| Div 1 | 3rd |
| FA Cup | QF |
| Attendance | 14,200 |
| Chairman | W Neasham, J Telford |
| Secretary | F Watt |
| Trainer | T Dodds |
| Captain | A Aitken |
| Top Scorer | R Roberts (12) |
United struggled to score (particularly away from home), but defensively they were excellent and the 34 goals they conceded was the best record in the top flight. As a result United finished 3rd, only seven points behind champions Sunderland.
The Magpies reached the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup for the first time before they were beaten by eventual winners Sheffield United after a replay. The Second Round brought the first Tyne-Wear cup clash and a 23,000 crowd witnessed a famous 1-0 victory for the Novocastrians.
The average crowd remained stuck at 15,000 with Sunderland attracting the biggest crowd of 25,000.
The side was less settled than in previous seasons and there was a significant number of incomings during the summer. The biggest signing was Bob McColl who was regarded as one of the best players in Scottish football and signed for a club record £300.
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission
United secured their best finish thus far, ending up in third place; seven points behind Champions Sunderland. Their overall record was virtually the same as in 1900/01 and they actually obtained one point less even though they finished three places higher.
Although United scored more goals than last season they were still struggling and failed to net in almost half their League games. They occasionally let themselves go and almost half their total came from four matches including a record 8-0 thrashing of Notts County.
Away from home United only notched seven goals; even worse than in 1980/81 although the average was better than in that woeful campaign.
But defensively they were excellent and the 34 goals they conceded was the best record in the top flight.
Despite an Autumn run of 4 wins in 5 games Newcastle disappointed up until the end of January and were down in 12th place.
In the last three months of the season United finally got their act together. A run of 6 wins in 8 games took them up to 3rd and they retained their placing to the end of the campaign.
| 7/9 | A | Blackburn | D | 0-0 | ||
| 14/9 | H | Stoke | W | 5-1 | ||
| 21/9 | A | Everton | D | 0-0 | ||
| 28/9 | H | Sunderland | L | 0-1 | ||
| 3/10 | A | Notts | W | 2-0 | ||
| 5/10 | A | Small Heath | L | 1-3 | ||
| 12/10 | H | Derby | L | 0-1 | ||
| 19/10 | A | Sheff Wed | D | 0-0 | ||
| 26/10 | H | Notts | W | 8-0 | ||
| 2/11 | A | Bolton | L | 1-3 | ||
| 9/11 | H | Man City | W | 3-0 | ||
| 23/11 | H | Liverpool | W | 1-0 | H | |
| 30/11 | H | Grimsby | W | 5-1 | ||
| 7/12 | A | Aston Villa | D | 0-0 | ||
| 14/12 | H | Sheff Utd | D | 1-1 | ||
| 26/12 | A | Derby | L | 0-1 | ||
| 28/12 | H | Bury | D | 1-1 | ||
| 4/1 | H | Blackburn | L | 0-3 | ||
| 11/1 | A | Stoke | D | 0-0 | ||
| 18/1 | H | Everton | D | 1-1 | ||
| 1/2 | H | Small Heath | W | 2-0 | ||
| 15/2 | H | Sheff Wed | W | 2-1 | ||
| 1/3 | H | Bolton | W | 4-1 | ||
| 8/3 | A | Man City | L | 0-2 | ||
| 10/3 | A | Wolves | L | 0-3 | ||
| 15/3 | H | Wolves | W | 3-1 | ||
| 19/3 | A | Nottm F | W | 2-0 | ||
| 22/3 | A | Liverpool | W | 1-0 | ||
| 28/3 | A | Grimsby | L | 0-3 | ||
| 31/3 | A | Sunderland | D | 0-0 | ||
| 5/4 | H | Aston Villa | W | 2-1 | ||
| 12/4 | A | Sheff Utd | L | 0-1 | ||
| 19/4 | H | Nottm F | W | 3-0 | ||
