it could have been a few more. I remember thinking, ‘We’ve got a good team here’. We had a nucleus of players who were on the fringes of the England team, which meant they were hungry, and we had a great team spirit, which made it easy for new players to settle in quickly.

“We were a little bit weak physically the season before, so we made some ‘strong’ signings, and because the gaffer was under a bit of pressure after selling Andy Cole to Manchester United in January, he made all his summer signings pretty much as soon as the season had finished, which took the pressure off. I’d been trying for ages to persuade Les [Ferdinand] to join Newcastle, while Warren Barton and Shaka Hislop were solid performers. Ginola was the bonus.” Er, sorry? “We hadn’t really heard of David. We had Scott Sellars already on the left wing, who was doing a good job. We thought, ‘Is Ginola going to be better than Scott?... Oh!’”