For roughly the first half of Newcastle United's 130-year history, the club was one of the most successful in English football.
When Magpies' skipper Jimmy Scoular hoisted the FA Cup above his head at Wembley Stadium in 1955, it was the third time in five years the Magpies had claimed the revered trophy and the sixth since the club formed around six and a half decades earlier. Along with the four league titles in the bag, it added up to a substantial haul of major trophies.
Since then, for myriad reasons, on and off the pitch Newcastle have slipped way behind their one-time equals - Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and the likes - with the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup being the only meaningful trophy to find its way into the St James' Park trophy cabinet since those distant '50s triumphs.
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The 2021 takeover at Newcastle United has had fans dreaming of a brighter future after years of mediocrity, and maybe one day the club can compete at the very top once again. We have to cast our minds back to the first decade of the last century to a time when United were last considered the finest team in the land. They were champions of England three times in five years, they won the FA Cup and had several other near misses, while supplying many players for the England and Scotland national teams.
A fascinating new book, Newcastle United: The Great Days - 1904 to 1911 , by David Potter recreates the atmosphere surrounding the club in those sepia-tinted years when men like Colin Veitch, Peter McWilliam and Albert Shepherd walked tall. That great era, the author points out, is a potent reminder to the current generation of Newcastle fans that "it doesn't need to be like this".
The highly readable book, with its good selection of period Newcastle United images, is not a mere list of players matches and results. It puts football into a historical and cultural context, placing it amid the vibrant backdrop of the Edwardian era.
There is a constant stream of enjoyable colour surrounding the narrative. It was a time, when in winter and before the arrival of floodlights, football matches started and finished earlier to beat the onset of mid-afternoon darkness. At St James' Park - and other grounds - before the arrival of turnstiles, supporters gained entry at pay-boxes, which were sometimes a target of local thieves. And in an era before the instant communication of television, radio and the internet, crowds of Newcastle fans would gather outside the former Chronicle offices on Westgate Road for news while important matches like FA Cup finals were being played.
Above all, the book brings to life the lost world of Newcastle United when they were nicknamed the 'Edwardian masters'. It tells the tales of three League titles and five FA Cup finals; the 'unlucky' Crystal Palace stadium where they lost three finals and drew another two; the effect of United's success on the city itself, including people who until then weren’t football supporters; the massive Scottish influence on the early Magpies, including that of all-powerful club secretary Frank Watt; and the star players, such as Peter ‘the Great’ McWilliam, Albert Shepherd and his strange story, and, of course, United's 'man for all seasons' Colin Veitch.
Newcastle United: The Great Days - 1904 to 1911 , by David Potter, priced £16.99, is published by Pitch Publishing.
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