Newcastle United’s Most Iconic Players

Newcastle United is a cornerstone of English football since being formed in 1892. The club has spent 92 seasons in England’s top league, amassing an impressive trophy haul which includes four league titles, six FA Cups and a Community Shield.

The Magpies have achieved such a storied history thanks to the incredible players who have donned the black and white over the years. From Premier League record goalscorers to a player who now has a steam locomotive named after him, BetMGM is here to take you through some of the most iconic players to take to the field for Newcastle.

Alan Shearer

Position: Striker
Apps: 405
Goals: 206
Memorable moment: Becoming Newcastle’ all-time record goalscorer against Portsmouth in February 2006

You cannot mention Newcastle United icons without mentioning Alan Shearer.

The Gosforth-born forward accumulated a club-record 206 goals and earned four Player of the Year Awards while playing at St James’ Park for the final decade of his illustrious career.

After a five-goal haul at Euro 1996 with England, Shearer made the move to his boyhood club despite interest from both Manchester United and Real Madrid at the time. In his first year at the club Shearer led the team to a second consecutive runners-up finish in the Premier League and ended the season with 25 goals in 31 appearances.

A few injury-troubled seasons followed but Newcastle’s number nine returned to his prolific best during the 2001-02 campaign. 23 goals across 37 league games catapulted the Magpies back into European football for the first time since his debut year with the club. He netted seven goals in the following year’s Champions League, helping Newcastle advance to the second group stage of the competition.

The 2005-06 season was Shearer’s final before retirement. In this campaign, he finally broke Jackie Milburn’s long-standing scoring record for Newcastle United, netting against Portsmouth in February 2006 to surpass the 201 total Milburn set 49 years prior.

His playing career may have ended in 2006 but the Toon legend returned to the club in 2009 for a short spell as interim manager during then-head coach Joe Kinnear’s recovery from heart surgery.

Shearer’s legendary status at St James’ Park has since been cemented with a brass statue of his likeness erected outside the stadium.

Jackie Milburn

Position: Striker
Apps: 399
Goals: 201
Memorable moment: Netting a brace in the 1951 FA Cup final against Blackpool

The only man within touching distance of Shearer’s goalscoring record for Newcastle United is Jackie MIlburn. Nicknamed ‘Wor Jackie’ by the Tyneside faithful, Milburn scored his way into the record books with 201 goals across his 14-year career in the north-east.

Arguably his most famous goals came during Newcastle’s run of cup successes in the early 1950s. He netted twice in the Magpies’ 2-0 win over Stanley Matthews’ Blackpool in the 1951 FA Cup final before playing a key role in the 1952 triumph over Arsenal to make it two consecutive FA Cup victories.

Milburn would return to the FA Cup final stage in 1955 as Newcastle met Manchester City at Wembley and again it didn’t take long for him to make his mark. He found the net after 45 seconds to record what was then the fastest goal in an FA Cup final at Wembley. That record lasted more than 40 years until until Chelsea’s Roberto Di Matteo scored after 43 seconds in 1997.

His historical importance to Newcastle United has been recognised since his retirement in 1962. In 1980 Milburn became the first footballer to be given the freedom of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and is the only player to have a stand named after them at St James’ Park (the Milburn Stand). Since then, he has also had a steam locomotive named in his honour at Ashington Colliery.

Bobby Moncur

Position: Defender
Apps: 345
Goals: 7
Memorable moment: Scoring three goals across two legs to secure the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Bobby Moncur is regarded as one of the finest captains in Newcastle United’s history, with almost 300 appearances during his 14-year career on Tyneside after beginning as an apprentice in 1960.

Moncur worked his way through the system at Newcastle and was given the honour of captaining the club midway through the 1967/68 campaign which saw the Magpies secure European football.

But 1969 was Moncur’s crowning moment as he guided his side through the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, dispatching Sporting CP and Rangers en route to a two-legged final against Hungarian outfit Ujpesti Dosza. The rugged defender led from the front in the final, scoring a brace in the home leg. Ujpesti Dosza kickstarted a comeback in the second leg before Moncur’s left-footed volley crushed any hopes of a fightback and secured Newcastle the trophy. Three goals across two legs isn’t bad for a centre-back.

The former Scotland captain would get a chance to secure another piece of silverware for the Toon Army in 1974 when they reached the FA Cup final but Moncur couldn’t prevent a 3-0 defeat in his final game for the club. However, he remains the last club captain to lift a major trophy for Newcastle.

Peter Beardsley

Position: Midfielder/Forward
Apps: 326
Goals: 121
Memorable moment: Winning Newcastle player of the year in two consecutive seasons (1984-86)

Peter Beardsley was synonymous with Newcastle United through both his playing and management career. He first joined the Magpies as a youth player before leaving to join Carlisle United, Vancouver Whitecaps and, very briefly, Manchester United.

However, he returned to St James’ Park in 1983 and spend four years with the club. In that span, Beardsley scored 61 league goals – including 17 during the club’s first season back in the top flight after promotion in 1983.

The forward’s imperious form for the Magpies earned him two consecutive club player of the year awards and did not go unnoticed by Liverpool player-manager Kenny Dalglish, who offered a then-national record bid of £1.9 million to secure his services in 1987.

There was a feeling that a reunion with Newcastle was always on the cards for Beardsley and it happened in 1993. After spells with both Liverpool and Everton, the England international returned to St James’ Park for another four years. This time round, Beardsley racked up 157 appearances and netted 56 goals.

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