Newcastle United is one of the few clubs who managed to win the English League in the middle of the dominance of some big clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea. The golden age of this club in English League competition occurred in the mid-1990s, when they had some of the greatest footballers such as Les Ferdinand, David Ginola, and Alan Shearer.
The question is, who is the best player of The Magpies? This is a topic that will be discussed in detail. In this article, I will present profiles of the fifteen players who had important roles in making Newcastle United be one of the most respectable football clubs in Europe.
15. Craig Bellamy
Craig Bellamy is a Welshman who is known to have a rough temper, arrogant, but also very energetic when playing on the pitch. He has high work-rate, strong power, and never hesitates to chase the ball up to the side of the field. Bellamy played for four years for the Toons, scoring 28 goals from 93 appearances. The best moment in his career is when he was selected as the best Premier League young player in 2002.
14. Fabricio Coloccini
Coloccini is an Argentine defender who plays for Newcastle United since 2008. He was signed from La Liga club, Deportivo La Coruna, with a fairly high transfer fee. Since his first season, Coloccini nearly always be the starting player of Newcastle United. However, he did not escape from criticism. Coloccini was regarded as one of the factors which make the Newcastle defense line conceded a lot of goals. It resulted to this club relegation in 2009. However, Coloccini responded to this criticism with a reak proof by helping Newcastle win the Championship League and in the following season regained its status as a dark horse team in the Premier League.
13. Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan played for two years for Newcastle United, from 1982 to 1984. This England striker managed to help the Magpies gain promotion to the English League's First Division after a six-year absence from the competition. He also ended his career with the club, with a record of 48 goals from 78 matches. Keegan's fame was praised more by the Magpies fans when he returned as a coach of this club in season 1992 to 1997. During that period, Keegan managed to present a Premier League title and led Newcastle become the runner-up of the competition twice.
12. Peter Beardsley
Beardsley is one of England national team most important midfielders in the period of mid-1980s until the mid-1990s. He was known as an attacking midfielder who could also play as a striker. In total, Beardsley played for Newcastle for eight years and scored 117 goals from 321 appearances. Before the arrival of Alan Shearer, Beardsley played as a tandem striker for Andy Cole.
11. Jackie Milburn
Jackie Milburn is the second leading top scorer of Newcastle United with a record of 200 goals. This player played for the Toon Army from 1943 until 1957. Milburn had quite a scintillating career in Newcastle, where he won three FA Cup trophies. His achievements and goals make Milburn is regarded as one of the Newcastle United's greatest legends of all time. After retiring as a footballer, he works as a sports journalist.
10. Steven Taylor
Steven Taylor is a strong candidate to be the next Newcastle United's legendary player in the future. This England defender showed high loyalty to this club, although there are many big European clubs who want to sign him. Taylor was an original player of Newcastle United Youth Academy and made his debut for the club in 2003. One of his best achievements with Newcastle United is a trophy of Intertoto Cup in 2006.
9. David Ginola
David Ginola is one of the best French midfielders who played for Newcastle from 1995 to 1997. His career with The Toon Army only lasted for two seasons, but he managed to acquire the nickname "David Copperfield" from the Newcastle fans as he often demonstrates miracles on the pitch. Along with Les Ferdinand, David Batty, and Faustino Asprilla; Ginola made Newcastle be a highly respected club in the Premier League.
8. Les Ferdinand
Similar to David Ginola, Les Ferdinand also only played for two seasons at Newcastle United in the period 1995-1997. From his brief career as The Magpies' player, Ferdinand succeeded in proving his skills as a striker. He scored 41 goals in 69 matches for Newcastle and took the team to a second place finish in English Premier League two seasons in a row. Throughout his career, Ferdinand also played 17 times for England national team and scored five goals.
7. Frank Hudspeth
Frank Hudspeth is a retired English defender who played for Newcastle United for 19 years, from 1910 to 1929. In total, he played 472 matches and scored 37 goals for the Toon Army. One fact that is quite interesting, Hudspeth scored all the goals from penalty kicks. During his career with Newcastle United, Hudspeth won two Premier League titles and one FA Cup trophy.
6. Billy McCracken
Billy McCracken spent his entire 20-year career as a professional footballer at Newcastle United. He played for the Magpies from 1904 to 1924. McCracken is a Northern Irish defender who was one of the earliest player who had the idea of the concept of "offside," although this concept just implemented several tens of years after he retired. Together with Newcastle United, McCracken won three Premier League titles.
5. Andy Cole
Andy Cole was the greatest striker of Newcastle United when the team won the English League in the 1992-1993 season. He also became the top scorer of the Premier League season 1993-1994 with a total of 34 goals. The achievement is quite remarkable, because at that time Cole was still 23 years old. In his two-year career as the Magpies player, Cole scored 68 goals from 84 matches. His impressive performance made Manchester United signed him in 1995. With Manchester United, Cole even won a lot more prestigious titles and trophies.
4. Jimmy Lawrence
Jimmy Lawrence is a former Scottish goalkeeper who holds the all-time appearances record for Newcastle United. This player played 496 times in his 17-years career as the Magpies player, from 1904 to 1921. Jimmy Lawrence was also an instrumental player who helped Newcastle win three Premier League titles and one FA Cup trophy.
3. Shay Given
Shay Given is a charismatic Irish goalkeeper who played for Newcastle United for 12 years, from 1997 to 2009. Besides Alan Shearer, Given is regarded as a Newcastle United player who is able to show the most stable performance. His position as the team's first-team goalkeeper is almost irreplaceable for 12 years. His performance was still highly praised, although Newcastle's defense line was heavily criticized when the team was relegated from the Premier League in 2009.
2. Hughie Gallacher
Hughie Gallacher is a former football player with the highest ratio of goals ever to play for Newcastle United. This England striker scored 143 goals in 174 appearances. He played for Newcastle for five years, from 1925 to 1930, and was appointed as the captain of the team when he was 23 years old. Despite having a short body (he is only about 165 cm tall), Gallacher is known as a powerful, fast, and fierce striker.
1. Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer is the all-time top scorer of Newcastle United with a total record of 206 goals in 404 appearances. Not only that, he is also the Premier League's top scorer of all time with a total of 260 goals. Shearer was signed from Blackburn Rovers in 1996 for a fee of 3.3 million pounds, a transfer fee that broke the record for the most expensive transfer English Premier League at that time. Although he is very prolific in scoring, Shearer did not win any major trophy as a Newcastle United player. However, Shearer will always be regarded as a legend of Newcastle United by the fans because of his outstanding contribution, dedication, and loyalty to the club.
