During the 1988–89 season,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

participated in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

. During the summer the club invested heavily in their squad, attempting to offset the loss of rising star

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

for a then club record fee. The

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winners

Dave Beasant David John Beasant (; born 20 March 1959) is an English football coach and former football goalkeeper. As a player, he was a goalkeeper, who notably played top-flight football for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton and Notting ...

and Andy Thorn were signed from

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

for £850,000 each, and the Scotsmen John Robertson and John Hendrie also joined as the club spent the £2.2 million it received for Gascoigne. The loss of Gascoigne proved to be the

straw that broke the camel's back The idiom "the straw that broke the camel's back" describes the minor or routine action that causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction, because of the cumulative effect of small actions. It alludes to the proverb "it is the last straw tha ...

so soon after selling Peter Beardsley and Chris Waddle, and promising youngster Michael O'Neill, struggling with loss of form and injuries along with the enigmatic Brazilian

Mirandinha Francisco Ernandi Lima da Silva (born 2 July 1959 in Brasilia), better known as Mirandinha, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career He had unsuccessful early spells at Ceará and Fortaleza, befor ...

, were in and out of the team all season. Newcastle United were relegated, finishing bottom after changing their manager two months into the season.

Willie McFaul William Stewart McFaul (born 1 October 1943), known as Willie or Iam McFaul, is a Northern Irish former football player and now coach. He spent most of his career with Newcastle United. McFaul was born in Coleraine. He joined Newcastle Unit ...

was sacked as manager after a 3–0 home defeat to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, a week after the team had beaten the League champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

at Anfield. The new manager Jim Smith, who struggled to change the team's fortunes, set about 'wheeling and dealing' that saw many changes to the squad. Beasant and Robertson were replaced by the inexperienced Northern Irish goalkeeper Tommy Wright and the expatriate striker

Rob McDonald Robert Roderick McDonald (born 22 January 1959) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker or midfielder for Hull City, SC Cambuur, FC Wageningen, Willem II Tilburg, FC Groningen, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Clube de Por ...

. Other signings included the ex-England international

Kenny Sansom Kenneth Graham Sansom (born 26 September 1958) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. An England international, he played for clubs such as Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Coventry City, Queens Park Rangers, ...

, the experienced right back

Ray Ranson Raymond "Ray" Ranson (born 12 June 1960) is an English sports financing and insurance entrepreneur and a former professional footballer. He is the founder and chairman of Global Risk Technologies Ltd, a Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance pl ...

and the Danish pair Bjørn Kristensen and Frank Pingel, but these changes had little effect and failed to stop the club's slide towards the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, as they collected only two points from their last nine matches.

League table

Results

Squad

:''(Substitute appearances in brackets)''

Coaching staff

Sources

* *

External links

Newcastle United Football Club - Fixtures 1988-89Season Details - 1988-89 - toon1892
Newcastle United F.C. seasons

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988-89 Newcastle United F.C. season