1892 John Finlay born, Riccarton, Scotland. (1909-27)

A £775 signing from Airdrieonians, "Jock" began a lifelong association with Newcastle when debuting as a 16 year old away to Blackburn Rovers in September 1909.

Making the left half position his own, Finlay's final first team appearance came in April 1924, but he remained on the United coaching staff for a further six years.

Jock died in March 1933 and was cremated, requesting that his ashes be scattered from Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

1924 Jeremiah Lowery born, Newcastle.
(1947-52)

Goalkeeper who signed for Newcastle from the local Parsons works side and made his senior Magpies debut in a 2-1 away win against Huddersfield Town in April 1950.

Retaining his place for the remaining four games due to the unavailability of first -choice custodian Jack Fairbrother, Jerry then played just once more, in a 6-0 home win over Stoke City in August 1951.

Moving to Lincoln City in February 1952 at a cost of £750, Lowery was a regular starter at Sincil Bank before joining non-league Peterborough United two years later.

Later spells at Barrow, Crewe Alexandra & Wisbech Town followed and Jerry remained in East Anglia, working with disabled people.

He was living in Peterborough at the time of his death in September 2007. 

1954 Sam Allardyce born, Dudley, West Midlands. (Manager, 2007-08)

As a player: Bolton, mackems, Millwall, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Coventry, Huddersfield, Bolton, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion, Limerick, Preston North End.

As a manager: Limerick, Blackpool, Notts County, Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham, mackems, England, Crystal Palace, Everton, West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United.

Appointed as Magpies boss in succession to Glenn Roeder by then-Chairman Freddy Shepherd in May 2007 (claiming on arrival that he'd turned down the job in 2005),  "Big Sam" arrived to find that Mike Ashley had completed his takeover of the club.

However, he still received backing to overhaul the squad, spending over £20m to bring in Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Habib Beye, David Rozehnal, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Geremi, Cacapa & Abdoulaye Faye.

A 3-1 opening day success at his old Reebok Stadium stamping ground began a five game unbeaten run in all competitions that ended with a 1-0 loss at Derby County.

Continuing problems away from home were to dog Allardyce and it took until December to register a clean sheet on the road - in a miserable 1-0 victory at Fulham.

For many fans though, the brand of football Allardyce tried to impose on the side wasn't worth watching - and his habit of laying the blame at anyone but himself grew tedious.

Sam achieved the worst of both worlds: a team unexciting to watch and defensively unsound. In the final analysis, those players whom he brought to the club let him down - on and off the field.

Mike Ashley had looked at dumping Allardyce before the season began but was persuaded to give him a chance.

The owner's habit of watching away matches with the travelling support then gave him first-hand experience of the discontent - notably at Wigan on Boxing Day, when fans chanted "we're sh*t and we're sick of it."

And after a 0-0 draw in appalling conditions at Championship side Stoke City in the FA Cup, Ashley wielded the axe, installing Kevin Keegan on the day that the Potters visited Tyneside in the replay.

Receiving a claimed £4m payoff (and buying a plush Spanish Villa that he named Casa St. James') Sam returned to management in December of that year, at Blackburn.

The victim of another club takeover when sacked by Ewood incomers The Venky's Group in December 2010, Allardyce then took charge of newly-relegated West Ham in June 2011, managing to sneak them back in to the Premier League via the playoffs.

Successfully keeping the Hammers in the Premier League over the next three seasons, he guided them to 10th, 13th and 12th place finishes before departing from the Boleyn Ground in summer 2015.

Allardyce was soon back in management though, joining the mackems that October and keeping them up - at our expense.

Rewarded with the role of England Head Coach following Roy Hodgson's departure, he signed a two year deal in July 2016.

However, Sam's reign lasted just one game and 67 days, before falling victim to a newspaper sting - a hidden camera catching him making claims about players and agents that went against FA regulations.

Leaving his post "by mutual consent", he also benefited from an undisclosed but substantial payoff from the FA.

The managerial merry-go-round then saw Allardyce replace Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace in December 2016 and he successfully kept them in the Premier League before departing at the end of that season.

