Newcastle have been an irrelevance to Man Utd for almost 30 years – not anymore

It was, as declarations go, sitting somewhere between extremely bold or foolishly rash as Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan greeted promotion to the Premier League with a warning to Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson.

It was 1993 and the country, as well as football, was going through a dramatic transformation. Newcastle was a city at the start of an exciting rejuvenation from a downtrodden heavy industry base into a vibrant and confident cultural centre. The football club was the most obvious symbol of its renewal.

Nobody, though, had challenged Ferguson like this before and the reaction at the time was one of mild amusement. It swiftly turned serious.

When Keegan said Newcastle “were coming for Manchester United’s title” it began a thrilling rivalry between the two clubs that would last until he departed from St James’ Park (for the first time as a manager) in 1997.

“We had no idea Kevin was going to say that,” admits former Newcastle midfielder Rob Lee, who had joined the summer before Newcastle’s Second Division title-winning campaign. “Most newly promoted teams, like they do now, talked about consolidating in the top flight and doing as well as they can while they find their feet. His first words were you better watch out Alex Ferguson, because we are coming for your title.

“It even took the players by surprise. But for that short period of time, anything and everything seemed possible. That’s just the way Kevin was. He was never interested in just doing ok. That’s just the way he was. We weren’t there to take part, we were there to try and do something special.

“We didn’t start that well, we lost to Tottenham, we lost to Coventry, but we went to Manchester United early on and got a draw. Andy Cole scored his first goal of the season and that was it, lift off. They were the best team in the country and we should have probably won that game. We believed…

“What followed was remarkable. We finished third in our first season (and sixth in their second). Two years later we were top of the table in January and with a big lead. We really did come for them as Kevin said we would.”

It was a contest the United of Manchester would ultimately win, piping Newcastle to the title in 1996 after Keegan’s side had been 12 points clear at the start of February. It was a devastating collapse, but Newcastle were still the team everyone wanted to watch and played such an exhilarating style of attacking football that they deserved their 'The Entertainers' nickname.

“It still haunts me now, no it annoys me,” added Lee. “We were only wary of three teams. Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Everyone else we expected to beat. We just attacked everyone. We would fly at teams in the first half an hour and would normally be one or two goals up at half time. Normally the game was won.

“It worked perfectly for the first half of the season and we did all those same things in the second half, but you need that little bit of luck. Manchester United were very, very good. I think they had one defeat in 14 or something and won the rest in the run-in."

Newcastle have still not won a major trophy. Manchester United continued to win them routinely under Ferguson for more than a decade.

But for a short period of time the clashes between these northern powerhouses were intense and included a 5-0 win for Newcastle, at St James’ Park, just a few months after missing out on the league title. Newcastle finished second in the Premier League in 1996 and again in 1997.

Other than a short burst of life under Sir Bobby Robson, when Newcastle finished fourth and third in 2002 and 2003, they have not been operating in the same sphere as Manchester United.

For 14 years under Mike Ashley, all Newcastle did, between 2007 and 2021, was look to avoid relegation. They turned into everything Keegan despised, a team that wanted to survive, to exist in the Premier League. To make up the numbers.

For almost 30 years, Newcastle were largely an irrelevance, but that has changed since they were bought by a consortium controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in October 2021. For the first time in a generation, Newcastle have had financial muscle to flex under ambitious owners.

Both clubs have experienced stunning improvements in this campaign. Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United sit third, just a few weeks after beating Eddie Howe’s Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final. Manchester United finished sixth last term, Newcastle finished 11th but were second from bottom of the table in January.

A win for the Magpies this weekend would put them level on points and their first appearance in a major final for 24 years does not look like being an isolated event.  It is the first time since the Keegan era that Newcastle have met Manchester United in a similar position of strength and optimism.

Howe is a very different sort of manager to Keegan. There are no eyebrow-lifting outbursts in the media and far less overt displays of emotion, but the atmosphere around the club, the sense of something awakening, is eerily similar to 1993.

“This is the closest these two clubs have been to each other for decades,” added Lee. “I said it before the Carabao Cup final, there is not much separating them. I always felt whoever scored first in the cup final would go on to win it, but Newcastle were not outplayed and it will be completely different at St James’ Park on Sunday.

“When you look at the club’s owners and how ambitious they are, Newcastle aren’t going anywhere. This feels like the start of something, just as did when I was playing there.

“I loved my time at Newcastle, the way we played, it was attack, attack, attack. It was the way you wanted to play in the playground as a kid and that is why the team is still so loved up there, even though we didn’t win anything. I truly believe it will be different this time, I really hope it is.”

If this is already a game to whet the appetite, things could become even more intriguing – and controversial –  given Manchester United could have Qatari owners in the not too distant future. Saudi Arabia are political and economic rivals, neighbours with a strained relationship. This is the era of sportswashing and the Premier League is the most popular arena for it to take place. This is a rivalry that could stretch way beyond football’s usual reach.