THE ENTERTAINERS
Newcastle’s 1995-96 team
WHEN Kevin Keegan took over at Newcastle United in February 1992, the Magpies were looking over their shoulder at the threat of relegation to the third tier.
The following season the Toon stormed into the Premier League at a canter and they then started to make their presence felt in the top flight.
They finished third in 1993-94 with Andy Cole scoring goals galore and sixth in 1994-95. However, it’s 1995-96 that really sticks in the memory.
Cole had left for Manchester United in January 1995, much to the fans’ disappointment, but Keegan splashed out
£6m on Les Ferdinand from QPR. He plundered 25 league goals and 29 in all in his first season in the north-east.
Other players brought into St James’ Park that summer were the flamboyant David Ginola from PSG, Warren Barton from Wimbledon and Shaka Hislop, who would trade the gloves with the late Pavel Srnicek throughout the season.
In February, David Batty made his way from Blackburn and maverick Colombian Faustino Asprilla joined from Parma.
Newcastle already had the likes of Philippe Albert, John Beresford, Steve Howey, Darren Peacock, Lee Clark, Rob Lee and Peter Beardsley at their disposal. What a season it turned out to be! It started with a perfect August, with four wins from four. Two home wins against Coventry (3-0) and Middlesbrough (1-0) were bookended by two victories at Bolton (3-1) and Sheffield Wednesday (2-0).
The Toon suffered their first defeat at The Dell, as Southampton triumphed 1-0. Even eventual champions Manchester United slipped up there in April.
Newcastle went on to win their next five games throughout September and October, including a 6-1 mauling of Wimbledon at home in which Ferdinand grabbed a hat-trick and Vinnie Jones had to go in goal for the Dons.
Their first draw occurred in late October at Tottenham, in a rare visit to the capital where Keegan’s men left with something.
After three wins and a draw through November, Newcastle dropped five out of six points in a capital double-header.
Sharing the spoils with Wimbledon in a thrilling 3-3 draw, they then lost 1-0 at Chelsea. The Magpies followed that up with two home victories, against Everton and Nottingham Forest, before travelling to Old Trafford and suffering a 2-0 defeat to rivals Manchester United.
Despite that defeat, Newcastle still had a comfortable 10-point lead over their conquerors at the summit.
As three wins from three were mustered in January, Newcastle stretched that lead to 12 points. So where did it all go wrong?
Trips to the capital didn’t help. They only garnered one victory, against QPR (3-2) in October. They faced two further chastening defeats at West Ham (2-0) in February and at Arsenal in March by the same score.
Many attribute the loss of grip on the title race to the 1-0 victory Manchester United gained at St James’ in early March, their only home defeat of the season. Newcastle had all the possession and chances, but Peter Schmeichel had a special night in goal for the visitors, while Eric Cantona grabbed the spotlight with a match-winning volley. Newcastle were renowned as the entertainers that season, but a failure to grind out results or ‘win ugly’ cost them, too.
One of the best games of the Premier League era was Newcastle’s 4-3 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in early April. Two games later, after taking a onegoal lead at Blackburn through David Batty, they fell to a painful 2-1 defeat through goals from Graham Fenton in the 86th and 88th minutes.
As we reached the latter stages of the season, there were the infamous mind-games played by Alex Ferguson on Keegan, left, in which Kev bit. After Manchester United managed an ugly 1-0 victory against Leeds, Fergie alluded to sides picking up their game against his side and to watch the difference once they played Newcastle.
Strangely enough, Keegan’s men won 1-0 at Elland Road, with former Red Devil Gillespie getting the goal. There followed Keegan’s infamous ‘I will love it’ rant.
But the Geordies suffered another hammer blow when they drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest on the Thursday of the final week of the season, despite Beardsley giving them the lead.
On the last day it was simple. Newcastle had to beat Tottenham and hope Middlesbrough beat United. After a season in which things had mainly been in Keegan’s side’s hands, it was now quite the opposite.
There was to be no fairytale ending. Manchester United navigated a comfortable 3-0 win at the Riverside, while Newcastle came from behind to draw 1-1 with Spurs thanks to a Ferdinand leveller.
Newcastle trailed the leaders by four points in the end, but what a season it had been. They might not have captured the title, but they captured plenty of hearts along the way with their swashbuckling football. Keegan’s men were most definitely the entertainers – and that’s why we still remember them now.
Ian McFarlane is Peterborough’s correspondent on d3d4