Magpies feel just Champion
NEWCASTLE United found themselves competing against the elite of European football in the Champions League 20 years ago.
It was the club’s second stint in the prestigious competition and Sir Bobby Robson’s team would face Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kyiv and Feyenoord home and away.
For United’s fans it was an exciting time and they saw their team reach the second stage before finally bowing out.
Our photograph shows Craig Bellamy scoring for the Magpies in a thrilling 3-2 win against Feyenoord in Rotterdam in November 2002.
It is one of the images pulled from the Sunday Sun archive which recall Newcastle and some of what was going on 20 years ago.
Elsewhere we see the new Gate leisure complex on Newgate Street while just down the road the city’s last Wimpy restaurant was shutting up shop.
The Queen officially opened the Millennium Bridge across the River Tyne while the Flying Scotsman steamed in for a visit.
In the news in 2002, the FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea, was won by Brazil.
The Euro became the official currency of 12 European nations and the Queen Mother died at Windsor aged 101.
Popular films that year included Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
In the pop charts, the number ones of 20 years ago included Girls Aloud (featuring Newcastle lass Cheryl Tweedy) with Sound Of The Underground, Elvis vs JXL with A Little Less Conversation and Gareth Gates with Unchained Melody.
On UK television there were debuts for Footballers’ Wives, Balamory
and Mr Bean, while a couple of mates from Newcastle continued their ascent to the pinnacle of the entertainment world with two new smash-hit shows- Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!