Legends

Newcastle United have a great history as one of England’s biggest football clubs, filled with a long list of legends to suit. The St James’ Park natives have been blessed with an array of star-studded squads over the years. Some iconic names go back to the start of the Magpies’ story when founded in 1892.

Among the legends of Newcastle include the names of Alan Shearer and Kevin Keegan, who enjoyed fabled spells on Tyneside. No one has yet scored more often for the Toon than Shearer, who hit 206 goals in 405 games – the club’s leading goalscorer. While Keegan returned to the club as Newcastle’s manager and oversaw a stout tenure.

Alan Shearer

Keegan took Shearer back home in July 1996 when Newcastle smashed their own and agreed to a world-record transfer with Blackburn Rovers. The Magpies spent £15 million to secure the striker’s services, and quickly ran out of letters to put his name on the back of shirts.

The swoop marked a long-awaited homecoming for the soon-to-be-named England captain. Shearer had previously been on trail with his hometown club while he was a schoolboy. But the Toon tested him as a goalkeeper in what would prove to be a huge error of judgement.

Shearer would more than prove his worth as a centre-forward once he finally got his long-awaited chance to play for Newcastle at the famous St James’ Park. The next 10 years resulted in the forward becoming the Magpies’ all-time leading goalscorer with 206 across 405 appearances, also making him one of the most capped Newcastle players ever.

To commemorate his incredible achievements at the club, Newcastle erected a statue of their favourite son outside of St James’ Park in 2016.

Rob Lee

Newcastle signed Rob Lee in what would prove to be a bargain transfer from Charlton Athletic in September 1992. The midfielder went on to become of the finest technicians to ever grace the engine room at St James’ Park.

His start to life in the North East came as a wide midfielder, where Lee’s mazy runs and expert deliver into the box would help Newcastle secure promotion to the top-flight.

Keegan moved Lee into the heart of his midfield once Newcastle were a Premier League team. It was a transformative decision as his box-to-box exploits would help take the Toon into Europe. Lee regularly delivered lung-busting displays and also added a goalscoring touch to the core of the Magpies team.

No game showed the attacking threat Lee offered Newcastle more so than the Toon’s first European fixture in 17 years. After helping guide the club into the UEFA Cup, Lee struck a hat-trick to help beat Royal Antwerp 5-0.

Kevin Keegan

Newcastle were a sleeping giant before Kevin Keegan joined the Toon in a shock transfer from Southampton in 1982. His all-action style had a transformative impact on the Magpies, even though the move came at the end of his career. The legendary forward’s performances on Tyneside helped Newcastle back into the top flight.

Retirement soon followed but Keegan made a heroic return to Newcastle eight years later to replace Osvaldo Ardiles as the club’s manager. As he had done as a player, Keegan was once again instrumental as Newcastle earned promotion to the top flight in his first full season in charge.

Soon after their promotion, Keegan built a team labelled ‘the Entertainers’ to the very top of the table, finishing second and narrowly missing out on a first – and only ever – Premier League title.

Jackie Milburn

Until Shearer graced St James’ Park, Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn was their all-time top scorer. Between his arrival at the Toon in 1943 and retiring in 1957 aged 33, the striker bagged an incredible 200 goals. He also scored 38 times in wartime games, while his efforts earned the nickname ‘Wor Jackie’.

Milburn also had a key hand in one of the most trophy-laden era of Newcastle’s history. His two goals won the Magpies the FA Cup final in 1951 before opening the scoring just 45 seconds into the 1952 final. He also scored a hat-trick to help them pip Portsmouth 4-2 in the 1952 quarter-final.

Milburn’s hero status led to the Magpies naming the main stand at St James’ Park after their iconic striker and also erected a statue outside of the Gallowgate End of him facing the city centre. He was also a Freeman of the City of Newcastle.

Shay Given

Dalglish raided Blackburn in July 1997 and secured what would prove to be a bargain £1.5 million transfer for Shay Given. The goalkeeper went on to enjoy a 12-year stay at St James’ Park and featured in 463 games. His record places the Republic of Ireland hero third in the Magpies’ all-time appearances list.

Manchester City would later sign Given in February 2009 for £7 million after the shot-stopper stunned the Toon by issuing a statement criticising the direction the club was heading in both on and off the pitch. It came three years after the goalkeeper had committed the rest of his career to the Tyneside outfit by penning a lengthy contract.

While his time at St James’ Park ended in shock, Given had proven himself to be a fantastic servant to the club for the 12 years he spent in the North East. He was often among the best shot-stoppers in England with an endless stream of important performances. Glenn Roeder even awarded Given the club’s captaincy.

