Anfield 1996: Liverpool 4, Newcastle 3 The devastating moment we knew the dream was over.It was cruel..AAAGH!

LEE CLARK slumps forward in his chair re-enacting boss Kevin Keegan’s flop over the advertising boards during Newcastle’s titlewrecking 4-3 defeat at Anfield.

He was sitting on the bench just behind Keegan in April 1996, and said: “That was the moment we had it in our heads, ‘This is slipping away. Aaagh. It’s crashing down around us’.

“It was like the seats had all collapsed in the dugout. We all felt the same. Absolutely devastated. That game swung back and forward. Cruel. It summed up the manager, he never hid his emotions. That’s what we loved about him.” Today, a Newcastle team with very different ambitions – avoid relegation at all cost, don’t concede too many – arrive at Anfield. And Clark fears a new generation of fans will never experience the magic of a title challenge. Clark went from a schoolboy prodigy to playing 200 games for his hometown club in the best years of their modern history.

Now he’s a fan again, bossing Blyth Spartans, hoping to get back into League management.

For the long-suffering Toon Army, it is a world away from 1996 – Anfield, the Keegan “Love it” rant after being provoked by Sir Alex Ferguson, and blowing a 12-point title lead to Manchester United. Clark said: “We should have won the Premier League in ’96. Back then, people couldn’t wait for the match. “They’d get to town four to five hours before kick-off. The buzz was electric, you could feel the excitement. “Now there is trepidation, a feeling of, ‘Here we go again, what will happen?’

“In the ’90s there would only be singing, a buzz. “You couldn’t wait for the match to start, and the players were the same.” Reality is biting at St James’ Park. Attendances have fallen, fans are fed up and Clark cuts away from Keegan and clips of the 4-3 defeat which have been dusted down again to focus on today’s stark reality. He said: “I personally don’t think it will ever be like that again. Challenging the elite? No. Man City, Liverpool are getting stronger at every level of their clubs. They’ll keep dominating.

“Is that depressing? It is worrying to think Newcastle, we, have gone so far away from them that we might never catch up with them again.

“You are still left hoping for one of those football miracles. “Who’d have though Man City would get bought and be in this position now. Or that Leicester would win a title. “There will just be hope now. Every generation asking, ‘A trophy, will we see it?’” Still, Clark is convinced his good friend Steve Bruce, given the burden of replacing Rafa Benitez, can get Newcastle on an upward curve.

He added: “Some say Steve hasn’t got the best Premier League stats? Who outside the top six has?

“Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp were not on Newcastle’s radar this summer!

“I get why people are frustrated. I just want my club to do well, to go to Wembley in the FA Cup, be in the top half and not worrying over Christmas in the bottom five.”