NUFC 1995/96 - Season Summary
NUFC 1995/96 Squad| Prem | 2nd | Chairman | J Hall |
| FA Cup | R3 | Manager | K Keegan |
| League Cup | QF | Coach | D Fazackerly/C McMenemy |
| Captain | P Beardsley | ||
| Attendance | 36,505 | Top Scorer | L Ferdinand (29) |
Although results wise 1995/96 season was the best season in the club's history it will unfortunately be remembered as the season when Newcastle "threw away" a 12 point lead.
Many theories have been put forward for United's late collapse: defensive weakness, tactical naivety, loss of bottle, the disruption to the team caused by the introduction of Asprilla. But when you look at the defeats they had: in 6 out of 8 we didn't score. This was not a season of high scoring defeats as it has often been misrepresented. A distraught Keegan offered to resign.
The League Cup brought a controversial defeat at Highbury in the Quarter Finals whilst Chelsea knocked us out of the FA Cup in a penalty shoot-out.
Competitions
Premiership
| 19/8 | H | Coventry | W | 3-0 | ||
| 22/8 | A | Bolton | W | 3-1 | ||
| 27/8 | A | Sheff Wed | W | 2-0 | ||
| 30/8 | H | Middlesbrough | W | 1-0 | ||
| 09/9 | A | Southampton | L | 0-1 | ||
| 16/9 | H | Man City | W | 3-1 | ||
| 24/9 | H | Chelsea | W | 2-0 | ||
| 01/10 | A | Everton | W | 3-1 | ||
| 14/10 | A | QPR | W | 3-2 | ||
| 21/10 | H | Wimbledon | W | 6-1 | ||
| 29/10 | A | Tottenham | D | 1-1 | ||
| 04/11 | H | Liverpool | W | 2-1 | ||
| 08/11 | H | Blackburn | W | 1-0 | ||
| 18/11 | A | Aston Villa | D | 1-1 | ||
| 25/11 | H | Leeds Utd | W | 2-1 | ||
| 03/12 | A | Wimbledon | D | 3-3 | ||
| 09/12 | A | Chelsea | L | 0-1 | ||
| 16/12 | H | Everton | W | 1-0 | ||
| 23/12 | H | Nottm F | W | 3-1 | ||
| 27/12 | A | Manchester Utd | L | 0-2 | ||
| 02/1 | H | Arsenal | W | 2-0 | ||
| 14/1 | A | Coventry | W | 1-0 | ||
| 20/1 | H | Bolton | W | 2-1 | ||
| 03/2 | H | Sheff Wed | W | 2-0 | ||
| 10/2 | A | Middlesbrough | W | 2-1 | ||
| 21/2 | A | WHU | L | 0-2 | ||
| 24/2 | A | Man City | D | 3-3 | ||
| 04/3 | H | Manchester Utd | L | 0-1 | ||
| 18/3 | H | WHU | W | 3-0 | ||
| 23/3 | A | Arsenal | L | 0-2 | ||
| 03/4 | A | Liverpool | L | 3-4 | ||
| 06/4 | H | QPR | W | 2-1 | ||
| 08/4 | A | Blackburn | L | 1-2 | ||
| 14/4 | H | Aston Villa | W | 1-0 | ||
| 17/4 | H | Southampton | W | 1-0 | ||
| 29/4 | A | Leeds Utd | W | 1-0 | ||
| 02/5 | A | Nottm F | D | 1-1 | ||
| 05/5 | H | Tottenham | D | 1-1 |
Embed from Getty Images
Once again Newcastle set off at a blistering pace, winning 11 out of their first 13 Premiership matches and scoring 30 goals in the process. Hardly surprising when they boasted an attack of Lee, Beardsley, Ferdinand, Ginola and Gillespie.
Staying largely clear of injuries they maintained the pace and their only defeats before Christmas were at Southampton, Chelsea and Man United.
Five consecutive victories were recorded at the start of 1996 and a confident Keegan (who always believed in strengthening the team when it was doing well) splashed out again on Tino Asprilla and David Batty.
