Opening Day Of The Season 1985 - Newcastle United
What should have been the start of another great season in the history of the club, started at a low point due to many reasons, most out of Saints control.
Firstly there was the little matter of the change of manager, Lawrie McMenemy who in fairness to him had rejected overtures from several big clubs during his dozen years at the Dell finally succumbed to an offer from elsewhere, The big surpriose though was it wasnt at the likes of Manchester United who had courted him before, but at Sunderland who had been relegated the previous season and would now be in division two.
Many decent managers had cast their eyes towards Milton Road, however the board having only had two managers in the last thirty years were keen to keep it in house, Lew Chatterley, McMenemy's assistant was offered it, but chose to hot foot it to Sunderland beside Lawrie, so it was a surprise if not a complete shock when Chris Nicholl was announced, Nicholl had been away only two years in which time he had been player / assistant manager at Grimsby, hardly the apprenticeship needed to take on managing a top five club in Division 1, the shock was cushioned by the fact that his assistant was Tony Barton who had managed Aston Villa in the top flight and guided them to the European Cup, Saints fans forgot that he was an ex Pompey player who had the distinction of being the first ever substitute to come on at the Dell when playing for the Fratton club there in 1965.
Squad wise there were a few changes, the final six months of McMenemy's reign had seen Reuben Agboola, Steve Williams and Mick Mills all play their last games for the club, to counter balance that in had come Jimmy Case and Andy Townsend, the new managers only signing pre season was not really one at all, Ivan Golac had been released by McMenemy and Nicholl promptly reprieved him after Mills had departed to Stoke.
So the visit of Newcastle saw no one new in the Saints line up as they welcomed the first new manager in 12 years and only the second in 30, David Puckett would be the first scorer under the new regime just before the break, but shortly after the re start Peter Beardsley converted a penalty after being fouled by Nick Holmes in what was described as a rare chance for the visitors, the game finished 1-1 with Chris Nicholl feeling that Saints had been the better side, especially in the second half but had been caught out by the one opportunity that they got.
Newcastle were not considered a force back then, indeed their home win against Saints late the previous campaign was all that kept them up, a defeat that day would probably have seen them relegated in their first season back in the top flight, this and the fact that there had been managerial upheaval meant that the gate was only 16,401, what only three months or so earlier had looked like being a great Centenary season with a UEFA Cup campaign to boot was now looking very uncertain as to the direction the club would now take.
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