Newcastle United - seventies goalkeepers

Smallish, but his agility and reflexes more than made up for his lack of inches. Although prone to the odd mistake he could be relied on to perform at his best when it really mattered such as in the Cup Semi-Final in 1974.

He was understudy to the great Pat Jennings for Northern Ireland and was first choice for the first five seasons of the decade.

Gordon Lee replaced him with Mahoney in 1975/76 whilst giving him the club captaincy even though he was playing in the reserves.

Durham born stopper who was picked up from Willington as a teenager. Understudy to McFaul He had an eight game run in the side at the end of 1972-73 season and actually kept the Irishman out of the side for a couple of games until he unfortunately broke a finger.

He was a "well built" keeper who commanded his area well but his weight turned out to be his undoing. Due to personal issues he returned for the 1974/75 season three stone heavier than normal and went awol on a couple of occasions before moving to Darlington.

With Burleigh having left for Darlington Tony suddenly found himself propelled into the first team at the age of nineteen for the match at White Hart Lane on 7th December 1974.

He started well but then conceded an unfortunate own goal before conceding two more goals within six minutes. He never got another professional game and moved to North Shields at the end of the season.

Mahoney had made over 150 first team appearances for Torquay before Joe Harvey snapped him up towards the end of the 1974/75 season. He made his debut before the season's end and took over as Number 1 for the 1975/76 season.

Mick established himself as one of the best 'keepers in the country over the next two seasons, won the 1975/76 Save of the Season competition and was voted United's player of the Year in 1976/77.

Despite his success Gordon Lee signed Roger Jones and then Steve Hardwick which appeared to undermine his confidence and his form slumped in the disastrous 1977/78 relegation season. He asked to be dropped at the beginning of the 1978/79 season and joined the short-lived exodus of players to the United States.

Eddie Edgar was one of the many 'keepers who down the years have only been given a single chance between the sticks. His only game came in 1975/76 in the FA Cup 6th Round against Derby when both Mahoney and McFaul were unfit. United, weakened by injury and illness, were beaten 4-2.

He was only nineteen at the time, had only played a few reserve games and only found out he was playing a few minutes before kick-off. He did as well as could be expected, but Lee immediately signed Roger Jones and he left for Hartlepool at the end of the season. Son David also appeared for United.

Gordon Lee went back to his previous club Blackburn to sign former England Under-23 player Jones. Now 29 he had been a firm favourite at Ewood Park where he made almost 300 appearances.

His stay on Tyneside was short and controversial. He made all five of his League appearances at the end of the 1975/76 season and demonstrated in those games that he was a highly competent 'keeper.

He was dogged by injuries in the following season and after seeking medical advice United claimed that he wasn't fit enough to play professional football. The deal with Blackburn had been linked to the number of games he played and the Lancastrians were furious with United's stance which left them well out of pocket.

Jones eventually moved to Stoke and played for another eight seasons.