# 1987–88 Newport County A.F.C. season

The 1987–88 season was the 60th season played by Newport County in the Football League and the first season played back in the Fourth Division since relegation from the Third Division at the end of the 1986–87 season. The club suffered a second successive relegation and were only the second team to be automatically relegated to the Football Conference.
Newport's first Division Four campaign in seven years rapidly turned into an absolute nightmare, against the backdrop of an increasingly desperate financial situation. John Lewis was sacked with the season barely a month old after a return of just one point from County's first five games, and Brian Eastick was called in to take over. Eastick won his first match in charge, but took a month to get another win. Victories over Welsh rivals Swansea City and Wrexham proved to be the sole highlight of this campaign, but were followed by a three-month run without victory, the third successive season Newport suffered such an indignity. January 1988 saw a minor improvement in form, but the already poor campaign totally fell apart afterwards, and Newport earned no wins and just three points in the next four months. Eastick was sacked during this dreadful run, and coach David Williams took charge for the remainder of the season in a fruitless attempt to avoid relegation.

## Season review
### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 7 May 1988. Source:

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | W | D | L | W | L | L | D | D | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | L |
| Position | 15 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |

## Fixtures and results
### Fourth Division

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 15 Aug 1987 | Hartlepool United | A | 0–0 | | 1,926 |
| 22 Aug 1987 | Burnley | H | 0–1 | | 2,006 |
| 29 Aug 1987 | Exeter City | A | 0–3 | | 2,628 |
| 31 Aug 1987 | Stockport County | H | 1–2 | Giles | 1,626 |
| 5 Sep 1987 | Halifax Town | A | 1–3 | Collins | 1,095 |
| 12 Sep 1987 | Torquay United | H | 3–1 | Sherlock, Evans, Withers | 1,368 |
| 16 Sep 1987 | Scarborough | A | 1–3 | Evans | 2,345 |
| 19 Sep 1987 | Scunthorpe United | A | 1–3 | Tupling | 2,004 |
| 27 Sep 1987 | Hereford United | H | 0–0 | | 1,480 |
| 29 Sep 1987 | Leyton Orient | A | 1–4 | Hodson | 3,761 |
| 3 Oct 1987 | Colchester United | H | 1–2 | Thomson | 1,200 |
| 10 Oct 1987 | Cambridge United | A | 0–4 | | 1,874 |
| 17 Oct 1987 | Swansea City | A | 2–1 | Taylor 2 | 3,739 |
| 21 Oct 1987 | Peterborough United | A | 0–3 | | 3,163 |
| 24 Oct 1987 | Wrexham | H | 2–0 | Thackerey, Preece | 1,470 |
| 31 Oct 1987 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | Miller | 6,467 |
| 3 Nov 1987 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–1 | | 1,566 |
| 7 Nov 1987 | Carlisle United | A | 1–3 | Preece | 1,766 |
| 21 Nov 1987 | Cardiff City | H | 1–2 | Miller | 4,022 |
| 27 Nov 1987 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 0–4 | | 3,252 |
| 19 Dec 1987 | Rochdale | A | 0–3 | | 1,494 |
| 26 Dec 1987 | Hereford United | A | 2–4 | Williams, Downes | 3,203 |
| 28 Dec 1987 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–2 | Downes | 1,918 |
| 1 Jan 1988 | Exeter City | H | 1–1 | Gibbins | 1,691 |
| 9 Jan 1988 | Burnley | A | 0–2 | | 5,305 |
| 12 Jan 1988 | Darlington | H | 2–1 | Clement, Brook | 1,402 |
| 16 Jan 1988 | Scunthorpe United | H | 1–1 | Sherlock | 1,760 |
| 29 Jan 1988 | Stockport County | A | 1–5 | Jones | 2,509 |
| 5 Feb 1988 | Halifax Town | H | 1–0 | Mann | 1,509 |
| 13 Feb 1988 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–2 | Bodin | 2,080 |
| 19 Feb 1988 | Hartlepool United | H | 2–3 | Williams 2 | 1,880 |
| 26 Feb 1988 | Colchester United | A | 0–0 | | 1,784 |
| 1 Mar 1988 | Leyton Orient | H | 0–0 | | 1,656 |
| 5 Mar 1988 | Swansea City | H | 1–2 | Brook | 2,235 |
| 12 Mar 1988 | Cambridge United | H | 0–0 | | 1,208 |
| 26 Mar 1988 | Wrexham | A | 1–4 | Millett | 1,627 |
| 2 Apr 1988 | Carlisle United | H | 1–2 | Taylor | 1,376 |
| 4 Apr 1988 | Cardiff City | A | 0–4 | | 6,536 |
| 9 Apr 1988 | Peterborough United | H | 0–4 | | 988 |
| 12 Apr 1988 | Scarborough | H | 0–4 | | 1,025 |
| 19 Apr 1988 | Torquay United | A | 1–6 | Hamer | 3,416 |
| 23 Apr 1988 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–6 | | 4,357 |
| 26 Apr 1988 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–3 | Tupling | 3,409 |
| 30 Apr 1988 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 0–3 | | 1,110 |
| 2 May 1988 | Darlington | A | 2–0 | Thompson, Taylor | 1,675 |
| 7 May 1988 | Rochdale | H | 0–1 | | 2,560 |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 1 | 14 Nov 1987 | Northampton Town | A | 1–2 | Holtham | 4,581 |

