1917 George Bradley born, Maltby, Yorkshire. (1938-46)

Beginning his career with local non-leaguers Maltby Hall Old Boys, left back George joined Rotherham United in March 1937.

Playing for The Millers at wing half,  Bradley moved to Newcastle in November 1938 but made only a solitary league appearance - in a 0-3 loss at Blackburn Rovers in November 1938, shortly after his 21st birthday. 

Appearing for the reserves, George also played in friendlies and the war leagues - guesting in the latter for Arsenal, Hull City, Bradford and Rotherham, while on leave from serving with the RAF in mainland Europe. 

When league football resumed after WW2, Bradley signed for Millwall in 1946 and moved on to Guildford City four years later, where he ended his playing days. 

He passed away in December 1998.

1944 John Pickering born, Stockton-on-Tees. 
(1962-65 [player], 1986-88 [coach])

John joined Newcastle as an apprentice following his release by Chelsea. Failing to make the grade at SJP. he moved on to Halifax Town in 1965 and would spend almost a decade with the Shaymen before finally ending his career with Barnsley.

Coaching the reserves at Blackburn Rovers, he acted as assistant to Jim Iley when he succeeded Jim Smith as manager in 1978 and later had a stint in charge himself.

Later posts saw him on the staff of Carlisle United and Lincoln City (taking charge at Sincil Bank for a time) before returning to Newcastle to work in the Academy during Willie McFaul's time in the hot seat.

Joining the Middlesbrough coaching staff in 1991, John acted as caretaker boss for one game in 1994 (a 5-2 win at Charlton). He died in May 2001, after a long illness.

1959 John Anderson born, Dublin, Ireland.
(1982-92)

Republic of Ireland international defender who arrived at SJP on a free transfer from Preston North End in 1982 - shortly before some bloke named Keegan signed....

A keen Gaelic footballer, Ando spent time at various English clubs during school holidays, including Coventry City, Wolves, West Ham and Manchester United.

Johnny Giles persuaded him to become an apprentice with West Bromwich Albion and after two years he signed his first pro deal - although never playing a first team game.

Preston signed him in 1979 for a tribunal-decreed 50K and in three seasons there John played under Nobby Stiles, Tommy Docherty and Gordon Lee - the latter handing him a free transfer in May 1982. 

Joining United on trial, Ando won a deal and debuted in a 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers, scoring his first goal for the club at Leeds in October of that same year. 

A right back or centre half, with occasional midfield outings during his decade a a Magpie, John's spirit and effort served the club well.

Falling out with Jim Smith ahead of the 1990/91 season, John's time at SJP looked to be drawing to a close - but after refusing to even discuss a possible transfer to the mackems, he found himself back in the side when the league programme began.

However a 0-3 defeat at Meadow Lane in April 1991 proved to be his final outing in a Newcastle shirt - with injury eventually forcing him to quit the following year, after an ankle operation.

Awarded a testimonial by United in 1992, John took over as Berwick Rangers boss that summer, but quit just eight weeks later.

Following a brief return to Newcastle on the coaching staff, he then worked as a car salesman and ran a workwear/ embroidery business, playing part-time for Dunston Fed, Whitley Bay and various Sunday pub sides.

Ando is now NUFC match summariser and phone-in pundit for BBC Radio Newcastle, penning a column in the match programme during the 2010/11 season. 

He has also worked as a pundit on RTE for Republic of Ireland international matches, he contributes to the Tyneside-based "Show Racism The Red Card" initiative.

1962 Darron McDonough born, Antwerp, Belgium. (1992-94)

Born in Belgium but raised near Manchester, midfielder Darron joined Oldham Athletic as a youngster in 1980 and went on to play six seasons at Boundary Park - where one of his team mates was a certain Mick Quinn. 

Moving on to Luton Town in 1986, injury curtailed his Kenilworth Road career and saw him miss their 1988 League Cup Final win over Arsenal (although he did come off the bench at Wembley a year later when the Hatters lost to Nottingham Forest). 

With relegation from Division Two looking a distinct possibility in 1992 and with it an exodus of players from SJP, Kevin Keegan paid £80K for Darron.

In the event we avoided the dreaded drop into the third tier - but McDonough had precious little to do with it. Debuting in a 1-1 draw at Grimsby in March 1992, his two starts and one sub appearance brought just one point and saw us concede ten goals.