Next came a stint at Goodison Park between November 2017 and May 2018 during whuch he took the Toffees from the relegation zone to eighth, but remained an unpopular figure - leaving with another bag of cash in lieu of the remaining 18 months of his contract.

West Bromwich Albion appointed Allardyce in December 2020 after sacking Slaven Bilic but he was unable to keep them in the Premier League and he lost his record of never managing a relegated side,

That record was doubled when Allardyce was appointed manager of Leeds United for the final four games of the 2022/23 season. That included a 2-2 home draw with Newcastle, but defeat in the other three saw Leeds relegated.

Sam - or his agent at least - was reportedly offered the chance to return to SJP in July 2019 following the departure of Rafa Benitez, but turned it down.

He's currently appearing in tasteless adverts for a bookmaker along with ex-Magpie manager Alan Pardew.

1961 Phil Leaver born, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. (1977-82)

Defender who moved from his native East Midlands to Tyneside as a youngster and attended Kenton School. 

Phil came through United's junior and reserve ranks, but had the misfortune to be called up for senior service at a low ebb in our history.

Having just been handed a professional deal, defender Leaver played alongside Stuart Boam in a 3-2 League Cup home win over Bury during August 1980. 

Within hours Bill McGarry had been sacked as and Joe Harvey installed as caretaker boss, leaving Phil back in the reserves.

Arthur Cox then preferred to field the likes of Kenny Mitchell, Bruce Halliday and Peter Haddock in his defence and Leaver left. 

A later career in the non-league saw him play for Whitley Bay, Newcastle Blue Star, North Shields, Washington, Blyth Spartans and Durham City, also coaching at Consett.

Away from football, Phil taught Geography at Excelsior Academy in the West End of the city.  

1977 Habib Beye born, Suresnes, France.
(2007-09)

United fans had a first glimpse of their future right back when the French-born Senegal international appeared at SJP for Marseille in a UEFA Cup Semi Final in 2004. 

August 2007 saw the, former Paris SG and Strasbourg player make a £2m switch from the Velodrome to Gallowgate, debuting the following month in a defeat at Derby.

Soon becoming a crowd favourite for both his defensive quality and forward forays, a version of the "Happy Days" theme tune in his honour grew in popularity.

The only goal of Beye's United career came at SJP in December 2007, as he pushed forward in added time and won a corner at the Gallowgate End, nodding home Emre's flag kick amid scenes of great celebration.

Returning from international duty at the African Nations Cup to find that he had a new manager, Habib played a valuable role in the late season resurgence under KK.

Beye's second season saw him red-carded in the home draw with Manchester City (a decision later overturned) before a savage tackle from Lee Cattermole at Wigan on Boxing Day sidelined him for 12 games - yet another blow to our hopes of staying up.

A comeback came at home to Arsenal in March 2009, but soon after appearing from the bench to replace the ailing Sebastien Bassong, an injury to Steven Taylor forced Beye into central defence.

What proved to be Beye's final game for the club was the 1-0 home defeat by Fulham, with a hamstring injury ruling him out of the final day trip to Aston Villa - although he made himself available, only for Alan Shearer to omit him on medical advice.
 
Name-checked by Shearer as part of his rebuilt side, the failure of United to appoint the interim boss permanently say Habib opt not to drop into the Championship.

A late decision not to join Hull City saw him opt instead to sign for Aston Villa for £2m at the start of what was the third and final year of his SJP deal in 2009

However, first team opportunities were limited under manager Martin O'Neill; Beye's return to SJP coming as a substitute during Villa's 0-6 loss at SJP in 2010 by which time caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald was in charge.

By his 34th birthday, Beye had still only made nine senior appearances for Villa and a few months later his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

By this time he was on loan at Doncaster Rovers as part of a "shop window" scheme for "big name" players. He signed an 18-month contract with Rovers in February 2012.

However, relegation from the Championship soon saw that deal scrapped and Beye departed.

He subsequently worked as a pundit for a French TV channel before returning to football as coach with Red Star Paris.

January 2025 then saw Habib take charge of Rennes but was relieved of his duties just over a year later.

He then took charge of Marseilles in February 2026 but had gone by the end of the season after a poor run of performances and results.

1989 Mark Doninger born, Gosforth.
(2004-09)