In October, after the international break we welcome one of the most famous names in
English football and old foe Liverpool to St. James Park. The first visit of The Reds in 1893 ended in a 0-0 draw where incidentally both sides were made up predominantly of Scottish players.
The last time the two sides met of course was that horrific 6-0 drubbing back in April, when a mixture of Alan Pardew’s team selection (which appeared to baffle the players as much as it did the fans) and some kamikaze defending sealed our fate. We have experience happier times against The Kopites in the Premier League, indeed the two meetings previous to last season proved to be key moments in both seasons. Firstly, in April 2012 when a Papiss Cisse double set us off on a short winning streak towards the end of the season which almost catapulted us to a Champions League place, a game which also saw Andy Carroll booked for diving in front of the Leazes End and Jose Enrique forced to play in goal for the remaining 25 minutes. A year previous to that encounter Liverpool were the visitors on a cold December’s evening for Alan Pardew’s first game as manager amidst the controversy and general disagreement surrounding the sacking of Chris Hughton. That day, the players came up trumps and three players who made their Newcastle United reputations under Hughton in Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Andy Carroll scored the goals in a match which arguably was the beginning of the end for Roy Hodgson at The Reds.
The Premier League era has witnessed some great Newcastle – Liverpool games over the years but we can’t ignore the humiliations either, the ones that spring to mind are the 5-1 reverse in December 2008 which is pinpointed as the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to Shay Given handing in a transfer request, a year previously we went down 3-0 with fans turning on Sam Allardyce in a game United couldn’t manage a single shot on target and August 1998 when a young Michael Owen absolutely tore through a poor defence on his way to a hat-trick on the day Ruud Gullit was unveiled to the Toon Army.
Probably the most memorable visit of Liverpool in Premier League times was the first one, however. Andy Cole bagging a hat trick with some slick passing and movement destroying a Liverpool team on the day Newcastle really announced themselves to the top division live on Sky. Other notable matches over the years include a 1-0 win in 1985 over a Liverpool side who had won the European Cup only 3 months previously with George “Rambo” Reilly scoring the goal and fans of the older generation will probably never forget the home debut of Malcolm Macdonald in 1971, ‘Supermac’ going home with the match ball and sparking his five year love affair with the number 9 shirt.
Ryan Bell 
Like David, I was there to see Supermac’s debut. He was only twenty-one but he was a revelation. I’d seen his previous matches against Palace (0-2) and Spurs (0-0) and you could tell how keen he was to score – at Palace he even tried to score direct from a corner! Against Liverpool he could have scored a fourth, clean through but clattered by Clemence and laid out for the count. A couple of years earlier, we beat Liverpool 1-0 with a goal by Alan Foggon – a quick break from the half way line and shot past the keeper. Foggon was quite a player in those days. I’d love to see that on YouTube.
No problem with anyone adding their two pennorth to the HISTORY FILE – just remember the file is referring to the home fixture. I was just a bairn at the time but still have memories of Supermac’s debut. Any old farts out there with a better memory than mine care to reall their memories of that game.
I am Michael. I refer to the home league game and not the away league cup game that same season. Although that was pretty special too.
Hi Michael, old fart responding as requested. Supermac’s debut was one of the stand-out matches in my supporting career, which stretches back nearly 50 years now (Jesus!) I think people were a bit wary of his hype, particularly after we’d failed to score against Palace and Spurs in the first two matches, but he was absolutely electric that day. The things that struck me were the cool way he tucked the penalty into the roof of the Gallowgate net and then the way he did Larry Lloyd for the second goal – backheel through his legs, spun past him and then a left-footed Exocet into the roof of the net. We knew then that he was the real deal. Also remember the late, great Terry Hibbitt on his home debut running himself into the ground and Willie McFaul saving a pen. at the Leazes End – think it might have been from Emlyn Hughes; we pissed ourselves laughing at that. One hell of a match and we thought we were really on our way – six weeks later, we were bottom of the league. Then came Tony Green – but that’s another story
Always a good read Ryan but as memorable as that first Premier League win was, that Liverpool team (under Souness I happily add) were awful. Surely a last minute winner by Steve Watson in 95-96 against a much better side is worth at least a mention and is arguably more memorable…..perhaps not.
Also, the statto in me has to pull you up about the European Cup ‘Finalists’ in 1985…..
Also a shame that that game was one that featured heavily in the Bruce Grobbelaar match fixing allegations/ court cases