NO SILVERWARE BUT TOON STILL A PRIZED JEWEL
Steve Bruce was standing in front of a series of framed postcards depicting the clubs Newcastle overcame on the way to their last trophy — Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, real Zaragoza, vitoria Setubal, rangers, ujpest Dozsa. It was so long ago that the competition, the Fairs cup, no longer exists.
Luton, Wigan and even Saturday’s opponents Oxford have won major pieces of silverware more recently than one of the great powers of english football.
there have been nine Newcastle managers since they reached an FA cup quarter-final, 12 since they made a final, 23 since they won silverware. But as long as St James’ Park, the cathedral of football that dominates the tyneside skyline, is full, it will be attractive to investors.
Here, the FA cup tie was overshadowed by reports that the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund had bid £340million for the club.
Newcastle would not comment on the offer, brokered by Amanda Staveley, who led a failed attempt to buy the club in 2017. then, Staveley’s company, PcP capital Partners, backed by Dubai money, had offered £300m. Newcastle were in the championship then, and £40m does not seem much of an upgrade. In a rare interview with the
Daily Mail in July, Mike Ashley expressed his disdain for those who announce their bids through the media, even if that was the
Wall Street Journal.
‘It will happen like Manchester city,’ he said. ‘Once the media find out, the deal will be already done.’ But there is no doubt the Saudi interest is real. It remains to be seen if it is real enough.
that empty Newcastle trophy cabinet has become a matter of club policy. Noting how Birmingham were relegated after winning the League cup in 2011, Ashley’s regime ruled that cups were no longer a priority. Survival amid the wealth of the Premier League was everything.
For Bruce, who won the League cup with Norwich in 1985, the FA cup at Manchester united and took Hull to a Wembley final, this was a policy he could not countenance. Given the injuries that have laid waste to his squad, he picked what was probably his strongest side.
the team who played Oxford and came up stunningly short in front of 52,000 fans had a market value of £110m. the goalless draw, which might have been a defeat, left Bruce angry and bewildered.
‘We are not going to win the Premier League, are we? Any club — and this one in particular — is just desperate to try to win something,’ he said.
‘We have seen it — 30,000 for the replay against rochdale and 50,000 against Oxford. there are not many who could do that. We didn’t give them anything to shout about. We will do better in the replay because we could not be worse.’
You could argue that Oxford began the process that made Newcastle such a prized jewel. In February 1992, they beat a broken- down Second Division Newcastle 5-2 at the old Manor Ground. At 7.30 the next morning, Ossie Ardiles opened his door to be greeted by chief executive, Freddie Fletcher, a Glaswegian whose lack of charm led to his being called ‘the rottweiler’. He had three words for his manager. ‘Ossie, you’re fired.’ Kevin Keegan was recalled from his long sabbatical in Marbella and in four years they had almost won the Premier League. Almost. ‘Almost’ would be used many times as Oxford united travelled back south. this was the biggest crowd the club had played in front of outside Wembley and they almost won.
‘this could be the last time some of us play in a great stadium like this so you want to make the most of it, give your all, leave every drop out there,’ said striker Marcus Browne, who had the afternoon’s golden chance.
But there was sadness with the pride. ‘Any player who tells you he sleeps well after games is probably lying. I will be up all night, thinking, “What if...”’
Since 1969, Newcastle supporters have been thinking the same thing.