By the end of September '90 going to the match was just something that I did and all other hobbies and interests had lost their importance. The second game of the season was at home to Millwall where I would experience a defeat at home for the first time. We had decided that rather than standing on "the corner" our regular spot on the Gallowgate would be "the scoreboard" to the right of the goal as you look at the pitch. It was £2 to get in and the trip to turnstile 8 would follow a weekly routine. I would call on Andy and Gaz and we would get the half past one 610 bus to town, the others would join us on the way at Crawcrook and Ryton. We would all get off the bus at Haymarket (following some "banter" with the sock seller on Clayton Street) and visit the supporters club shop, quite often we would sell programs in the Farmers rest pub just across the road.
By the time of our third game (a 1-1 daw against West Ham) it had already sunk in that the team wasn't very good, this was going to be a long season and hopes of promotion may have to be put on hold. Not to be disheartened we took our roles as supporters really seriously, always joining in or even trying to start the singing off to cheer on the team. Being a fan felt different then, yes there were some players (Stimson, Dillon) who got some pretty awful abuse but on the whole it was a very encouraging crowd that did everything it could to get the team going and support the players.
The facilities for fans were shocking - I dont think the Gallowgate had been updated since it was built, there was no roof and thankfully I never needed to go to the toilet. Despite the success of Italia '90, pre Sky going to the match was still a relatively unfashionable hobby, in most respects it has changed for the better but in some ways it has changed for the worse. There are a number of things I miss from those days, some important and some really trivial, I miss standing to watch the match and the cost of going to a game has priced out much of the working class support, I miss the repertoire of chants that the fans had and how the Blaydon Races were sang at the correct speed, I miss that roar of encouragement whenever the team would concede a goal - now replaced by a groan (alongside any misplaced passes). I still think teams should wear shirts numbered 1-11 and that away kits should only be worn when its really really necessary and while we're at it there really is no need for players names on shirts (don't get me started on NUFC kits that don't have stripes on the back!!!). Pitches were usually muddy, goalmouth scrambles were a thing and football was still a contact sport, hard challenges were cheered and a foul didn't always mean a yellow card.
My first midweek game was a 0-0 draw against Middlesborough. I can't recall anything about the game itself but can remember that I really liked the atmosphere of an evening game (I've looked it up and there were only 17,000 there) more so than a Saturday afternoon game, theres something special about watching football under floodlights. My favourite player at this point was Micky Quinn, there wasn't really much choice to be honest. Quinn was a player of limited ability, he was overweight but lit up whenever there was a goalscoring opportunity and goalscoring was something he was very very good at. It was Quinn who would score against Swindon when we ventured into the Leazes End for the games against Swindon (we went into the Leazes just to wind up a lad from school who was a Swindon fan) and also scored the first goal of my first FA Cup game versus Derby. There were only 19,000 there but I learned how important the FA cup was that day, the atmosphere did feel different and the fans were most definitely "up for the cup". After the game I would get my copy of "The Pink" from the bus station in `Eldon square, it amazed me how they used to have it printed and ready read when we had left the game just ten minutes earlier.
The cup run wouldn't last long, we were knocked out in the following round by Forest after a replay. The league form didn't improve and eventually the manager, Jim Smith was sacked and replaced by the Swindon manager Ossie Ardiles. Ardiles promised a more exciting game of football and replaced many of the older players in the team with basically half the team form the youth system. Steve Watson, Lee Clark and Steve Howey who had already made their debuts were soon to be joined by David Roche, Alan Thompson, the Appleby brothers, Alan Nielson, Robbie Elliott, Lee Makel and John Watson. It was around this time that we played Oxford at home in a soaking foggy midweek game, the game was abandoned and only 10,000 fans made it to the rearranged game. I wear it as a badge of honour that I was stupid enough to go to both. The season just petered out and the only "highlight" would be the pitch invasion at the end of the Hull game after the last match of the season. It was a tradition then (apparently) and we all got the bus home with our bits of turf that we would try and grow (unsuccessfully) in the garden. At least we had next season to look forward to.
Hopes were high again leading into the new 91-92 season, "Ossie's babes" had an excellent pre-season and there were some really good players coming through. The optimism wouldn't last long though as results were poor and as much as the fans really loved this team of young Geordies the reality was that there was trouble ahead. October would see one of the most bonkers games of football I've ever seen, Newcastle had drawn Tranmere away in the ZDS cup and it was shown live on Sky Sports. We watched at my friend Addies house, Andy broke his hand smashing the wall when we conceded the 6th goal. Yes, 6th. The game ended 6-6 and we were eventually knocked out on penalties. In November I would go to my first way game - Sunderland. In hindsight I cannot believe my mam agreed to let me, then aged 13 go to Sunderland away with a couple of lads from school (one of whom was going in the Sunderland end.) I remember it was a sunny but misty day, we got the Metro and were escorted through the streets to Roker park we were bombarded with coins, vegetables and all sorts on the way. The atmosphere was amazing and we walked away with a 1-1 draw following a brilliant Liam O'Brien goal.
The season started to go down hill fast from here and before long we were in the relegation zone. As nice a bloke Ossie was and as good a football we often played the defence was terrible and the players lacked experience. We were getting thumped every week and it just wasn't fun anymore. We played Charlton early in the new year and managed to throw away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 when there were only ten minutes left to play. I'd had enough and the following week it got even worse as we went down 5-2 to Oxford.
And then everything changed. Keegan came back. I found out in the school yard at break time. My Computing teacher, who knew I was a big Newcastle fan came up to me and just said "Kevin Keegan". "What about him?" I replied. "He's the new manager." I got round as many as the lads as I could to let them know (these were the days before texts, the internet and mobile phones) I was buzzing. Despite some who saw it as a publicity stunt, everything would be alright, I just knew it. Keegans first match was against Bristol City at home, and we were outside the ground for 12 O-Clock waiting in the massive queues at the turnstiles to make sure we would get in. The crowd was packed (around 30,000 which was a lot in rose days) and the team responded with a really good 3-0 win. All of a sudden because of Keegan Newcastle were national news and I watched every news report going to see the goals again and again. Keegan recognised that the team needed a bit of experience and signed Brian Kilkline and Kevin Sheedy, results improved at first but as the season came towards a close, relegation (and possible liquidation) were a real possibility. It came down to the last two matches. Portsmouth at home was one of those "I was there games". I can't remember much about the first 85 minutes but we needed to win and in the 86th minute David Kelly obliged with quite possibly the most important goal in Newcastles history. Ranson played a long ball up to Quinn who knocked it to Kelly who hit it first time, the net bulged and I swear I have never heard a goal cheered so loudly or St James go as crazy when that goal was scored. We still needed to get something at Leicester away in the final game. We were 1-0 up going into injury time when Leicester scored, at this point we didn't know what this meant, was a point enough to keep us up? The Leicester fans invaded the pitch and all hell broke loose. The game restarted and amazingly seconds later Walsh who had score for Leicester seconds earlier scored an own goal to win the game for us 2-1. Another pitch invasion happened bit it didn't matter, we were safe, the Keegan revolution was about to get underway.
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