History of Newcastle United Football Club:
The club was founded in December 1892 by the merger of two local teams Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End who were previously rivals in the Northern League, but after West End fell into financial difficulties they decided to merge. The deal included the lease on West End's stadium St. James' Park and several names were suggested for the new club, including Newcastle Rangers and Newcastle City; however they chose the name Newcastle United.
For much of Newcastle United's history, their home colors have been black and white striped shirts, with black shorts and black socks, though white socks are sometimes worn under some managers who consider them "lucky". For the first two years of the club's existence United continued to wear the home kit of East End, which included red shirts, white shorts and black socks; this was changed to the more familiar black and white striped kit in 1894. The new colours were adopted because many clubs in the same division as Newcastle also wore red and frequently clashed, including Liverpool and Woolwich Arsenal. Conversely, United's change or away colors have been very inconsistent, there is no set in stone standard and the club changes the away colors often, but most commonly it has been a shade of blue (since the 1990s) or yellow. The yellow kit was especially common throughout the 1970s and 1980s and featured a green or blue trim, depending on the season; a yellow and green striped away kit even appeared in 1988—1990. Other common change colors have been grey, all black, all white and green. The most unusual away kit was likely the maroon and navy blue horizontal hoop colors from the 1995–96 and 2006–07 seasons, it was a tribute to West End.
The first club badge which Newcastle United wore on their shirts was the coat of arms of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne which was worn as standard from 1969—1976, though it had been worn on previous occasions far earlier especially in FA Cup finals.
During the 1950s, Newcastle won the FA Cup trophy on three occasions within a five year period. In 1951 they defeated Blackpool 2–0, a year later Arsenal were beaten 1–0 and in 1955 they defeated Manchester City 3–1. Newcastle had gained a high profile, and so had their players; 'Wor Jackie' Milburn and Bobby 'Dazzler' Mitchell in particular. Other players of this time were Frank Brennan (like Mitchell a Scot), Ivor Broadis, Len White and Welshman Ivor Allchurch.
The old war horse Joe Harvey, who had captained the team to much of their post-war success, returned to revitalize Newcastle. He teamed up with Stan Seymour to rebuild them and they won the Second Division Champions in 1965. Newcastle then became very much an unpredictable and inconsistent team, always capable of defeating the best, but never quite realizing their potential. By the start of the 1980s, Newcastle had declined dramatically and was languishing in the Second Division. Gordon Lee had replaced Harvey as boss, yet he in turn soon gave way to Richard Dinnis and then Bill McGarry. But it was Arthur Cox who steered Newcastle back again to the First Division with players such as Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle and ex-England captain Kevin Keegan the foci of the team. With managers such as Jack Charlton, Willie McFaul and Jim Smith, and players such as Paul Gascoigne, Newcastle remained in the top-flight until the team was relegated once more in 1989.
Later, Keegan returned to Tyneside to replace Osvaldo Ardiles as manager on a short term contract in 1992, taking what he claimed to be the only job that could tempt him back into football. Newcastle were struggling at the wrong end of Division Two; Sir John Hall had all but taken control of the club and he needed a minor miracle to stop Newcastle from tumbling into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Survival was confirmed by winning both of their final two league games, at home to Portsmouth and away to Leicester City, the latter to a last minute own goal, although as it transpired, Newcastle would have survived even if they had lost at Leicester.
The 1992–93 season saw a dramatic turnaround in the club's fortunes. They won their first eleven league games before a 1–0 home defeat against Grimsby Town ended the run, two games short of the then English league record of 13 consecutive wins. Playing an exciting brand of attacking football Newcastle became Division One champions with a 2–0 away win, coincidentally at Grimsby, and gained promotion to the Premier League.
After finishing as Premiership runners-up in 1996 and 1997, Keegan resigned citing the pressures of the job for his decision. Kenny Dalglish replaced him. Newcastle reached the 1998 and 1999 FA Cup finals, but suffered defeat on both occasions. Former England manager Booby Robson became manager in 2001 and led Newcastle to a fourth place finish, qualifying the club for Champions League football for the first time. However, Robson faced the sack, controversially in 2004.
Michael Owen signed for Newcastle in 2006, but he and a succession of managers have failed to inspire Newcastle to trophy success. The wait for silverware continues to this day.
