| Div 2 | 8th |
| FA Cup | R3 |
| League Cup | R3 |
| Attendance | 29,435 |
| Chairman | W Hurford |
| Manager | J Harvey |
| Coach | J Greenhalgh |
| Captain | D Keith > S Anderson |
| Top Scorer | B Thomas (21) |
The squad was further supplemented during the summer with the arrival of Ollie Burton, Gordon Marshall and Colin Taylor and hopes were high for the new season.
A good start suggested the optimism was not misplaced but this was followed by a disastrous run which resulted in United tumbling down to 18th by November.
Harvey was already developing an innate ability to sign a player who could lift the side and the shock signing of Stan Anderson from local rivals Sunderland raised the bar on this occasion. Since May Harvey had spent a huge £124,000 on six players.
Anderson helped inspire a change of fortunes that put United on the fringes of the promotion pack before a poor finish extinguished their hopes.
The Cups proved disastrous as United first lost to Third Division Bournemouth in the League Cup and then were humiliatingly beaten at home in the FA Cup by Bedford Town of the Southern League.
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission
Hopes had been high for promotion but United's chances were wrecked by two losing-streaks and they finished in 8th. Consequently, although they won more games than in 1962-63 they also lost more too (particularly at home).
United made a good start, winning 3 of the first 4 games. But in the two-month period from mid-September to mid-November they lost 9 out of 11 games. Although a lot of the games were away from home the run included defeats on Tyneside against Preston, Northampton and Cardiff. United were 18th.
Harvey then signed Stan Anderson from Sunderland, making him skipper. His arrival brought a remarkable change in form. Following a draw at Swindon, United won 12 and lost 2 of the next 17 games. They were now 5th, but they were 8 points behind the promotion places with only 7 games left to play and a double-defeat by Leeds and losses to Manchester City, Bury and Scunthorpe brought a disappointing end to the season.
| 24/8 | H | Derby | W | 3 - 1 | ||
| 26/8 | A | Middlesbrough | L | 0 - 3 | 5 | |
| 31/8 | A | Plymouth | W | 4 - 3 | 11 | |
| 04/9 | H | Middlesbrough | W | 2 - 0 | 7 | |
| 07/9 | H | Charlton | W | 5 - 0 | 4 | |
| 11/9 | H | Southampton | D | 2 - 2 | 4 | |
| 14/9 | A | Grimsby | L | 1 - 2 | 5 | |
| 18/9 | A | Southampton | L | 0 - 2 | 9 | |
| 21/9 | H | Preston | L | 2 - 4 | 11 | |
| 28/9 | A | Orient | L | 0 - 1 | 13 | |
| 02/10 | H | Portsmouth | W | 1 - 0 | 13 | |
| 05/10 | H | Swansea | W | 4 - 1 | 7 | |
| 09/10 | A | Sunderland | L | 1 - 2 | 8 | |
| 19/10 | A | Portsmouth | L | 2 - 5 | 10 | |
| 26/10 | H | Northampton | L | 2 - 3 | 12 | |
| 02/11 | A | Norwich | L | 1 - 3 | 15 | |
| 09/11 | H | Cardiff | L | 0 - 4 | 18 | |
| 16/11 | A | Swindon | D | 0 - 0 | 17 | |
| 23/11 | H | Man City | W | 3 - 1 | 15 | |
| 30/11 | A | Bury | W | 2 - 1 | 13 | |
| 07/12 | H | Scunthorpe | W | 3 - 1 | 10 | |
| 14/12 | A | Derby | W | 2 - 1 | 10 | |
| 21/12 | H | Plymouth | D | 1 - 1 | 10 | |
| 26/12 | H | Huddersfield | W | 2 - 0 | 9 | |
| 28/12 | A | Huddersfield | L | 0 - 3 | 10 | |
| 11/1 | A | Charlton | W | 2 - 1 | 8 | |
| 18/1 | H | Grimsby | W | 4 - 0 | 6 | |
| 01/2 | A | Preston | L | 0 - 3 | 7 | |
| 08/2 | H | Leyton Orient | W | 3 - 0 | 5 | |
| 22/2 | A | Rotherham Utd | W | 3 - 2 | 6 | |
| 29/2 | H | Swindon | W | 4 - 1 | 5 | |
| 07/3 | A | Northampton | D | 2 - 2 | 6 | |
| 14/3 | H | Sunderland | W | 1 - 0 | 5 | |
| 17/3 | A | Swansea | W | 1 - 0 | 5 | |
| 20/3 | A | Cardiff | D | 2 - 2 | 5 | |
| 27/3 | H | Leeds | L | 0 - 1 | 5 | |
| 30/3 | A | Leeds | L | 1 - 2 | 5 | |
| 04/4 | A | Man City | L | 1 - 3 | 6 | |
| 08/4 | H | Rotherham Utd | W | 5 - 2 | 5 | |
| 11/4 | H | Bury | L | 0 - 4 | 6 | |
| 18/4 | A | Scunthorpe Utd | L | 0 - 2 | 7 | |