### Football League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Aggregate |
| 1–1 | 18 Aug 1987 | Cardiff City | A | 2–1 | Evans 2 | 3,383 | |
| 1–2 | 25 Aug 1987 | Cardiff City | A | 2–2 | Taylor, Tupling | 3,550 | 4–3 |
| 2–1 | 22 Sep 1987 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–4 | | 6,085 | |
| 2–2 | 6 Oct 1987 | Crystal Palace | H | 0–2 | | 1,303 | 0–6 |

### Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| Grp S6 | 13 Oct 1987 | Port Vale | H | 2–0 | P.Giles, Gibbins | 569 |
| Grp S6 | 24 Nov 1987 | Exeter City | A | 1–0 | Thackeray | 1,006 |
| S1 | 19 Jan 1988 | Hereford United | H | 2–3 | Tupling, Mann | 1,232 |

### Welsh Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 3 | 30 Nov 1987 | Haverfordwest County | H | 2–4 | P.Giles, Carr | 521 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Notes |
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 27 | 9 | 10 | 82 | 43 | +39 | 90 | Champions, promoted |
| 2 | Cardiff City | 46 | 24 | 13 | 9 | 66 | 41 | +25 | 85 | Promoted |
| 3 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 66 | 42 | +24 | 78 | Promoted |
| 4 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 20 | 17 | 9 | 76 | 51 | +25 | 77 | Play-offs |
| 5 | Torquay United | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 66 | 41 | +25 | 77 | Play-offs |
| 6 | Swansea City | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 62 | 56 | +6 | 70 | Play-off winners, promoted |
| 7 | Peterborough United | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 70 | |
| 8 | Leyton Orient | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 85 | 63 | +22 | 69 | |
| 9 | Colchester United | 46 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 67 | |
| 10 | Burnley | 46 | 20 | 7 | 19 | 57 | 62 | −5 | 67 | |
| 11 | Wrexham | 46 | 20 | 6 | 20 | 69 | 58 | +11 | 66 | |
| 12 | Scarborough | 46 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 56 | 48 | +8 | 65 | |
| 13 | Darlington | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 71 | 69 | +2 | 65 | |
| 14 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 61 | 53 | +8 | 64 | |
| 15 | Cambridge United | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 50 | 52 | −2 | 61 | |
| 16 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 50 | 57 | −7 | 59 | |
| 17 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 13 | 19 | 14 | 57 | 53 | +4 | 58 | |
| 18 | Halifax Town | 46 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 54 | 59 | −5 | 55 | |
| 19 | Hereford United | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 41 | 59 | −18 | 54 | |
| 20 | Stockport County | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 44 | 58 | −14 | 51 | |
| 21 | Rochdale | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 47 | 76 | −29 | 48 | |
| 22 | Exeter City | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 53 | 68 | −15 | 46 | |
| 23 | Carlisle United | 46 | 12 | 8 | 26 | 57 | 86 | −29 | 44 | |
| 24 | Newport County | 46 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 35 | 105 | −70 | 25 | Relegated |
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
* Division Champions
* Promoted
* Welsh Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
* Into play-offs
* Relegated to Conference