During the 1988–89 season, Newcastle United participated in the Football League First Division. During the summer the club invested heavily in their squad, attempting to offset the loss of rising star Paul Gascoigne to Tottenham Hotspur for a then club record fee. The FA Cup winners Dave Beasant and Andy Thorn were signed from Wimbledon for £850,000 each, and the Scotsmen John Robertson and John Hendrie also joined as the club spent the £2.2 million it received for Gascoigne. The loss of Gascoigne proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back so soon after selling Peter Beardsley and Chris Waddle, and promising youngster Michael O'Neill, struggling with loss of form and injuries along with the enigmatic Brazilian Mirandinha, were in and out of the team all season.
Newcastle United were relegated, finishing bottom after changing their manager two months into the season. Willie McFaul was sacked as manager after a 3–0 home defeat to Coventry City, a week after the team had beaten the League champions Liverpool at Anfield. New chairman Gordon McKeag swiftly moved to bring former manager Arthur Cox back to the club, but Cox quickly rejected any suggestion of leaving his current employers, Derby County. The club then reached an agreement to appoint former Celtic manager David Hay as their new manager, only for the deal to fall apart over a dispute over the length of his contract. Colin Suggett took over as caretaker, with a view to possibly taking the role full-time if he could steer the club clear of danger, but he lost 5 of his first 6 matches, and only recorded one league victory overall during his two months in charge, leaving the club looking already hopelessly adrift at the bottom of the table by the time they finally recruited a permanent successor to McFaul in mid-December.
The new manager Jim Smith, who struggled to change the team's fortunes, set about 'wheeling and dealing' that saw many changes to the squad. Beasant and Robertson were replaced by the inexperienced Northern Irish goalkeeper Tommy Wright and the expatriate striker Rob McDonald. Other signings included the ex-England international Kenny Sansom, the experienced right back Ray Ranson and the Danish pair Bjørn Kristensen and Frank Pingel, but these changes had little effect and failed to stop the club's slide towards the Second Division, as they collected only two points from their last nine matches.
League table
Results
Squad (Substitute appearances in brackets) Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupSimod CupMCC TrophyTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Dave Beasant20010201020260GK Gary Kelly900000000090GK Tommy Wright9030000000120DF John Anderson21100201000241DF Steve Howey0 (1)0000000000 (1)0DF Peter Jackson100000001020DF Bjørn Kristensen4 (1)0000000004 (1)0DF Ray Ranson13 (1)14000000017 (1)1DF Glenn Roeder18030001000220DF Kenny Sansom20040000000240DF Kevin Scott29040200 (1)01036 (1)0DF Andy Thorn26100201020311DF Kenny Wharton14 (4)04020102023 (4)0MF Ian Bogie3 (3)01 (2)00 (1)000105 (6)0MF Kevin Brock21241001000263MF John Cornwell8 (1)000100 (1)02011 (2)0MF Albert Craig0 (1)0000000000 (1)0MF Archie Gourlay0 (1)0000000000 (1)0MF David McCreery36040000020420MF Liam O'Brien17 (3)34000100022 (3)3MF Michael O'Neill17 (10)41 (1)020001121 (11)5MF Lee Payne6 (1)0000000006 (1)0MF David Roche0 (2)0000000000 (2)0MF Paul Stephenson7 (1)0001000109 (1)0MF Paul Sweeney6 (2)0000000006 (2)0MF Brian Tinnion12 (1)10020001 (1)015 (2)1FW Gary Brazil3 (4)0000000003 (4)0FW John Hendrie34440211020435FW Darren Jackson13 (2)20020102018 (2)2FW Anth Lormor310000000031FW Rob McDonald6 (4)11 (3)00011008 (7)2FW Mirandinha22 (6)92 (1)121100 (1)027 (8)11FW Frank Pingel13 (1)10000000013 (1)1FW John Robertson7 (5)0000 (2)000209 (7)0FW David Robinson0 (1)0000000000 (1)0
Coaching staff
Sources
External links Newcastle United Football Club - Fixtures 1988-89 Season Details - 1988-89 - toon1892