Rising From The Ashes – Part 3: Newcastle U

The last day of the EPL 2008-09 season was a dark day for English Football as one of the most passionate and well supported club in the country got relegated.

Tyne and Wear based Toons had endured, to say the least a turbulent season and paid the price for the upheavals with relegation from the top flight.



Gone were the days of Kevin Keegan’s “Entertainers", a side displaying a brand of football full of attacking ideas, tremendous work-rate, great spirit and also had a solid back four. For the side that Keegan had led to three consecutive top three finishes (out of which two were runners-up finishes) in the 1990s, the EPL title had become a dream long gone.

The relegation brought the club and its problems into the spotlight, caused not only because of poor displays on the pitch but also due to the equally poor management off it.

The owner – Mike Ashley, who was initially at good terms with the fans, fell badly after some disputes and tried to unsuccessfully sell the club via the club’s website, inviting bidders to send applications to an e-mail address.

The club had also failed to replace it’s talismanic captain Alan Shearer and had made some costly moves too; particularly that of former Liverpool star Michael Owen who got unlucky with injuries and failed to live up to the expectations.



In addition to that, the managers’ compensation (around £14M) paid to the numerous managers who came and went through the revolving door at St. James Park didn’t do the club any good. But that shouldn’t come as a shock since the choices made at those times were bound to fail; as they either lacked experience (like Alan Shearer who was working as a pundit then) or were not supported by the board and given full backing over transfer dealings (Kevin Keegan’s second stint).

With the club in turmoil, many feared that Newcastle will sink further like many Premiership clubs (e.g. Leeds United) who have been relegated over the years with no return.

But the relegation acted as a slap in face for Newcastle that the club needed to solve their growing off-field problems and rise back from the ashes.

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