Newcastle's first season in the Premiership was going to be a tough act to follow, so boss Kevin Keegan brought in some new faces in the summer who starred at the Worl Cup in the USA in the summer. Belguim defender Philippe Albert and Swiss international Marc Hottiger were snapped up for big money as United looked to challenge Mancester United and Blackburn for the title. They started the sason with a bang, a 3-1 win against Leicester, with goals from Andy Cole, Peter Beardsley and Robbie Elliott, but there was to be bad news for Beardsley when broke his jaw again. They carried on without him though, and were top of the league in September when they beat Chelsea 4-2 at St James' Park, and didn't lose a game for 17 matches. Newcastle were also back in Europe, and thrashed Royal Antwerp of Belguim 10-2 on aggregate, Rob Lee scoring a hat-trick in the first leg, and Cole repeating the feat in the second.
The Magpies then beat the champions Manchester United in the Coca Cola Cup third round thanks to goals from new £1.75m signing from Derby Paul Kitson, and Albert. United then ended the 17 match undfeated streak by winning 2-0 at Old Trafford, and then Newcastle failed to win in four games on the bounce, including defeats to Wimbledon and Tottenham. Then also crashed out of Europe, after beating Athletico Bilbao 3-2 at home, the Spanish side went through on away goals after winning the return leg 1-0. However, they came back with a 3-1 league win against Leicester, Albert scored twice in that game but Newcastle then crashed out of the Coca Cola Cup to Manchester City, after earning a replay with a patched up side thanks to injuries to Cole, Beardsley, Barry Venison, Scott Sellars and Albert; they lost 2-0 at home.
United started 1995 out of the top three after losing 2-1 against Norwich, but then in one of the biggest shocks in St James' Park's history, Keegan decided to sell Andy Cole to rivals Manchester United for £6m plus United winger Keith Gillespie, a British record fee for a player. This infuriated the fans, and Keegan famously stood on the steps outside the stadium to tell the fans why he did it. Five days later, the two sids continued their rivalry at St James', the game ended 1-1 with Kitson scoring. United then beat Blackburn 2-1 in an FA Cup third round replay, Lee Clark and a fantastic Hottiger free-kick got the Toon into the fourth round.
Ruel Fox was starting to mature as a player as well on Tyneside, he scored in victories against Wimbledon, Everton, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich iin the space of a month to help the Magpies climb back up the table into third place, and back in contention for a European spot at the end of the season. They got through to round five of the FA Cup after beating Swansea City 3-0 thanks to a Kitson hat-trick, and progressed to the quarter finals after beating Coca Cola Cup conquerers Man City 3-1, with Gillespie scoring his first two goals in a black and white shirt, John Beresford hit the other.
Beardsley netted a brace against Aston Villa and Venison scored his only Toon goal, a fantastic 30 yards effort, in a 3-1 win at home, but they were then plagued on Mersyside for the rest of th season, after loing 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield, they were then knocked out of the FA Cup by eventual winners Everton at Goodison Park, and then went down 2-0 to the same side again. Newcastle were now out of all the cup compeitions and out of the championship race and so were fighting for a UEFA Cup place. Then lost 2-1 at home against Leeds, also in the running for that European place, and drew 0-0 with Manchester City, and looked to be out of the running after a 3-3 draw against Tottenham with the goals coming from Beardsley, Darren Peacock and Gillespie.
They then had the chance to do Manchester United a big favour by beating Blackburn at home, who were challeging for the title, and even though the Geordies totally outplayed Rovers, a certain Alan Shearer scored the only goal of the game to all but end Newcastle's European ambitions. Rovers went on to win the league on the final day of the season, when Newcastle beat Crystal Plaace 3-2, but with results going against them, just missed out on the ticket to Europe in sixth place. All in all, a disapointing season for King Kevin's men, but how they would show everyone what they could do the next season.
|