Newcastle 1970/71 Players

Rough Housing

Player indiscipline was one of the major talking points of the season. Not only were games becoming dirtier but the referees were being granted less and less respect and often found themselves surrounded by irate players.

In the worst example of misbehavior Lazio players - after being defeated by Arsenal in the Fairs Cup - exacted their own revenge by beating up the Arsenal players on the pavement outside a Rome restaurant where both teams had been "enjoying" a post match meal

Pop Goes The Weasel

Off the pitch the situation wasn't much better with a host of players including the likes of Peter Osgood and George Best getting into trouble with their employees.

On Tyneside one of the main talking points of the season was the controversial departure of "Pop" Robson who had been the club's leading scorer in four out of the last five seasons.

Days after United were dumped out of the Fairs Cup by the humble Hungarians, Robson (accompanied by his mother-in-law) called a press conference at the Swallow hotel in Newcastle

He read out a prepared statement in which he stated that he was fed up of being singled out for criticism and sick of Newcastle's long-ball tactics. He also claimed that the club was unprofessional and that he wanted a transfer

The directors summoned him and asked him if he wanted to retract his statements ; he replied in the negative and was handed a £100 fine for a breach of club discipline. He was also asked to submit a written transfer request if he wanted to leave

When asked why he had made his grievances public he stated that he had raised his concerns in private but that nothing had done about them. He also suggested that there were other players who felt the same as he did

After he left Robson was unrepentant "I did what I thought was right for my football career no matter what the consequences. We all have a right to our opinion and I was merely stating mine just as the club had stated theirs many times".

Although Robson's comments were interpreted in many different ways it was believed that one of the main issues was that he was looking for a loyalty bonus as was in operation at other clubs. United didn't have such a system and therefore it encouraged players to move on and get their cut of the transfer fee. But the 5% cut was only paid if the player did not request a move.

Over the next couple of months there were suggestions that the differences had been overcome, but he was eventually sold to West Ham in February 1971.He signed off with the only goal in the game against Spurs at home

The matter didn't end there as Robson thought he should be entitled to a 5% cut of the transfer fee. The authorities said no, but Robson successfully appealed and got the cash after all.

But at least Rodney Marsh was setting an example as he shaved off his beard when he was made captain of QPR; as he thought it was more befitting of the post.

Geoff Allen

Geoff Allen, whose career had been ended by injury in March 1970 at the age of only 23 was awarded a well deserved testimonial. United beat an All Stars X1 6-5 on the 5th May. A crowd of 10,000 turned up for the Walker lad who was helping with the Juniors.

Double Barrel - Supermac rides into Toon

Joe Harvey had been struggling all season to land a player who would appease the disgruntled fans; he finally landed his man at the campaign's end.

The arrival at Newcastle of a certain Malcolm Macdonald for his medical in May 1971 has passed into folklore. He arrived two hours late in a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce

Macdonald's free scoring form for Luton in Division 1 (he finished the season as top scorer with 30 goals) had alerted a number of top clubs. As well as Newcastle, Manchester United (who had first option), Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal had also being keeping tabs on him. Luton had earlier claimed that they were not prepared to sell, but mounting debts and a failure to gain promotion ensured that United's offer of £180,000 was impossible to refuse

Harvey had certainly splashed out a lot of money on a player who had only been converted from a full-back a couple of years ago, but many were convinced that Mac would be a success. Journalist and former United player Ivor Broadis said at the time that he was "the most exciting player I've seen in years".

Harvey had no doubts: "He is undoubtedly a future international, the sort of player who will set St. James' alight".