Peter Beardsley

Peter Beardsley enjoyed two spells at St James’ Park that saw the striker-cum-attacking midfielder become a Newcastle legend. The gifted and skilful operator remains one of the Toon’s all-time top goalscorers thanks to his tally of 119 in 326 games.

Arthur Cox brought the England hero back to his homeland in 1983 after a spell with the Vancouver Whitecaps. The decision would be a stroke of genius as Beardsley and Keegan combined to fire the Magpies to promotion. But Liverpool later came calling to sign the attacker in the summer of 1987.

Beardsley would also go on to enjoy a spell with Everton before returning to Newcastle in 1992, this time to play under Keegan. The iconic teammates reunited and Beardsley returned to St James’ Park as if he never left. He may have been 32 by this point but slotted in seamlessly in with the Entertainers.

His first season back on Tyneside saw Beardsley score 21 goals in 35 games to help Newcastle finish their first term in the Premier League in third.

Les Ferdinand

Few strikers in the Premier League era have been as complete as Les Ferdinand. The forward offered an aerial threat to rival any attacker, had the speed to beat defenders, and the strength to outmuscle any opponent. He also had a sensational strike rate and left his mark during a short stay at St James’.

Ferdinand only spent two years at Newcastle but left a legend with 50 goals in 83 games – a hit rate of 60%. Not that the forward wanted to leave Tyneside, either. Ferdinand later revealed in January 2019 that he had wanted to see out his career with the Toon but Dalglish saw his sales as an opportunity.

“I didn’t want to leave Newcastle United. I was there for two years and I would have spent the rest of my career there,” admitted Ferdinand. “I thought it was a great club and thought we were on the cusp of winning something…Kenny had his own ideas, he came in and he needed to raise funds.

“He did say to me he didn’t want me to leave but the club were looking to raise funds and he was honest with me. He said he didn’t want to lose me but I didn’t really believe it. Tottenham came up with £6m, I had been there for two years, I was 30 and Newcastle probably saw it as good business.

“There were a couple of other clubs that came in, Liverpool only wanted to pay £3.5m, Sheffield Wednesday were willing to pay £6m. So, I remember speaking to David Pleat. But I thought if I am going to leave Newcastle, Tottenham were my boyhood club so that was where I was going to go.”

Bob Moncur

Bob Moncur earned his place as a Newcastle legend thanks a storied spell at the heart of the defence on Tyneside. He is also among a rare group of Magpies icons having captained the Toon to a title.

It remains the most recent major title in Newcastle have won, doing so by seeing off Hungarian outfit Ujpesti Dosza 6-2. Moncur scored twice at St James’ Park to lead the first leg 3-0 before also netting the Magpies’ first in Budapest. Through 296 games for the Toon, they remained Moncur’s only goals.

Moncur’s career with Newcastle started as an apprentice in 1960 before the Perth native made his debut in 1963. Yet he had to wait until the 1967/68 campaign before truly making his mark in the North East. And the captain’s armband also followed that season en-route to European qualification.

John Rutherford

Born in North Tyneside, John ‘Jock’ Rutherford would earn the status of a Newcastle legend and the nickname ‘the Newcastle flyer’ over an 11-year career at St James’ Park. He also set Magpies records from the off at 17 years old as the Toon’s youngest ever debutant and as their youngest ever scorer.

Rutherford started off at St James’ Park as a striker before moving to an outside right position from the 1903/04 season. The move would lead to his nickname as the attacker charged down the wings with sublime grace and pace. Rutherford would captivate the club’s fanbase with his swerving runs.

England recognition came for Rutherford at 20 before spells with Arsenal, Stoke City, Clapton Orient and Tunbridge Wells Rangers. He would not retire until his 40s but Rutherford’s best days came with Newcastle. The forward offered the Toon 94 goals in 336 appearances.

Jimmy Lawrence

No player has yet surpassed Newcastle legend Jimmy Lawrence for his total number of games for the Magpies. The iconic Toon goalkeeper stood between the sticks for 496 fixtures from 1904 until 1922.

Further games for Newcastle outside of league and cup competitions took the Glasgow native to 507 games altogether. He further helped the Toon win the first of their three top-flight trophies over the 1904/05, 1906/07 and 1908/09 campaigns. While the 1909/10 term also returned a first FA Cup triumph.

Lawrence was one of just three players with Rutherford and Colin Veitch to contribute toward all of Newcastle’s Edwardian-era successes. He also frustrated the Magpies’ great rivals, Sunderland, after saving four penalties during Tyne-Wear derbies in his career renowned for making spectacular saves.