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There is no doubt that Newcastle United have been involved in some absolutely brilliant games over the years. There's been the truly memorable games such as the thrilling 4-3 defeat to Liverpool (03/04/1996) that even though Newcastle lost, the game stays in the memory as an exceptional advert for football. There was the thrilling fight-back in the 4-4 draw with Arsenal where after being 4-0 down after only 26 minutes, Newcastle clawed their way back into the game to score 4 themselves in the last 22 minutes. The great 5-1 win over Sunderland (31/10/2010) and 5-0 win over Manchester United (20/10/1996) and of course the two-legged final win over Ujpesti Dozsa to win the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, unfortunately the last major trophy I have had the pleasure of seeing Newcastle win.
We don't want to mention the succession of 'derby' defeats to Sunderland over the last few seasons, or the time they beat us 9-1 at St James's Park (05/12/1908)! Nor do we want to remember the heartbreak of losing in six FA Cup finals and the League Cup final. However, they did unfortunately happen so they are included in this book.
They have also had some fantastic players, Hughie Gallacher, Jackie Milburn, Bobby Mitchell, Len White, Colin Veitch, Alan Shearer, Kevin Keegan, Malcolm Macdonald, the list goes on and on. This book also remembers those who for whatever reason only appeared on a single occasion, their contribution is equally valued.
About the author
Born and bred in Newcastle and raised on a staple diet of stories of Hughie Gallacher from my Grandfather and Jackie Milburn from my Father there was never any doubt about where my football loyalties would lay.
Going to St James's Park for the first time as a child and seeing Newcastle play a goalless draw with Everton, which if memory serves me correctly was an instantly forgettable game from a football point of view - but to me it was just amazing. I'd never seen so many people in the same place at the same time before, almost 30,000 - I was hooked straight away.
Now, after more years than I care to remember, it's all about sharing the history of, to me, the greatest football club in the world with all you good people out there.
