Newcastle United now find themselves to the place they were in the mid-90s, the same place that fans have dreamed of reaching for years with ambition firmly back on the agenda at St James' Park.
The challenges from then and now are certainly different with the financial muscle of Newcastle's rivals now astronomical compared to yesteryear. Just a couple of years after fending off the threat of relegation from Division Three the Magpies became members of the still shiny and new Premier League and were one of the richest.
The fact of the matter is that the current Magpies will need the wealthy backing of Saudi Arabia's PIF in order to compete at the top. As the club looks to maximise ways of making profit now and adhering to FFP, a flick through the history books shows how Newcastle tried to compete financially 29 years ago.
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Back in the summer of 1995 though Newcastle had just Blackburn Rovers - backed by Lancashire steel tycoon Jack Walker - and Manchester United ahead of them in the wealth stakes. With clubs like Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur adjusting to life in the new promised land of a revamped top-flight, there was a level playing field.
With Newcastle enjoying their first year in the Premier League and flourishing at the business end of the table, a glossy brochure dropped through the letterboxes of households on Tyneside. This was before the digital age but the Magpies were looking to maximise every financial avenue available to them.
Andy Cole was the poster boy as a bold headline on the brochure screamed: "Sign up for next season - and help get us to the top." The extraordinary piece of what can now be classed as Magpies memorabilia is fronted and signed by Sir John Hall.
In it Hall, speaking in 1994, says: "Today, we're getting results against the likes of Man United, Villa, Liverpool and Arsenal. Tomorrow, I want to see us beating Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan."
This was a moment on time for Newcastle fans of that particular generation. The stadium we almost take for granted today was transformed from crumbling terraces to a St James' Park fit for international football.
The Gallowgate End cost United £8million and took ground improvements to £20million in the space of a couple of years. It genuinely was a great time to be a Newcastle fans.
Younger fans, who would go on to suffer the Mike Ashley era in subsequent decades, probably didn't see it at the time but it was clear that Sir John Hall did not have a bottomless pit of money. And so arrived "The United Bond" which was aimed at supporters in a bid to help bolster the coffers further.
It came on the back of a controversial attempt by West Ham to sell a similar Bond in the East End with the move in both the capital and in Newcastle causing negativity. Newcastle had gone from a club charging just a few pounds over the turnstile in the Second Division in 1990, when the average attendance was just 16,879, to a club asking punters in a hard-up area to stump up £500 each for a bond.
Hall said then: "In football, as in every area of life, you get what you pay for and to get players capable of competing with the top European clubs, then that means competition in the transfer market.
"That's why I want to tell you about the United Bond, our exciting new idea to raise money for the club and help you get more out of the game in return. "Sign up, and you'll be joining Kevin Keegan, Andy Cole, Newcastle Breweries and myself in making a real commitment to this great club."
Over 7,000 fans snapped up the chance to buy "A United Bond" with the £500 fee (which last 10 seasons) offering a range of perks. These included free FA Cup tickets, free tickets for the Coca-Cola Cup and free tickets for European club knockout football.
With season tickets like gold dust perhaps the biggest hook United had at that time was guaranteeing fans "a designated" seat up to and including the 2003/04 season. It was enough to lure many Newcastle fans into the ultimate act of commitment by pouring their own money into the club.
Keegan reasoned with supporters at that time and said: "Sign up and you'll enjoy some great benefits whilst investing in our future success. Which means that I can invest more in a stronger squad to guarantee our future in Europe.
"As a United Bond holder, your place at St James' Park is secure well into the next century. With your help, we will get up where we belong to the very top."
The truth is, Newcastle did make it to the "very top" and almost stayed there the season after when storming 12 points clear of the Premier League. But it was not always plain sailing, in fact the season in which the Bonds started to be sold, the wheels came off a bit at St James'.
The 1994/95 season was earmarked by Hall and Keegan to really push on and possibly win one of the domestic cups or even the title. After getting off to a great start the team suffered a loss of form and finished the season in sixth place.
In another controversial chapter, Cole, one of the figureheads signed up to push the deal, was sold for £7million to Manchester United with Keith Gillespie coming in the other direction. But Keegan set up the team again in the summer of 1995 and aided by some of the millions pumped in by supporters he used it to help sign the likes of David Ginola and Les Ferdinand.
Newcastle could not deliver the title and in a further blow in 1997, Keegan, badly bruised from not winning the title in 1996, resigned as boss. Even after signing Alan Shearer for a world record £15 million, Keegan left the club and caused shockwaves on Tyneside.
Keegan's decision to leave St James' when the club were at the peak of their powers baffled Geordie fans but it later emerged that the club's move to float on the stock exchange would be a major factor. In fairness to Sir John, Newcastle did go on to beat Barcelona and later Juventus, but only in between several episodes of struggle.
As for the Bond holders, things escalated quite literally in the year 2000 as some were forced to move seats in a bitter row with club officials. Those "guaranteed seats" until 2004 came under scrutiny when Newcastle told Bond holders that they could only keep those seats only if they paid £1,350 per season to join an "exclusive bar", to be known as 1892, or £900 per season to join another bar, called the Sports Bar.
The dispute between fans and the club made it to High Court as the stadium increased in capacity and fans argued that the club broke its promise. Supporters were pointed to small print in the original contracts and by spring 2000, with Hall no longer at the forefront, the club had a different feel to it and the foundations for another tilt at the top four were in progress.
Nevertheless, the club's rise from an ailing Second Division outfit to a Premier League powerhouse had been some ride with lessons learned along the way. The controversial Bond Scheme and the glossy publicity brochures that somehow survived and avoided being scrapped, sum up the fanaticism and lengths fans went to in the 90s to support their beloved club.
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