Newcastle United 1919/20 - Season Summary
| Division 1 | 8th | Chairman | J Oliver |
| FA Cup | R2 | Secretary | F Watt |
| Attendance | 38.000 | Trainer | J McPherson |
| Captain | M McCracken | Top Scorer | A Smailes (10) |
When the League resumed some familiar faces returned in defence such as Lawrence, Hudspeth, Low and McCracken but elsewhere in the side there were lots of new names
With the club being "mothballed" during the War and money tight United turned to the non-Leagues to restock the team and as a result a number of local players got a chance at the big time.
Attendances boomed all over the country and Newcastle's average was 4,000 up on the previous best.
After an indifferent start United hit a purple patch and six consecutive victories took them into top spot by mid November Then the goals dried up and the Magpies finished in a disappointing 8th position.
In the FA Cup United lost at home to Second Division Huddersfield.
Competitions
Division 1
League Division 1 was extended to 22 teams for the first time and a new way of arranging the fixtures was used which saw the home and away fixtures between opposing teams being played in quick succession.
Their vastly experienced defence was still doing the business (only 39 goals conceded was the best in the division and the second best ever in the history of the League). But United were still suffering from the same forward failings that had hampered them before the Great War and they scored the second least (44 goals).
United made a slow start but a six-game winning run took them into top-spot by early November. Two defeats by Sunderland precipitated less impressive form but they were still in 3rd as 1920 commenced.
ln the New Year the goals dried-up significantly with United failing to score in 13 of the 20 matches played. Only six matches were won and United fell to 8th.
| 30/8/19 | A | Arsenal | W | 1-0 | ||
| 03/9/19 | H | WBA | L | 0-2 | ||
| 06/9/19 | H | Arsenal | W | 3-1 | ||
| 08/9/19 | A | WBA | L | 0-3 | ||
| 13/9/19 | A | Chelsea | D | 0-0 | ||
| 20/9/19 | H | Chelsea | W | 3-0 | ||
| 24/9/19 | H | Derby | D | 0-0 | ||
| 27/9/19 | A | Liverpool | D | 1-1 | ||
| 04/10/19 | H | Liverpool | W | 3-0 | ||
| 11/10/19 | A | Bradford PA | W | 1-0 | ||
| 18/10/19 | H | Bradford PA | W | 4-0 | ||
| 25/10/19 | A | Preston | W | 3-2 | ||
| 01/11/19 | H | Preston | W | 1-0 | ||
| 08/11/19 | A | Middlesbrough | W | 1-0 | ||
| 22/11/19 | A | Sunderland | L | 0-2 | ||
| 29/11/19 | H | Sunderland | L | 2-3 | ||
| 03/12/19 | H | Middlesbrough | D | 0-0 | ||
| 06/12/19 | A | Sheffield Utd | L | 1-2 | ||
| 13/12/19 | H | Sheffield Utd | W | 2-1 | ||
| 20/12/19 | A | Manchester Utd | L | 1-2 | ||
| 26/12/19 | H | Burnley | D | 0-0 | ||
| 27/12/19 | H | Manchester Utd | W | 2-1 | ||
| 01/1/20 | H | Aston Villa | W | 2-0 | ||
| 03/1/20 | H | Oldham | L | 0-1 | ||
| 17/1/20 | A | Oldham | L | 0-1 | ||
| 24/1/20 | A | Everton | L | 0-4 | ||
| 07/2/20 | A | Bradford | L | 0-1 | ||
| 11/2/20 | H | Everton | W | 3-0 | ||
| 14/2/20 | H | Bradford | L | 0-1 | ||
| 21/2/20 | A | Bolton | W | 3-0 | ||
| 28/2/20 | H | Bolton | L | 0-1 | ||
| 06/3/20 | H | Blackburn | D | 0-0 | ||
| 13/3/20 | A | Blackburn | L | 0-2 | ||
| 20/3/20 | H | Notts | W | 2-1 | ||
| 22/3/20 | A | Sheff Wed | W | 1-0 | ||
| 27/3/20 | A | Notts | D | 0-0 | ||
| 02/4/20 | A | Burnley | L | 0-1 | ||
| 03/4/20 | H | Sheff Wed | D | 1-1 | ||
| 05/4/20 | A | Aston Villa | L | 0-4 | ||
| 17/4/20 | H | Man City | W | 3-0 | ||