Then all of a sudden the wheels came off with a disastrous run of five defeats in eight games including the infamous but classic 4-3 defeat at Liverpool and the loss at Blackburn where they conceded twice in the last few minutes.
United bounced back to win 3 in a row with the last game of the run at Leeds being where Keegan gave his famous "love it" speech.
Manchester United had 79 points with 1 game left; United had 76 points with 2 games left but were 6 goals worse off in terms of goal difference. It was going to be difficult but there was still hope.
United's game in hand was away against Nottingham Forest but a 76th minute equaliser by Ian Woan denied them the necessary victory. The only way the title could be won now was if Newcastle beat Spurs at St James' and Man U lost at Middlesbrough. They won and Newcastle could only manage a draw.
FA Cup
| FAC | 07/1 | A | Chelsea | D | 1-1 | ||
| FAC | 17/1 | H | Chelsea | D | 2-2 |
League Cup
| LC | 19/9 | A | Bristol | W | 5-0 | ||
| LC | 04/10 | H | Bristol | W | 3-1 | ||
| LC | 25/10 | A | Stoke | W | 4-0 | ||
| LC | 29/11 | A | Liverpool | W | 1-0 | ||
| LC | 10/1 | A | Arsenal | L | 0-2 |
Players
Squad
Total Number of Matches: 45
Total Number of Goals: 82
| Player | A | S | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert P | 23 | 5 | 6 |
| Asprilla F | 11 | 3 | 3 |
| Barton W | 37 | 1 | 1 |
| Batty D | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| Beardsley P | 40 | 0 | 11 |
| Beresford J | 35 | 1 | |
| Brayson P | 1 | 0 | |
| Clark Lee | 26 | 7 | 2 |
| Crawford J | 0 | 1 | |
| Elliott R | 8 | 2 | |
| Ferdinand L | 44 | 0 | 29 |
| Fox R | 3 | 2 | |
| Gillespie K | 30 | 2 | 5 |
| Ginola D | 40 | 0 | 5 |
| Hislop S | 28 | 0 | |
| Holland C | 0 | 1 | |
| Hottiger M | 1 | 2 | |
| Howey S | 33 | 0 | 1 |
| Huckerby D | 0 | 2 | |
| Kitson P | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Lee R | 41 | 0 | 9 |
| Peacock D | 40 | 1 | 2 |
| Sellars S | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Srnicek P | 17 | 2 | |
| Watson S | 18 | 11 | 4 |
Transfers
Toon In
| Name | Date | Age | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barton Warren | 06/95 | 26 | Wimbledon | £4m |
| Ferdinand Les | 06/95 | 28 | QPR | £6m |
| Ginola David | 07/95 | 28 | PSG | £2.5m |
| Brayson Paul | 08/95 | 17 | Professional | |
| Hislop Shaka | 08/95 | 26 | Reading | £1.575m |
| Huckerby Darren | 11/95 | 19 | Lincoln City | £450,000 |
| Asprilla Faustino | 02 | 26 | Parma | £7.5m |
| Batty David | 02/96 | 27 | Blackburn Rovers | £3.5m |
F Asprilla
L Ferdinand
D Ginola
Toon Oot
| Name | Date | Age | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Mike | 06/95 | 23 | Rotheram | £100,000 |
| Neilson Alan | 06/95 | 22 | Southampton | £400,000 |
| Venison Barry | 06/95 | 30 | Galatasaray | £750,000 |
| Fox Ruel | 10/95 | 27 | Tottenham | £4m |
| Allen Malcolm | 12/95 | 27 | Retired (inj) | |
| Appleby Richard | 12/95 | 20 | Ipswich | |
| Sellars Scott | 12/95 | 29 | Bolton | £750,000 |
| Hottiger Marc | 03/96 | 28 | Everton | £700,000 |
Drop Oot
| Name | Club | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harper Steve | Bristol City | 07/95 | 05/96 |
| Hooper Mike | Sunderland | 07/95 | 05/96 |
| Appleby Richard | Ipswich | 11/95 | 11/95 |