# 1991–92 Newcastle United F.C. season

During the 1991–92 season, English football team Newcastle United participated in the Football League Second Division.
The season started with much promise but quickly deteriorated into a relegation battle. Manager Ossie Ardiles struggled to add to his squad of talented youngsters due to lack of funds, the truth being the club was severely in debt. At one point it had looked like Newcastle would be relegated and could go out of business.
Sir John Hall had all but taken control of the club, and replaced Ardiles with Kevin Keegan on 5 February 1992. An improvement in form helped Newcastle to narrowly avoid relegation from the Second Division, with their survival only confirmed on the last day of the season. They finished 20th, two places above the relegation zone – the lowest League finish in the club's history.

## Season synopsis

In a season that saw a change of manager, the club had three different chairmen: Gordon McKeag stepped down under pressure from the Magpie Group consortium, to be replaced by board member George Forbes, before Sir John Hall, the head of the Magpie Group since the late 1980s, replaced Forbes
Hall presided over a period of boardroom calm at the club, debts were restructured and the funds were made available for team strengthening. He chairman installed Kevin Keegan, a former Newcastle player, as the new manager on 5 February 1992, in place of Ardiles. In the last few weeks of the season Keegan led the team to safety and the possibility of relegation to the third division for the first time in the club's history.
Just as in the 1980s, Keegan's mere presence captivated the region. St James' Park was regularly packed to capacity again and United confirmed their Second Division survival with a 2–1 win at Leicester City on the last day of the season, after a last-minute own goal.
Even though the club had narrowly avoided relegation, the club's supporters were overjoyed with the choice of manager and the prospect of a bright new start.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 18 | Sunderland | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 61 | 65 | −4 | 53 | |
| 19 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 47 | 62 | −15 | 53 | |
| 20 | Newcastle United | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 66 | 84 | −18 | 52 | |
| 21 | Oxford United | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 66 | 73 | −7 | 50 | |
| 22 | Plymouth Argyle (R) | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 42 | 64 | −22 | 48 | Relegated |

## Appearances, goals and cards

    (Substitute appearances in brackets)
| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | ZDS Cup | ZDS Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Tommy Wright | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| DF | Matty Appleby | 16 (2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 (3) | 0 |
| DF | Paul Bodin | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| DF | Darren Bradshaw | 17 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 (2) | 0 |
| DF | Robbie Elliott | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| DF | Steve Howey | 13 (8) | 1 | 0 (2) | 0 | 1 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 (12) | 2 |
| DF | Brian Kilcline | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| DF | Bjørn Kristensen | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| DF | Darron McDonough | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 |
| DF | Gavin Maguire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | Alan Neilson | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| DF | Ray Ranson | 5 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (1) | 0 |
| DF | Kevin Scott | 44 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 1 |
| DF | Mark Stimson | 23 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 (1) | 0 |
| DF | Steve Watson | 23 (5) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 (5) | 1 |
| DF | Terry Wilson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Kevin Brock | 31 (4) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 (4) | 4 |
| MF | Franz Carr | 12 (3) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 (3) | 2 |
| MF | Lee Clark | 25 (4) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 31 (4) | 6 |
| MF | Archie Gourlay | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| MF | Lee Makel | 5 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (4) | 1 |
| MF | Liam O'Brien | 40 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 4 |
| MF | Gavin Peacock | 46 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 51 | 21 |
| MF | David Roche | 18 (8) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 21 (9) | 0 |
| MF | Kevin Sheedy | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| MF | Alan Thompson | 12 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 (2) | 0 |
| FW | Justin Fashanu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| FW | Andy Hunt | 21 (6) | 9 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 (6) | 12 |
| FW | David Kelly | 25 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 11 |
| FW | Micky Quinn | 18 (4) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 20 (4) | 10 |
| FW | David Robinson | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (3) | 0 |
| FW | Andy Walker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |

### Starting XI

These are the most used starting players (all competitions).
| No. | Pos. | Name | MS | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Wright | 36 | |
| 5 | LB | Stimson | 25 | |
| 3 | CB | Scott | 21 | Alan Neilson had 21 starts |
| 6 | CB | Bradshaw | 50 | |
| 27 | RB | Watson | 25 | |
| 14 | DM | O'Brien | 46 | |
| 8 | AM | Peacock | 51 | |
| 22 | AM | Brock | 34 | |
| 4 | AM | Clark | 31 | David Roche had 21 starts |
| 18 | ST | Hunt | 27 | |
| 9 | ST | Kelly | 26 | Mick Quinn had 20 starts |

## Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Kevin Keegan |
| Assistant Manager | Terry McDermott |
| First Team coach | Derek Fazackerley |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Jim Montgomery |
| Development Coach | |
| Reserve Team Coach | |
| Chief scout | |
Last updated: 3 May 2011 Source: