Our first meeting with Newcastle was back in 1924 in the FA Cup 3rd Round. Having already done the giant killing thing by putting out Middlesbrough we couldn’t repeat the feat as we went down 1-0 at Vicarage Road. It wasn’t until 1979 that we met in the League when we did the double over them in the old Division Two winning both games 2-0.
In all we’ve met 35 times, winning 9, drawing 14, losing 12, scoring 40 and conceding 47. At St.James' Park we've played 16 times, winning just 2, drawing 5, losing 9, scoring 12 and conceding 26. The other game we won there was the opening game of the 1981/2 season when we beat them 1-0.
The encounter, or rather encounters, against Newcastle that stick in my mind were the five games we played against them in just over a month in the 1988/9 season when they were in the top flight and we were adjusting to life back in the old Division Two. First drawn together in the Full Members Cup we won 2-1 at the Vic. We then played four epic FA Cup Third Round ties against them drawing the first on Tyneside 0-0 and bringing them back to the Vic for an exciting 2-2 draw.
They were happy days, those of infinite FA Cup replays that happened a couple of days after the original match rather than the silly week and a half wait we get now. The excitement of knowing you’d get another match to go to if the first was a draw. If the second game was a draw, everyone would wait around after extra time to discover where the next one would be. The ref would reappear with the captains to toss a coin out in the middle of the pitch. The jubilance of one captain would usually make it obvious where the next game would be played before it was announced over the tannoy.
Alas, on this occasion we lost the toss so the third game was back up North on a Monday, so there was no question of going as it was a school night. However if it was another draw we'd play at the Vic on Wednesday. Then, as now, matches were my favourite thing in the world and the prospect of unexpected extra ones was always the cause of great excitement. I remember being in my bedroom listening to the second replay on Radio 2. Part of me wanting us to win, part of me wanting another draw so I could go to the next game, but all of me dreading the prospect of losing so much that I couldn't bear to fully concentrate so I started watching Minder at the same time. By the time Terry had got Arthur out of another scrap we were well into extra time and I hid my head in a pillow until we'd hung on for another 0-0.
The tie was settled 48 hours later at the Vic when Newcastle’s Glenn Roeder signaled his intentions of wanting to play and manage us by scoring an own goal in extra time to give the Horns a 1-0 win.
The last time we met was in Aidy’s Premiership season of 2006/7. We lost 2-1 up north with Bouazza scoring for us and drew 1-1 in the last match of the season at home, Marlon equalising with a penalty.
Despite Mike Ashley’s best efforts to destablise everything including the name of the ground at St.James', Newcastle are well on course for an immediate return to the Prem. They’ve won 12, drawn 3 and lost 3. Those losses were at Scunny, Peterborough and Blackpool which makes it appear that they are only beatable when their surroundings don’t meet up to Premiership expectations. At home they’ve won 7 and drawn 2. Throw in the 'we've not won there for 28 years' and I imagine we are not the favourites to take the 3 points come 5pm tomorrow.
