1995–96 Newcastle United F.C. season

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Newcastle United
1995–96 season
Chairman England Sir John Hall
Manager England Kevin Keegan
Stadium St James' Park
Premier League 2nd
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer League:
Les Ferdinand (25)
All:
Les Ferdinand (29)
Highest home attendance 36,589 (vs. Tottenham Hotspur)
Lowest home attendance 36,225 (vs. Chelsea)
Average home league attendance 36,506
Home colours
Away colours
← 1994–95 1996–97 →

During the 1995–96 football season, English club Newcastle United participated in the Premier League, finishing in second place.

An explosive start to the season saw Newcastle storm to the top of the Premier League table. At Christmas 1995 they held a lead of 10 points, which stretched to 12 points in mid-January 1996. However, a run of five defeats from eight matches enabled Manchester United to catch up and overtake them in March, and Newcastle ultimately finished four points behind Alex Ferguson's team.

Season summary

Sir John Hall's millions allowed Newcastle to invest heavily in players from across the globe. With a total of some £16 million spent on the signings of Les Ferdinand, David Ginola, Warren Barton and Shaka Hislop before the start of the season, Kevin Keegan's team made a strong start. Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla and England midfielder David Batty were also attracted to the north-east in February 1996 for a combined total of around £11 million.

Newcastle led the league for virtually all of the season from August until mid-March, and by Christmas had established a 10-point lead over Manchester United. Though they lost 2-0 at Old Trafford on 27 December, they still managed to extend this lead to 12 points on 20 January 1996, putting them in prime position for the title with 15 matches remaining. However, United – bolstered by the return of Eric Cantona from suspension – then enjoyed a surge in form, while Newcastle dropped vital points away to West Ham and Manchester City. A 1-0 win for Alex Ferguson's team at St James' Park on 4 March ended Newcastle's 100% home record in the league and cut their lead to a single point, and further away defeats at Arsenal, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers allowed United to overtake them and establish a lead that would ultimately prove decisive.

Ferguson's mind games added further heat to the title race and provoked an infamous rant from Keegan live on Sky Sports on 29 April 1996, following his team's 1-0 win at Leeds United. A 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest three days later left Newcastle needing to beat Tottenham Hotspur, and United needing to lose against Middlesbrough, if the title was to return to Tyneside for the first time since 1927. In the end, a 1-1 draw proved academic as United beat the Teessiders 3-0, thus winning by four points. Nonetheless, Newcastle's second place was their highest finish for decades – and a far cry from the position they had been in when Keegan had taken over four years earlier and third-tier football was looking inevitable.

Not to be deterred in his quest to bring the title back to Tyneside, Keegan purchased Newcastle-born striker Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers for a world-record fee of £15 million. However, he would resign as manager in January 1997.

Signings gallery

  • David Ginola

  • Warren Barton.jpg

    Warren Barton

  • Tinoasprillaandme.png

    Faustino Asprilla

Kit

Newcastle United's kit was manufactured by the company Adidas and sponsored by Tyneside-based brewery Newcastle Brown Ale.

Appearances, goals and cards

Starts + substitute appearances)
No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Yellow card.svg Red card.svg
1 GK Czech Republic Pavel Srníček 14+1 0 2 0 1+1 0 17+2 0 0 0
2 DF England Warren Barton 30+1 0 2 0 5 1 37+1 1 4 0
3 DF England John Beresford 32+1 0 1 0 2 0 35+1 0 4 1
4 DF England Darren Peacock 33+1 0 2 0 5 2 40+1 2 3 0
5 MF England Ruel Fox 2+2 0 0 0 1 0 3+2 0 0 0
6 DF England Steve Howey 28 1 1 0 4 0 33 1 2 0
7 MF England Rob Lee 36 8 1 0 3 1 40 9 1 0
8 MF England Peter Beardsley 35 8 2 1 3 2 40 11 6 0
9 FW England Les Ferdinand 37 25 2 1 5 3 44 29 4 0
10 MF England Lee Clark 22+6 2 1+1 0 3 0 26+7 2 1 0
11 MF England Scott Sellars 2+4 0 0 0 2 1 4+4 1 0 0
11 FW Colombia Faustino Asprilla 11+3 3 0 0 0 0 11+3 3 2 0
12 DF Switzerland Marc Hottiger 0+1 0 0 0 1+1 0 1+2 0 0 0
14 MF France David Ginola 34 5 2 0 4 0 40 5 6 0
15 GK Trinidad and Tobago Shaka Hislop 24 0 0 0 4 0 28 0 0 0
16 FW England Darren Huckerby 0+1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0+2 0 0 0
17 MF Republic of Ireland Jimmy Crawford 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 0+1 0 0 0
18 MF Northern Ireland Keith Gillespie 26+2 3 0 0 4 1 30+2 4 3 0
19 DF England Steve Watson 15+8 3 1 0 3+1 1 19+9 4 0 0
22 MF England David Batty 11 1 0 0 0 0 11 1 2 0
23 MF England Chris Holland 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 0+1 0 0 0
25 FW England Paul Brayson 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
26 DF England Robbie Elliott 5+1 0 1+1 0 2 0 8+2 0 1 0
27 DF Belgium Philippe Albert 19+4 4 2 1 2+1 1 23+5 6 4 0
28 FW England Paul Kitson 2+5 2 2 0 0 0 4+5 2 1 0

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Manager England Kevin Keegan
Assistant Manager England Terry McDermott
First Team coach England Arthur Cox
Goalkeeping Coach England Andy Woodman
Development Coach England Nigel Pearson
Reserve Team Coach England John Carver
Chief scout Scotland Steve Clarke

Last updated: 3 May 2011
Source: [1]

Matches

Pre-season

Premier League

FA Cup

League Cup

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=1995–96_Newcastle_United_F.C._season&oldid=716211876"