Newcastle United had turned to a local hero in a bid to solve their early season woe in the 1999-2000 campaign. After Ruud Gullit’s departure, it was the legendary Sir Bobby Robson who accepted the challenge of attempting to make the Toon Army an attractive and successful side. First job though was stability and to ensure the side weren’t to be sucked into an unwelcome relegation battle.
His reign began with a narrow defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea but for his first home fixture, he couldn’t have picked a better opponent. Sheffield Wednesday had made their own dismal start and actually sat below Newcastle at kick-off. This was actually a clash between the bottom two sides in what was the eighth game of the season. Both went into the match winless.
It was Aaron Hughes who got the scoring underway after 11 minutes. Hughes guided in a cross from the left-hand side by Kieron Dyer. It was his first-ever goal for the club and Kevin Pressman was about to face a shooting masterclass from the home team. Leading that charge was Alan Shearer.
Shearer had fallen out with Gullit and had been controversially benched in his last game as manager. He had been out-of-form until a hat-trick in a recent European Championship qualifier for England against Luxembourg. He went two better here, becoming only the second player in Premier League history to score five times.
His first goal on the half-hour was an instinctive touch from a short corner routine. Three minutes later, he tucked home with his regular accuracy from the penalty spot after Warren Barton had won the spot-kick for a handball. Before the interval, the skipper had completed his second hat-trick of the month, beating Des Walker to Dyer’s tempting cross again from the left-hand side.
Dyer’s all-action display saw him join the scoring rout virtually straight into the second half. This time, it was Shearer who turned provider, heading the ball back into the danger area after Pressman had initially denied Gary Speed. Despite offside appeals, Dyer nodded home successfully from close-range.
Speed wasn’t to be denied either. He got Newcastle’s sixth goal; a stunning powerful header off the inside of the post from a Nolberto Solano corner. Shearer wasn’t done yet either. His fourth of the day was a gift, side-footing home into an empty net after another superb Solano set-piece delivery received a weak punch from Pressman. Then with six minutes to go, he joined Andy Cole in the five-goal club for an individual match, converting his second penalty of the game after substitute Paul Robinson had been tripped in the penalty area.
Newcastle’s season rapidly improved as they finished a creditable 11th given their woeful start. Sheffield Wednesday didn’t recover and dropped out of the top-flight at the end of the season. They haven’t been back since.
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ON THIS DAY 1999:
Newcastle United had turned to a local hero in a bid to solve their early season woe in the 1999-2000 campaign. After Ruud Gullit’s departure, it was the legendary Sir Bobby Robson who accepted the challenge of attempting to make the Toon Army an attractive and successful side. First job though was stability and to ensure the side weren’t to be sucked into an unwelcome relegation battle.
His reign began with a narrow defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea but for his first home fixture, he couldn’t have picked a better opponent. Sheffield Wednesday had made their own dismal start and actually sat below Newcastle at kick-off. This was actually a clash between the bottom two sides in what was the eighth game of the season. Both went into the match winless.
It was Aaron Hughes who got the scoring underway after 11 minutes. Hughes guided in a cross from the left-hand side by Kieron Dyer. It was his first-ever goal for the club and Kevin Pressman was about to face a shooting masterclass from the home team. Leading that charge was Alan Shearer.
Shearer had fallen out with Gullit and had been controversially benched in his last game as manager. He had been out-of-form until a hat-trick in a recent European Championship qualifier for England against Luxembourg. He went two better here, becoming only the second player in Premier League history to score five times.
His first goal on the half-hour was an instinctive touch from a short corner routine. Three minutes later, he tucked home with his regular accuracy from the penalty spot after Warren Barton had won the spot-kick for a handball. Before the interval, the skipper had completed his second hat-trick of the month, beating Des Walker to Dyer’s tempting cross again from the left-hand side.
Dyer’s all-action display saw him join the scoring rout virtually straight into the second half. This time, it was Shearer who turned provider, heading the ball back into the danger area after Pressman had initially denied Gary Speed. Despite offside appeals, Dyer nodded home successfully from close-range.
Speed wasn’t to be denied either. He got Newcastle’s sixth goal; a stunning powerful header off the inside of the post from a Nolberto Solano corner. Shearer wasn’t done yet either. His fourth of the day was a gift, side-footing home into an empty net after another superb Solano set-piece delivery received a weak punch from Pressman. Then with six minutes to go, he joined Andy Cole in the five-goal club for an individual match, converting his second penalty of the game after substitute Paul Robinson had been tripped in the penalty area.
Newcastle’s season rapidly improved as they finished a creditable 11th given their woeful start. Sheffield Wednesday didn’t recover and dropped out of the top-flight at the end of the season. They haven’t been back since.
Got to love a good 8-0 smashing