# 1994–95 Newcastle United F.C. season

This article covers the squad and match results for the 1994–95 season at the English association football club Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United participated in the FA Premier League, finishing in 6th place.

## Season summary

Newcastle United made the best start to any top division season in their history, winning their first six games to go top. The first team had built up a reputation for playing an attacking, almost cavalier, brand of football under Kevin Keegan – their occasionally leaky defence was not a major problem, as the team could almost always score more than they conceded. In a shock move in January 1995, however, hugely influential striker Andy Cole joined Manchester United for £6 million plus £1 million midfielder Keith Gillespie, who joined Newcastle. Fans were saddened and confused with Keegan for selling Cole, leading to Keegan publicly confronting fans at St James' Park explaining his reasons on the day of the transfer.
By Christmas, Newcastle were no longer title favourites but still looked certain of a UEFA Cup place. But things failed to improve in the new year, and the sale of Cole seemed to accelerate their fall from grace. A sixth-place finish in the final table meant that they just missed out on another European campaign, but they were given hope of a fresh chase for honours next time round thanks to the close season signings of David Ginola and Les Ferdinand.
The 1994–95 season also saw the arrival of Marc Hottiger, Philippe Albert, Paul Kitson and Keith Gillespie, as well as the late and close season departures of Barry Venison, Alex Mathie, Mike Jeffrey and Paul Bracewell.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | Liverpool | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 74 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Leeds United | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 59 | 38 | +21 | 73 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 67 | 47 | +20 | 72 | |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 66 | 58 | +8 | 62 | |
| 8 | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 61 | 59 | +2 | 60 | |
* ↑ Leeds United were rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.

## Appearances, goals and cards

    (Substitute appearances in brackets)
| No. | Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | Pavel Srníček | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 0 | ? | 2 |
| 2 | DF | Barry Venison | 28 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 1 | ? | 0 |
| 3 | DF | John Beresford | 33 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 1 | ? | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Paul Bracewell | 13 (3) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 (4) | 0 | ? | 0 |
| 5 | MF | Ruel Fox | 40 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 51 | 12 | ? | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Steve Howey | 29 (1) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 (1) | 1 | ? | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Robert Lee | 35 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 44 | 14 | ? | 1 |
| 8 | MF | Peter Beardsley | 34 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 44 | 15 | ? | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Andy Cole | 18 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 15 | ? | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Lee Clark | 9 (10) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 15 (12) | 2 | ? | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Scott Sellars | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 1 | ? | 0 |
| 12 | DF | Marc Hottiger | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 2 | ? | 0 |
| 14 | FW | Alex Mathie | 3 (6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (8) | 1 | ? | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Darren Peacock | 35 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 1 | ? | 0 |
| 18 | MF | Steve Guppy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | ? | 0 |
| 18 | MF | Keith Gillespie | 15 (2) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 (2) | 4 | ? | 0 |
| 19 | DF | Steve Watson | 22 (5) | 4 | 0 (1) | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 1 (2) | 1 | 26 (9) | 5 | ? | 0 |
| 20 | DF | Alan Neilson | 5 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (1) | 0 | ? | 0 |
| 21 | FW | Malcolm Allen | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | ? | 0 |
| 26 | DF | Robbie Elliott | 10 (4) | 2 | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 (5) | 2 | ? | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Philippe Albert | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 3 | ? | 1 |
| 28 | FW | Paul Kitson | 24 (2) | 8 | 4 (1) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 (3) | 12 | ? | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Mike Hooper | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 | ? | 0 |
| 31 | FW | Mike Jeffrey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 (2) | 0 | 1 (2) | 1 | ? | 0 |

### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Kevin Keegan |
| Assistant Manager | Terry McDermott |
| First Team coach | Arthur Cox |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 August 1994 | DF | Marc Hottiger | FC Sion | £600,000 |
| 2 August 1994 | MF | Steve Guppy | Wycombe Wanderers | £150,000 |
| 3 August 1994 | MF | Jason Drysdale | Watford | £425,000 |
| 10 August 1994 | DF | Philippe Albert | Anderlecht | £2,700,000 |
| 26 September 1994 | FW | Paul Kitson | Derby County | £2,225,000 |
| 10 January 1995 | MF | Keith Gillespie | Manchester United | Part-exchange for Andy Cole |
| 1 March 1995 | MF | Jimmy Crawford | Bohemians | £75,000 |
| Unknown | GK | John Burridge | Aberdeen | Free |
* Total spending: £6.175m

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee |
| 16 June 1994 | DF | Matty Appleby | Darlington | Free |
| 19 June 1994 | FW | Alun Armstrong | Stockport County | £35,000 |
| 22 July 1994 | DF | Mark Robinson | Swindon Town | £600,000 |
| 25 November 1994 | MF | Steve Guppy | Port Vale | £225,000 |
| December 1994 | MF | Nikki Papavasiliou | OFI Crete | £25,000 |
| 12 January 1995 | FW | Andy Cole | Manchester United | £6,250,000 + Keith Gillespie |
| 24 February 1995 | FW | Alex Mathie | Ipswich Town | £500,000 |
| 23 March 1995 | DF | Jason Drysdale | Swindon Town | £340,000 |
| 23 May 1995 | MF | Paul Bracewell | Sunderland | £50,000 |
| Unknown | GK | John Burridge | Dunfermline Athletic | Free |
* Total income: £8.025m

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Pre-season

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Result | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 1–1 (Pens: 6–5) | 1–3 | 5–2 |

### League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | Liverpool | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 74 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Leeds United | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 59 | 38 | +21 | 73 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 67 | 47 | +20 | 72 | |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 66 | 58 | +8 | 62 | |
| 8 | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 61 | 59 | +2 | 60 | |
* ↑ Leeds United were rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| Result | 3–1 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Position | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th |
| Round | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Result | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 |
| Position | 5th | 5th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 6th |

### FA Cup

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Result | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 |

### League Cup

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Result | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |

### UEFA Cup

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Result | 5–0 | 5–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 |