Today’s On This Day feature looks at Newcastle United’s programme from the 1995/96 season. Read our review of the issue below and see all the 1995/96 Premier League programmes here.
Newcastle United’s programme opened with a one-page column from manager Kevin Keegan. The Newcastle boss waxed lyrical about the quality of David Ginola and Chelsea’s recent signing Ruud Gullit, reflecting the growing number of foreign stars then plying their trade in the Premier League. Also included in the programme were a column from club captain Peter Beardsley and a one-page profile of midfielder Lee Clark.
Coverage of matchday opponents Chelsea was comprised of an impressively detailed long-form article that assessed the club’s form before analysing each member of the first-team squad, alongside a team group picture and photos of key players. There was also an article on Chelsea’s manager Glenn Hoddle, recalling his playing career and managerial record to date, as well as ’10 Facts You May Not Now About Chelsea’.
An article entitled ‘Flashback to 85’ recalled a clash between Newcastle and Chelsea at St James’ Park, including the memories of United’s then striker Joe Allon, who would later spend time at Stamford Bridge. Local boy Allon was interviewed further in an accompanying feature, in which he recalled his career and his time with each club. In a similar vein was ‘All Our Yesterdays’ which looked back to Newcastle’s results and other football headlines 5, 10, and 15 years previously.
In other original content, ‘Euro Scene’ looked at developments from European competitions and the top continental leagues, with the logo for Euro 96 displayed prominently – with St James’ Park set to be one of the host stadiums for the tournament. More unusually, there was also coverage of other sports played under the Newcastle United Sporting Club heading, with features on the club’s Ice Hockey and Rugby Union teams.
Previous match coverage consisted of a few photos from the game with associated notes. There was a page each devoted to the reserve and junior teams, including detailed write-ups of recent games and the respective league tables, whilst the usual first-team stats page was also in place.
This was a programme with a good amount of content included, and an notable level of detail for many of the features presented.