| 24/4/20 | A | Man City | D | 0-0 | ||
| 01/5/20 | A | Derby | L | 0-1 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | West Bromwich Albion | 28 | 4 | 10 | 104 | 47 | 60 |
| 02 | Burnley | 21 | 9 | 12 | 65 | 59 | 51 |
| 03 | Chelsea | 22 | 5 | 15 | 56 | 51 | 49 |
| 04 | Liverpool | 19 | 10 | 13 | 59 | 44 | 48 |
| 05 | Sunderland | 22 | 4 | 16 | 72 | 59 | 48 |
| 06 | Bolton Wanderers | 19 | 9 | 14 | 72 | 65 | 47 |
| 07 | Manchester City | 18 | 9 | 15 | 71 | 62 | 45 |
| 08 | Newcastle United | 17 | 9 | 16 | 44 | 39 | 43 |
| 09 | Aston Villa | 18 | 6 | 18 | 75 | 73 | 42 |
| 10 | Arsenal | 15 | 12 | 15 | 56 | 58 | 42 |
| 11 | Bradford Park Avenue | 15 | 12 | 15 | 60 | 63 | 42 |
| 12 | Manchester United | 13 | 14 | 15 | 54 | 50 | 40 |
| 13 | Middlesbrough | 15 | 10 | 17 | 61 | 65 | 40 |
| 14 | Sheffield United | 16 | 8 | 18 | 59 | 69 | 40 |
| 15 | Bradford City | 14 | 11 | 17 | 54 | 63 | 39 |
| 16 | Everton | 12 | 14 | 16 | 69 | 68 | 38 |
| 17 | Oldham Athletic | 15 | 8 | 19 | 49 | 52 | 38 |
| 18 | Derby County | 13 | 12 | 17 | 47 | 57 | 38 |
| 19 | Preston North End | 14 | 10 | 18 | 57 | 73 | 38 |
| 20 | Blackburn Rovers | 13 | 11 | 18 | 64 | 77 | 37 |
| 21 | Notts County | 12 | 12 | 18 | 56 | 74 | 36 |
| 22 | The Wednesday | 7 | 9 | 26 | 28 | 64 | 23 |
FA Cup
| FAC | 10/1/20 | H | Crystal Palace | W | 2-0 | ||
| FAC | 31/1/20 | H | Huddersfield | L | 0-1 |
Players
Squad
| Player | A | G |
|---|---|---|
| Bertram, W | 3 | |
| Best, J | 2 | |
| Booth, C | 15 | 4 |
| Bradley, B | 22 | |
| Cooper, E | 11 | |
| Curry, T | 39 | |
| Dixon, E | 23 | 6 |
| Finlay, J | 37 | |
| Hagan, A | 3 | 1 |
| Hall, T | 14 | 2 |
| Hampson, B | 12 | |
| Henderson, J | 6 | 1 |
| Hewison, R | 3 | |
| Hibbert, B | 26 | 9 |
| Hudspeth, F | 41 | 1 |
| King, J | 9 | |
| Lawrence, J | 21 | |
| Low, W | 40 | |
| McCracken, B | 35 | |
| Mellor, B | 1 | |
| Mooney, E | 9 | |
| Phillipson, T | 10 | 3 |
| Pyke, G | 3 | |
| Rainnie, A | 1 | |
| Ramsay, A | 34 | 2 |
| Robinson, R | 29 | 4 |
| Smailes, A | 23 | 10 |
| Swan, C | 3 | |
| Wake, H | 2 | |
| Wilson, J | 7 | 2 |
| own goals | 1 |
Team
Total number of games: 44
Total number of players used: 30
01: Lawrence or Bradley
02: McCracken
03: Hudspeth
04: Curry
05: Low
06: Finlay
07: Robinson > Cooper
08: Dixon > King.
09: Hibbert > Smailes
10: Booth or Hall
11: Ramsay
Top scorers were: Smailes (10), Hibbert (9) and Dixon (6).
Players
Toon In
| Smailes Andrew | 10/1919 | Blyth Spartans | £300 |
| Best Jeremiah | 12/1919 | Mickley | £100 |
| Phillipson Thomas | 12/1919 | Scotswood | £500 |
| Reed F | /1919 | Local Non-L | |
| Bertram William | 4/1920 | Durham City | £150 |
| Aitken William | 5/1920 | Rangers | £2,500 |
| Harris Neil | 5/1920 | Partick Th | £3,300 |
| Mitchell Thomas | 5/1920 | Spennymoor Utd | £100 |
| Seymour Gs | 5/1920 | Morton | £2,500 |
| Ward E | 5/1920 | Blyth Spartans | £300 |
Toon Oot
| Name | Date | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higgins Alex | 8/1919 | Kilmarnock | |
| Little Richard | 8/1919 | Hamilton | £100 |
| Soulsby John | 8/1919 | Blyth Spartans | |
| Wilson Gw | 9/1919 | Raith Rovers | |
| Whitson Anthony | 10/1919 | ||
| Hay James | cs/1919 | Ayr Utd | |
| Grey Thomas | /1919 | ||
| Reed F | /1919 | Wba | |
| Spink James | /1919 | Hartlepool | |
| King John | 2/1920 | Dykehead | |
| Hall Thomas | 5/1920 | Gillingham | |
| Hewison Robert | 5/1920 | Northampton | £250 |
| Hibbert William | 5/1920 | Bradford City | £700 |
| Wilson Jt | 5/1920 | Leadgate Park |