| 26/4 | A | Bury | L | 0-4 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | Sunderland | 19 | 6 | 9 | 50 | 35 | 44 |
| 02 | Everton | 17 | 7 | 10 | 53 | 35 | 41 |
| 03 | Newcastle | 14 | 9 | 11 | 48 | 34 | 37 |
| 04 | Blackburn | 15 | 6 | 13 | 52 | 48 | 36 |
| 05 | Nottm F | 13 | 9 | 12 | 43 | 43 | 35 |
| 06 | Derby | 13 | 9 | 12 | 39 | 41 | 35 |
| 07 | Bury | 13 | 8 | 13 | 44 | 38 | 34 |
| 08 | Aston Villa | 13 | 8 | 13 | 42 | 40 | 34 |
| 09 | Wednesday | 13 | 8 | 13 | 48 | 52 | 34 |
| 10 | Sheff Utd | 13 | 7 | 14 | 53 | 48 | 33 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 10 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 38 | 32 |
| 12 | Bolton | 12 | 8 | 14 | 51 | 56 | 32 |
| 13 | Notts Cty | 14 | 4 | 16 | 51 | 57 | 32 |
| 14 | Wolves | 13 | 6 | 15 | 46 | 57 | 32 |
| 15 | Grimsby | 13 | 6 | 15 | 44 | 60 | 32 |
| 16 | Stoke | 11 | 9 | 14 | 45 | 55 | 31 |
| 17 | Small Heath | 11 | 8 | 15 | 47 | 45 | 30 |
| 18 | Man City | 11 | 6 | 17 | 42 | 58 | 28 |
| R1 | 25/1/02 | A | W Arsenal | W | 2 - 0 | ||
| R2 | 12/2/02 | H | Sunderland | W | 1 - 0 | ||
| QF | 22/2/02 | H | Sheff Utd | D | 1 - 1 | ||
| QFr | 27/2/02 | A | Sheff Utd | L | 1 - 2 |
R1 - A Woolwich side (D2-4th) ravaged by illness, injury and personal tragedy were no match for United.
R2 - Newcastle United met Sunderland (D1-1st) for the first time in the Cup and the Magpies won the game in the dying minutes on a snow-covered pitch. A Wednesday afternoon kick-off resulted in significant absenteeism in the district.
QF - Sheffield United (D1-4th) held Newcastle on a quagmire at Newcastle and won the replay on another heavy pitch with a second-half strike.
| Player | A | G |
|---|---|---|
| Aitken A | 34 | 1 |
| Bamlett T | 2 | |
| Bennie R | 31 | |
| Birnie E | 2 | |
| Caie A | 25 | |
| Carr J | 33 | 1 |
| Davidson T | 30 | |
| Gardner Al | 30 | 3 |
| Gardner D | 13 | |
| Ghee T | 9 | |
| Graham J | 6 | |
| Kingsley M | 37 | |
| MacFarlane A | 2 | |
| McColl B | 12 | 4 |
| Niblo T | 12 | 1 |
| Orr R | 36 | 10 |
| Pattinson D | 1 | 1 |
| Peddie J | 18 | 8 |
| Roberts R | 32 | 12 |
| Rutherford J | 11 | 5 |
| Stewart W | 29 | 3 |
| Veitch C | 12 | 4 |
| Watts C | 1 |
Total number of games: 38
Total number of players used: 23
Figure in brackets denotes the number of players used in each position.
01: (2) Kingsley
02: (3) Bennie
03: (3) Davidson
04: (3) Caie > Gardner A
05: (4) Aitken
06: (3) Carr
07: (4) Gardner A > Stewart
08: (6) Orr
09: (6) Peddie
10: (9) Orr > Niblo > McColl > Veitch > Rutherford
11: (2) Roberts
Peddie (8) only scored in 4 games (although he scored two hat-tricks) and Roberts (12) and Orr (10) were the top scorers.
| Name | Date | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stewart William | 06/1901 | Queens Park | |
| Mccoll Robert | 10/1901 | Queens Park | |
| Graham John | 11/1901 | Workington Black Diamonds | |
| Rutherford John | 01/1902 | Willington Athletic | £375 |
| Graham Samuel | 04/1902 | Galston | |
| Agnew William | 05/1902 | Kilmarnock | £200 |
| Richardson Ord | 05/1902 | Wallsend Park Villa | |
| Stenhouse Henry | 05/1902 | Blyth Spartans |
| Name | Date | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fraser John | 07/1901 | St. Mirren | |
| Laidlaw James | 08/1901 | Woolwich Arsenal | |
| Macfarlane Alec | 11/1901 | Dundee | |
| Niblo Thomas | 01/1902 | Aston Villa | |
| Gardner David | 05/1902 | Grimsby | £250 |
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission