West Brom are the visitors as United look to end November on a high note at St. James 
Park. We will be looking to hopefully get the job done without having to rely on as much luck as their last visit when Sammy Ameobi’s strike cannoned off the backside of Papiss Cisse in the dying seconds to secure a 3 points The Magpies barely deserved, with The Baggies thinking they had grabbed a point when Romelu Lukaku levelled after Demba Ba’s first half opener. The Magpies were a little more convincing in their first meeting with the men from The Midlands, winning 3-0 in December 1898 with one of the earliest Gallowgate heroes Jock Peddie getting on the scoresheet.
Our last defeat at the hands of The Baggies came in the season we finished 5th, 11/12 when we lost one of only three home games that season 2-3, Demba Ba having equalised twice in that match but with Newcastle searching for a late winner, Roy Hodgson’s West Brom hit us on the counter and Paul Scharner snatched three points to take back to The Hawthorns. Despite that blip, The Magpies have a fairly good record at home to West Brom during Premier League times, one highlight was a 3-0 victory under the management of Glenn Roeder and Alan Shearer which helped us clinch European football in 05/06 against an already relegated West Brom under the management of ex-smoggie boss Bryan Robson, goals that day came from Nobby Solano and a brace from Shola Ameobi. West Brom’s first visit in the Premier League era was back in 2002 and they took an early lead before an Alan Shearer double with his first being an indirect free kick from inside the box secured a come-back and all three points only four days after losing to Juventus in Turin.
That had been our first meeting with The Baggies since the days of Second Division football on Tyneside, the highlight of which being a 2-1 victory with John Anderson and Micky Quinn scoring as we attempted to close in on promotion. Both teams had a spell in the top tier during the mid-80’s, the most memorable encounter of that period being a 4-1 thrashing in 1985 when George Reilly scored 2 with Jeff Clarke and Neil McDonald also getting on the scoresheet. There were also a fair few encounters during the early-mid 1970’s when both teams were in the top flight, most memorable of those were a 2-0 victory for The Magpies in 1976 with goals from Paul Cannell and Alan Gowling and a 4-2 success towards the back end of the 71/72 season with Supermac scoring twice and cult hero Tony Green bagging one.
RYAN BELL’
