English Premiership

Newcastle United

Newcastle United Football Club (also known as The Magpies or The Geordies ) are an English football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, who were founded in 1892 after the merger of two local clubs, Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End. Newcastle are currently playing in the Football League Championship.

The club's traditional kit colours are black and white striped shirts, with black shorts and socks. Supporters of Newcastle United refer to themselves as the Toon Army . Early in the life of the club, Newcastle United played in red and white. This was later changed to black and white stripes, with the inspiration coming from a magpie the directors saw on the pitch.

Newcastle have a long-standing rivalry with neighbouring Sunderland with whom they have contested the Tyne-Wear derby since 1898. They are also rivals with with Middlesbrough, which is referred to as the Tyne-Tees derby.

After a second failed attempt to sell the club, Ashley announced that the club would look to lease the naming rights to St James' Park in the hope of increasing revenue. After protests, the club clarified that this would not involve the loss of the name St James Park altogether. Pending the announcement of an official sponsor, the stadium was temporarily renamed sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium until the end of the 2009-10 season, to showcase the potential rights package.

Supporters

Supporters of Newcastle United are often referred to as the Toon Army , the Magpies , or the Geordies . The name Toon originates from the Geordie pronunciation of town. Magpies refers to the black and white colours of the club, similar to the Magpie bird. Geordie is a regional nickname for people from Newcastle upon Tyne, of debated origin, which is often applied in the media to supporters of NUFC in general. In a 2007 Virgin Money survey of football supporters who held season tickets or otherwise paid to attend games, it was found that Newcastle fans were the most loyal in terms of making sacrifices in order to attend the game, In a 2004 survey by Co-operative Financial Services, it was found that Newcastle 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 cost was highest whether travelling by car, train or coach. The total distance travelled was found to be equivalent to a round-the-world trip.

The club's supporters publish fanzines such as True Faith , The Mag and TOTT Fanzine . In addition to the usual English football chants, Newcastle's supporters sing the traditional Tyneside song Blaydon Races .

Following on from demonstrations against the board and Mike Ashley following the resignation of manager Kevin Keegan, on 16 September 2008 a new independent supporters group, the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (originally styled the Newcastle United Supporters Club ), was set up by fanzines True Faith and The Mag and the fan site NUFC.com, aiming to "represent the broad church of Newcastle United's support". Another group, the Newcastle United Independent Supporters Association, had existed since 2002 and was still commenting on NUFC up to the 2008 Keegan resignation.

Rivalries

Main articles: Tyne-Wear derby and Tyne-Tees derby

Newcastle has rivalries with two other major North East clubs, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, but their longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbour, Sunderland, colloquially known as the Mackems. Matches between the two are referred to as the Tyne-Wear derby. The two cities of Newcastle and Sunderland are just twelve miles apart, so there is an intense feeling of a regional cross-town rivalry, heightened by a feeling that it is city against city with local pride at stake, somewhat like the North West derby between Manchester United and Liverpool. Moreover, the close proximity means that as in derby matches, workmates, families and friends are often divided. Newcastle also contest the Tyne-Tees derby with Middlesbrough but is usually less heated than the Tyne-Wear derby.

Records

Main article: Newcastle United F.C. records

Jimmy Lawrence holds the record for the most Newcastle appearances, having played 496 first-team matches between 1904 and 1921 as a goalkeeper. Former captain and left back Frank Hudspeth comes second, having appeared 472 times and scoring on 37 occasions.

Alan Shearer is the club's top goalscorer with 206 goals in all competitions between 1996 and 2006 having surpassed Jackie Milburn's tally of 200 in February 2006. Milburn had held the record since 1957, his 38 Wartime League goals scored during World War II were not accounted for. His striking partner Len White is the third highest scorer at Newcastle with 153 goals. Albert Stubbins could be Newcastle's all time leading goal scorer but his goals are not counted as the majority were scored during World War II.

The most prolific goals per game striker in the history of the club is Hughie Gallacher - a strike-rate of over 82% with 143 goals in his 174 outings.

Newcastle's record win was a 13-0 home victory against Newport County in Division 2, on 5 October 1946.

Newcastle's record home attendance is 68,386, against Chelsea on 3 September 1930. To the fury of the fans Gallacher had been sold to Chelsea and the Geordie public turned up by the thousand to welcome home their hero. As well as the record crowd in the ground thousands more were locked outside. The capacity of St James' Park is currently 52,387, so it is unlikely that these records will be broken in the foreseeable future. The highest attendance in the Premier League is 52,327, in a match against Manchester United on 28 August 2005.

League finishing positions

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Reserves and academy

For the reserve and academy squads, see Newcastle United F.C. Reserves and Academy.

Former players and captains

For details on former players, see List of Newcastle United F.C. players and Category:Newcastle United F.C. players.

Club officials

Owner: Mike Ashley
Managing Director: Derek Llambias
Non-Executive Director: Justin Barnes
Non-Executive Director: Steve Hayward
Club Secretary: Lee Charnley
Financial Controller: John Irving
Commercial Director: Barry Webber
Press Officer: Mark Hannen
Honorary President: Bob Young
Honorary Life President: Sir John Hall
Honorary Life Vice-president: Malcolm Dix

Coaching and Medical Staff

Manager: Chris Hughton
Assistant Manager: Colin Calderwood
Reserve Team Manager: Alan Thompson
Goalkeeping Coach: Paul Barron
Fitness Coach: Jamie Murphy
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Simon Tweddle
Masseurs: Mickey Holland, Dave Upton
Head Physio: David Henderson
Physios: Derek Wright
Academy Manager: Joe Joyce
Academy Assistant Manager: Willie Donachie
Academy Coaches: Peter Beardsley, Kenny Wharton
Academy Physio: Kevin Bell
Chief Scout: Graham Carr
Club Scouts: Mirandinha, Ray Gooding, Vic Halom, Chris McMenemy, Ole Nilsson, Norman Wooster