During the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina, one striking feature for viewers watching the big games on television during the tournament was the sight of snowstorms of shredded newspaper torn up by home supporters blowing around the stands and across the pitch. When the new domestic football season kicked off, copycat fans at English football grounds, including St James' Park, were quick to try the same thing out.
With the 2022 finals in Qatar well under way, we're looking back at previous tournaments, recalling any Newcastle United connections, and remembering what else was going on in those years. So far, we've covered the World Cup finals from 1950 to 1974.
On June 25, 1978, the host nation's powerful team lifted the trophy, beating the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time in Buenos Aires. Among the Argentina XI was 25-year-old midfielder Ossie Ardiles who would go on to endure a torrid time as Newcastle United manager in the early 1990s and was sacked with the team teetering on the brink of relegation to the old Third Division, something that was thankfully averted - albeit by the skin of the teeth - thanks to the arrival of Kevin Keegan. The Netherlands team, defeated in a second successive World Cup final, again featured striker Johnny Rep who had put the Magpies to the sword in their short-lived UEFA Cup jaunt the previous season.