Damaging an Achilles, he was unable to regain fitness and retired in April 1994.

Darren returned to live in Oldham, where he helped build the house he lived in. He also worked alongside his wife in their own business, "Allys Sandwich and Tea Shop." 

1963 John Barnes born, Kingston, Jamaica. (1997-99)

England international midfielder who found fame with Watford and Liverpool, joining United on a free transfer in August 1997 - turning down West Ham in the process. 

Kenny Dalglish had been in charge at Anfield when Barnes moved from Vicarage Road in June 1987 and he was presiding over a side who had recently lost the services of Alan Shearer (injured) and Les Ferdinand (sold). 

That resulted in what was jokingly known as the "Dads Army" recruitment drive, Barnes arriving along with ex-sidekick Ian Rush and former England colleague Stuart Pearce. 

Debuting in a 1-3 home loss to Wimbledon, just four days later John was part of the side who famously beat Barcelona 3-2. To to complete a memorable week, he then scored in a 1-0 win at West Ham.

That season ended with Barnes playing in his sixth FA Cup Final, but end up on the losing side for the fourth time as United lost 0-2 to Arsenal. He was also awarded the MBE.

Appearing in the opening match of the 1998/99 season - a 0-0 home draw with Charlton Athletic in which he went off injured after arriving off the bench - Kenny Dalglish then abruptly exited from SJP.

The injured Barnes followed him out of the door in February 1999 and joined Charlton, debuting for The Addicks at the Valley against Liverpool soon after.

Hanging up his boots after a dozen games, a further reunion with Dalglish came when Barnes became Celtic manager that summer - Terry McDermott coming along for the ride.

However, his Parkhead tenure was just eight months, with defeat by Inverness Caley Thistle the low point (although he did win the League Cup before leaving the club).

Barnes then became a TV football pundit, also appearing on "Strictly Come Dancing" and promoting various humanitarian efforts for children overseas.  

Reduced to a part-time overseas scouting role for the mackems, he accepted the job of Jamaica coach in September 2008.

Tranmere Rovers offered Barnes the chance to resurrect his club management career in June 2009, but after just 14 games and ten defeats he was shown the door.

Barnes then returned to media and TV work, attempting a managerial comeback when applying for the post of Rwanda coach in 2009. He didn't get it.

September 2025 then found him declared bankrupt after it was revealed that he was in debt to HMRC by over £1.5m.

1967 Marc Hottiger born, Lausanne, Switzerland. (1994-96)

Defender whose major contribution to our history was banging home a great goal in an FA Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in 1995 - although he did also net to earn us a point at Chelsea.

The Swiss international had moved to SJP from FC Sion, beginning his playing career with hometown club Lausanne Sports.

A move to Everton in March 1996 followed a season when he'd barely featured in the United first team, following the installation of Warren Barton in the right back role.

His time at Goodison was marred by injury though and a return to Switzerland came in 1997, first to Lausanne then back to Sion.

He then moved into coaching with Echallens and Neuchatel Xamax in his home country before becoming the Director of Academy Coaching for Brad Friedel Premier Soccer Academies.

Also involved with the PSA were Toon old boys Barry Venison and Scott Sellars, along with Roy Tunks - goalkeeping coach at SJP during the Graeme Souness era.

1970 Paul Tinmouth born, South Shields
(1987-90) 

Midfielder who played in the same Durham Schools U15 side as future Magpie Paul Kitson, but broke his leg after joining Newcastle as an apprentice.

Handed a one year contract ahead of the  1989/90 season, Paul appeared at both Northern Intermediate and reserve level - a defensive midfielder for the former but switching to left back for the latter.  

While team mates such as Lee Clark and Steve Howey graduated to the senior side however, Paul was released at the end of that season and joined Whitley Bay.

Later moves took him back over the River Tyne to Hebburn and South Shields. 

1990 Andras Gosztonyi born, Kaposvar, Hungary. (2010)

Hungarian U21 international midfielder brought in on trial by United in January 2010 from the MTK club in Budapest.

Playing in a training ground game against Carlisle United, no contract offer was made and the not-so-magical Magyar joined Italian side Bari on a half-season loan.

Gosztonyi later played for Videoton, Diosgyor, Haladas (all Hungary) Slask Wroclaw (Poland) and Kisvarda (Hungary).