Season 1978/79 - The Fans
Everybody's (un)Happy Nowadays
The average home attendance in the League was 20,926; the lowest figure since the War and over 7,000 less than the break even figure..
The last game of the season against Wrexham was attended by a mere 7,134 diehards; the lowest crowd of the century. Reporter John Donoghue summed it up well; "huge gaps on the terraces of St. James' Park last night reflected the emptiness of Newcastle's season".
Only the Derby match attracted a crowd over 30,000.
Police Oppression
Disaffected supporters were ripe for trouble and there were many skirmishes during the season; notably in the matches against Millwall.
And after the West Ham Mr. Cushing informed supporters game that he was "disappointed to see ... that police had to pay special attention to the occupants of the Gallowgate East End corner".
Racism was also a major problem with the home game against Orient being particularly bad.
Hooligans generally escaped punishment but Newcastle magistrates won praise for handing a couple of miscreants a £250 fine each and binding them over for a further £750 to be of good behaviour for a further year.
Strange Town
Phase 2 Stage One of the Leazes End redevelopment was completed in the early weeks of the season at a cost of half a million pounds. Hard to believe when you consider what it provided.
The floodlights were also improved and a new tower was erected behind the West Stand. Whether or not improved views of the game was a benefit at this time is open to question.
Friggin in the Riggin
The Newcastle Supporters Association was formed, but the NUFC Supporters Club used the programme to disassociate themselves from the protesters who "WE DO NOT SUPPORT IN ANY WAY".
Shareholders Malcolm Dix and Colin Boyle were the main men behind the NSA and they issued a petition against named directors alleging a breach of the Companies Act.
Dix had been gathering support amongst the smaller shareholders and wanted to force the directors to answer is allegations of "ill administration" and abuse of their position of privilege.
Teenage Kicks
Subbuteo was still THE game for young and old alike. The makers introduced a 6-a-side version but this did not take off.
The Subbuteo World Cup was held just before the "real" one and there was just as much controversy. It was won by a 14-year-old Italian flicker called Andrea. But top referee Bob McGiffen claimed that our Roman friends were not afraid of a little skullduggery.
Goalkeepers holders were melted and stretched to enable them to narrow the angles better and another competitor was disqualified for inserting washers in the bases of his players to make them stay upright and kick the ball harder. Maybe Shola......
10:15 Saturday Night
The established order was thrown into chaos when it was announced that ITV had signed an exclusive three year deal with The Football League to show Saturday Night football. Match of the day was already an institution and nobody had expected the old - Saturday (BBC), Sunday (ITV) - order to change
The BBC appealed and the Office of fair trade ruled in the favour. A new £10m four year deal was eventually agreed whereby Saturday night football would alternate between the two stations on an annual basis. The clubs didn't want to commit to such a long deal but backed down following threats of a TV blackout.