1991–92 Newcastle United F.C. season

Newcastle United

1991–92 season
Chairman	Sir John Hall
Manager	Osvaldo Ardiles (until 5 February 1992) Kevin Keegan (from 5 February 1992)
Stadium	St James' Park
Division Two	20th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Full Members Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Peacock (16) All: Peacock (19)
Highest home attendance	30,306 (vs. Sunderland)
Lowest home attendance	9,175 (vs. Crewe Alexandra)
Home colours Away colours
← 1990–91 1992–93 →

During the 1991–92 season, English football team Newcastle United participated in the Football League Second Division.

The season started with much promise but quickly deteriorated into a relegation battle. Manager Ossie Ardiles struggled to add to his squad of talented youngsters due to lack of funds, the truth being the club was severely in debt. At one point it had looked like Newcastle would be relegated and could go out of business.

Sir John Hall had all but taken control of the club, and replaced Ardiles with Kevin Keegan on 5 February 1992. An improvement in form helped Newcastle to narrowly avoid relegation from the Second Division, with their survival only confirmed on the last day of the season. They finished 20th, two places above the relegation zone – their lowest League finish ever.

Season synopsis[]

In a season that saw a change of manager the club saw three different chairmen, original chairman Gordon McKeag under pressure from the Magpie Group consortium stepped down to be replaced by board member George Forbes before the head of the Magpie Group since the late 1980s, Sir John Hall, replaced Forbes as chairman.

If relegated to the third tier of English football, it would be for the first time in Newcastle United's history. The newly installed chairman changed the team's manager to Kevin Keegan, a former Newcastle player, who led the team to safety in the last few weeks of the season.

Hall presided over a period of boardroom calm at the club, debts were restructured and the funds were made available for team strengthening. When Kevin Keegan returned to Tyneside to replace Ardiles as manager on a short-term contract on 5 February 1992, taking what he claimed to be the only job that could tempt him back into football, United were struggling at the wrong end of the old Second Division.

Just as in the 1980s, Keegan's mere presence captivated the region. United's disgruntled supporters became excited, expectant ones over-night. St James' Park was regularly packed to capacity once again and United confirmed their Second Division survival with a 2–1 win at Leicester on the last day of the season. Even this win relied on a last-minute own goal.

Even though the club had narrowly avoided relegation, the club's supporters were overjoyed with the choice of manager and the prospect of a bright new start. The following season would see the re-emergence of Newcastle United as a major force in English football and in 1993–94 they were challenging for the Premiership title.

Appearances, goals and cards[]

(Substitute appearances in brackets)

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		ZDS Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Tommy Wright	33	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	36	0
DF	Matty Appleby	16 (2)	0	2	0	2 (1)	0	0	0	20 (3)	0
DF	Paul Bodin	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
DF	Darren Bradshaw	17 (2)	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	21 (2)	0
DF	Robbie Elliott	9	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	11	0
DF	Steve Howey	13 (8)	1	0 (2)	0	1 (2)	1	0	0	14 (12)	2
DF	Brian Kilcline	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
DF	Bjørn Kristensen	1 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 (1)	0
DF	Darron McDonough	2 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 (1)	0
DF	Gavin Maguire	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Alan Neilson	16	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	19	0
DF	Ray Ranson	5 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5 (1)	0
DF	Kevin Scott	44	1	2	0	3	0	1	0	50	1
DF	Mark Stimson	23 (1)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	25 (1)	0
DF	Steve Watson	23 (5)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	25 (5)	1
DF	Terry Wilson	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Kevin Brock	31 (4)	4	2	0	0	0	1	0	34 (4)	4
MF	Franz Carr	12 (3)	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	13 (3)	2
MF	Lee Clark	25 (4)	5	2	0	3	0	1	1	31 (4)	6
MF	Archie Gourlay	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
MF	Lee Makel	5 (4)	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	6 (4)	1
MF	Liam O'Brien	40	4	2	0	3	0	4	0	46	4
MF	Gavin Peacock	46	16	2	0	2	3	1	2	51	21
MF	David Roche	18 (8)	0	1	0	2	0	0 (1)	0	21 (9)	0
MF	Kevin Sheedy	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	1
MF	Alan Thompson	12 (2)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	13 (2)	0
FW	Justin Fashanu	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
FW	Andy Hunt	21 (6)	9	2	2	3	1	1	0	27 (6)	12
FW	David Kelly	25	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	26	11
FW	Micky Quinn	18 (4)	7	0	0	1	0	1	3	20 (4)	10
FW	David Robinson	0 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (3)	0
FW	Andy Walker	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0

Starting XI[]

These are the most used starting players (all competitions).

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	MS	Notes
1	GK		Wright	36
5	LB		Stimson	25
3	CB		Scott	21	Alan Neilson had 21 starts
6	CB		Bradshaw	50
27	RB		Watson	25
14	DM		O'Brien	46
8	AM		Peacock	51
22	AM		Brock	34
4	AM		Clark	31	David Roche had 21 starts
18	ST		Hunt	27
9	ST		Kelly	26	Mick Quinn had 20 starts

Coaching staff[]

Position	Staff
Manager	Kevin Keegan
Assistant Manager	Terry McDermott
First Team coach	Derek Fazackerley
Goalkeeping Coach	Jim Montgomery
Development Coach
Reserve Team Coach
Chief scout

Matches[]

League Division 2[]

FA Cup[]

Football League Cup[]

Zenith Data Systems Cup[]

External links[]

• Flirting with Relegation: Newcastle United 1991/92 Season, James Williams, Leazes Terrace