| 25/4 | H | Norwich | W | 2 - 0 | 8 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | Leeds | 24 | 15 | 3 | 71 | 34 | 63 |
| 02 | Sunderland | 25 | 11 | 6 | 81 | 37 | 61 |
| 03 | Preston | 23 | 10 | 9 | 79 | 54 | 56 |
| 04 | Charlton | 19 | 10 | 13 | 76 | 70 | 48 |
| 05 | Southampton | 19 | 9 | 14 | 100 | 73 | 47 |
| 06 | Man City | 18 | 10 | 14 | 84 | 66 | 46 |
| 07 | Rotherham | 19 | 7 | 16 | 90 | 78 | 45 |
| 08 | Newcastle | 20 | 5 | 17 | 74 | 69 | 45 |
| 09 | Portsmouth | 16 | 11 | 15 | 79 | 70 | 43 |
| 10 | Middlesbrough | 15 | 11 | 16 | 67 | 52 | 41 |
| 11 | Northampton | 16 | 9 | 17 | 58 | 60 | 41 |
| 12 | Huddersfield | 15 | 10 | 17 | 57 | 64 | 40 |
| 13 | Derby | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 67 | 39 |
| 14 | Swindon | 14 | 10 | 18 | 57 | 69 | 38 |
| 15 | Cardiff | 14 | 10 | 18 | 56 | 81 | 38 |
| 16 | Orient | 13 | 10 | 19 | 54 | 72 | 36 |
| 17 | Norwich | 11 | 13 | 18 | 64 | 80 | 35 |
| 18 | Bury | 13 | 9 | 20 | 57 | 73 | 35 |
| 19 | Swansea | 12 | 9 | 21 | 63 | 74 | 33 |
| 20 | Plymouth | 8 | 16 | 18 | 45 | 67 | 32 |
| 21 | Grimsby | 9 | 14 | 19 | 47 | 75 | 32 |
| 22 | Scunthorpe | 10 | 10 | 22 | 52 | 82 | 30 |
| R3 | 04/1 | H | Bedford | L | 1 - 2 |
The Magpies suffered another Cup humiliation as they were beaten at home by Southern League Bedford Town.
| R2 | 25/9 | H | Preston | W | 3 - 0 | ||
| R3 | 06/11 | A | Bournemouth | L | 1 - 2 |
On the prior Saturday Newcastle had lost 4-2 at home to Preston in Division 2, but they turned the tables on them in the League Cup. Third Division Bournemouth ousted United in the next round.
| Player | A | S | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allen, G | 1 | ||
| Anderson, S | 25 | 5 | |
| Burton, O | 19 | 3 | |
| Butler, J | 4 | ||
| Clark, F | 2 | ||
| Clish, C | 1 | ||
| Craig, D | 14 | ||
| Cummings, B | 16 | 5 | |
| Dalton, G | 40 | 1 | |
| Hilley, D | 40 | 6 | |
| Hockey, T | 13 | ||
| Hollins, D | 10 | ||
| Iley, J | 45 | 3 | |
| Keith D | 8 | ||
| Kirkman, A | 5 | 1 | |
| Markie, J | 2 | ||
| Marshall, G | 35 | ||
| McGarry, R | 33 | 12 | |
| McGrath, J | 41 | ||
| McKinney B | 18 | 1 | |
| Moncur, B | 3 | ||
| O'Neil, L | 1 | ||
| Penman, W | 24 | 8 | |
| Suddick, A | 34 | 7 | |
| Taylor, C | 26 | 5 | |
| Thomas, B | 27 | 21 | |
| Thompson, B | 5 | ||
| Turner, D | 1 | ||
| Walker, L | 2 | ||
| own goals | 1 |
Total number of games: 45
Total number of players used: 29
01: (2) Marshall or Hollins
02: (5) McKinney > Craig
03: (3) Dalton
04: (5) Burton > Anderson
05: (4) McGrath
06:(2) Iley
07: (4) Hilley or Hockey or Suddick
08: (5) McGarry or Hilley or Suddick
09: (3) Thomas or Cummings
10: (7) Penman or McGarry
11: (4) Taylor or Suddick
| Name | Date | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burton Alwyn | 06/1963 | Norwich City | £37,500 |
| Marshall Gordon | 06/1963 | Hearts | £18,500 |
| Taylor Colin | 06/1963 | Walsall | £20,000 |
| Guthrie Ron | 07/1963 | Professional | £100 |
| Kirkman Alan | 09/1963 | Rotherham United | £12,300 |
| Cummings Bobby | 10/1963 | Aberdeen | £5,000 |
| Anderson Stanley | 11/1963 | Sunderland | £19,000 |
| Hockey Trevor | 11/1963 | Nottm F | £25,000 |
| Allen Geoff | 04/1964 | Professional |
S Anderson
A Burton
C Taylor
| Name | Date | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garrow Herbert | 06/1963 | Horden CW | Free |
| Mcmichael Alf | 06/1963 | South Shields | Free |
| Mitchell Stewart | 06/1963 | Third Lanark | £2,500 |
| Fell James | 07/1963 | Walsall | £5,000 |
| Watkin George | 07/1963 | Kings Lynn | Free |
| Hughes Gordon | 08/1963 | Derby | £12,000 |
| Neale Duncan | 08/1963 | Plymouth | £12,000 |
| Tuohy Liam | 08/1963 | Shamrock R | Free |
| Clish Colin | 12/1963 | Rotherham | £5,000 |
| Kirkman Alan | 12/1963 | Scunthorpe | £10,000 |
| Turner David | 12/1963 | Brighton | £4,500 |
| Keith Dick | 02/1964 | Bournemouth | £3,300 |
| Markie John | 05/1964 | Falkirk | Free |
G Hughes
D Keith
A McMichael