First Footing

First Impressions Last

Dateline August 27th 1988, location Goodison Park, time 14.50. The atmosphere is electric as thousands of Geordies have travelled down to Merseyside for a first game of the season party.

Within 34 seconds of the kick off Tony Cottee (making his Everton debut) drills a low shot by United's lumbering 'keeper and the party has well and truly been pooped. By the end of the ninety minutes The Toffeemen had scored four without reply and the scene was set for a season of despair culminating in relegation.

The first game, in terms of points, is no different to any other game, but on occasions like that fateful day it does seem to set the tone for the whole season.

Sometimes however the first game can give a completely false impression. In 1902-03 we beat Stoke 5-0 and went on to win the first 3 games, but we ended up only 3 places above the relegation zone. Then in 1929-30 we thrashed Man U 4-1 and then beat Blackburn 5-1 in the next game; after 42 games we avoided relegation by just one point.

The "best" example was 1977/78 when we beat Leeds 3-2 at SJP and followed up with 10 consecutive defeats

The Good

Newcastle's record in the first match of the season is generally very good. We have met forty four teams In the 102 games played winning 45, drawing 26 and losing 31. Particular purple patches were 1900's and the 1920's when United only lost one of their first games. Between 1911/12 and 1923/24 United played away on six occasions, losing once and winning five times. From season 1950/51 to 1956/57 Newcastle won 6 and drew 1 of their first games.

The best ever winning margin achieved is six when Stoke arrived in 1951/52 and were thumped 6-0. United scored another 92 goals in the League that season making them the highest scorers; it is the closest that we have ever come to reaching the 100 mark.

Newcastle have registered five goal victories on two occasions: 5-0 in 1902/03 when Stoke were again the opposition and 6-1 against Plymouth in the 1947/48 promotion season. Our best away margin is three goals: 4-1 in 1923/24 against Arsenal (who escaped relegation by one point), 4-1 in 1946/47 at Millwall and 3-0 at Ipswich in 1975/76 in Gordon Lee's first game in charge.

The Bad

The worst run was in the Thirties when United did not win the first game in the first nine seasons of the decades. Of more immediate concern is the fact that we have only won once during the last six seasons.

Our worst ever defeat was the 0-5 reverse at Darwen in only our second season in the League. We have lost by four goals on four separate occasions. In 1934/35 we were beaten 1-5 by Nottingham Forest in our first Division 2 game following relegation. We lost the following 3 games too, conceding 12 more goals in the process.

In season 1958/59 (Blackburn) and 1959/60 (Tottenham) we were beaten at home by 1-5 on both occasions.

Loadsa Goals

The first game tends to be fairly free-scoring. We have scored 183 goals and conceded 152. The highest scoring match was in 1962/63 when Newcastle and Cardiff played out a 4-4 draw at Ninian Park.

There have been two seven goal games: the 6-1 victory over Plymouth in 1947/48 and the 5-2 victory over Leeds in 1989/90. The latter game also being United's best second half comeback as they trailed 1-2 at the interval.

The first match has been goalless on only four occasions: 1900/01, 1901-02, 1961/62 and 1998/99. The last one was the most significant as it marked the beginning of the end for Kenny Dalglish as his side struggled to overcome 10-man Charlton.

Hughie and Sumo

As with teams some players seem to start better than others. The best individual tally on the first day is four recorded by Sumo in 1989/90 and Hughie Gallagher in the 4-0 romp over Aston Villa in 1926/27.

Wee Hughie has also scored the most goals; in the four games he played he registered an amazing 11 goals.

Occasionaly the goals come from the most unlikely players. David McCreery only scored two goals in 266 (7) appearances and both were scored on the first Saturday.

Goonered?

Prior to this season we have never met The Smoggies in the opener and they become the 43rd team we have met.

We tend to hope for a relatively easy start to the season and most supporters will be glad that a trip to Anfield, Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford or Highbury was not first on the agenda.

However - of the current teams in the Premier - the club we have the best record against is The Gunners despite last seasons reverse. In seven matches (the most we have played against any team) we have beaten them five times and drawn once scoring 17 goals and conceding 12. Other teams we enjoy playing are Plymouth (3 wins), Stoke (3 wins) and Leeds (3 wins and 1 draw).

Teams we always seem to do badly against are Tottenham (3 defeats), Liverpool (2 defeats) and Blackburn (2 defeats and 1 draw).

Beware the 29th

Certain dates seem to be luckier than others. Our record on the 25th (W4 D1 L1), 27th (W4 D1 L1) and 19th (W5 D2 L2) of August is particularly impressive.

The bad days are August 30th (W1 D0 L2), 14th (W0 D1 L3, For 2 Against 7) and worst of all the 29th (W0 D1 L3).

The stats

The full set of fixtures can be viewed here