Newcastle United are among the top 10 most successful English clubs of all time. The club have had ups and downs throughout their history, with their most successful period being the first decade of the 20th century, when they won 3 League titles within 5 seasons. Many great players have played for the club since its formation in 1892. In this article we will have a look at some of the greatest Newcastle United players ever.

Here are the top 10 greatest Newcastle United players ever –

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10. Bill McCracken [1904-1924]

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Bill McCracken was a Northern Irish defender who spent twenty-seasons at Newcastle United. He spent his entire playing career with the club, playing a total of 432 games for Newcastle,winning the league three times and a FA Cup.

His style of play was described as alert with the ability to run, leap, tackle and head the ball well. He was the captain of United and his country. He played for both when over 40-years of age before turning to scouting where he recommended countless young talented players to the club.

9. Rob Lee [1992-2002 & 2003-2004]

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Robert Martin Lee had two spells at Newcastle United, he first joined the club in 1992 and spent 10 seasons with the club. He then left the club in 2002 for Derby County but returned only after a year to spend 1 more season with the Magpies.

He was an integral part of the Kevin Keegan regime. The cheeky cockney playmaker lost his way under Ruud Gullit. He was even stripped of his club number and forced to wear the number 37 shirt. Sir Bobby Robson reinvigorated him and he went on to become a true legend. He gave a decade of his career to the Toon and will always be revered in the North East.

8. Len White [1953-1962]

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In February 1953, Newcastle United paid £12,500 for White. The initial idea was to replace Tommy Walker who appeared to be coming to the end of his career. He made his debut against Liverpool later that month. That season he scored two goals in 12 appearances.

The following season he became a regular member of the team and Newcastle finished in 8th place of the First Division with White scoring 14 goals in 29 games.

At Newcastle, White was primarily partnered up front alongside the well-established Jackie Milburn during the 1950s. Because of this, White often found himself in the shadows. Despite that, he had an impressive goalscoring tally and was instrumental during Newcastle’s FA Cup-winning campaign of 1955.

Once Milburn ended his career in the late 1950s, White took over as the leading striker, and continued to improve his ratio of goals. He eventually left the club for Huddersfield Town in 1962.

7. Shay Given [1997-2009]

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Given was signed by Newcastle United in 1997 for a fee of £1.5 million, and it was there that he began competing to be a first-choice Premier League goalkeeper. Given was part of the teams who came runners-up in the 1998 and 1999 FA Cup campaigns, and was named in the Premier League Team of the Season for 2001–02 and 2005–06.

He played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup with Newcastle, and was involved in the club’s title challenge in 2001–02. Although he submitted a transfer request during the 2000–01 campaign after losing his position in the starting line-up, it was denied, and Given went on to regain his place.

Given made his 400th appearance for the club on 1 January 2007 in a 2–2 draw against Manchester United. He overall made 462 appearance for the club before leaving for Man City in 2009.

6. Frank Hudspeth [1910-1929]

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Hudspeth spent nineteen seasons at Newcastle, from 1910 to 1929. This makes him the second joint longest servant for the club along with Billy McCracken. During his time at the club he became a popular figure amongst the fans and gained the nickname ‘Old Surefoot’ for his reliability.

He captained the team from 1923 to 1926 but was demoted to vice-captain following Hughie Gallacher’s arrival at the club. Hudspeth was also known for his ability to score penalties and twenty-five of his thirty-seven goals at Newcastle came from the penalty spot.

He is second only to Jimmy Lawrence for making the highest amount of appearances for Newcastle, taking part in 472 games. He also represented England at international level.

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5. Hughie Gallacher [1925-1930]

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Gallacher had excellent ball control, guile and instinct, being able to go past opposing defenders with ease. Although a mere 5′ 5″, he was a huge threat for any defence as he possessed grand strike power. Gallacher could shoot with either foot, dribble with the ball, head, tackle and forage. There were four occasions when he scored five goals in a game. He also created chances for other players.

At Newcastle United Gallacher made an immediate impact, scoring two goals on his debut four days after signing in the 3–3 home draw against Everton and scoring 15 goals in his first nine games. He ended the season with 23 league goals in 19 games, ending up as the club’s top scorer despite signing halfway through the season.

Gallacher had an excellent goals per game ratio,In 174 games that he played for Newcastle, he managed to score 143 times. His strike rate of over 82% is the most prolific in Newcastle’s history.

4. Peter Beardsley [1983-1987 & 1993-1997]

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Beardsley signed for the Magpies in the September of 1983. He was a very pacey, incisive and skilful forward. He was an instant hit with the Newcastle supporters, scoring and setting up spectacular goals. Beardsley went on to celebrate promotion with his teammates, who were captained by Kevin Keegan in his final season as a player.

They finished in the final promotion spot behind winners Chelsea and runners-up Sheffield Wednesday. He scored 20 league goals that season and formed an exciting strike partnership with former England striker Kevin Keegan. Beardsley’s career would have echoes of that enjoyed by Keegan, who retired at the end of that promotion campaign.

In his first season in the First Division, Beardsley scored 17 goals in 38 league games as Newcastle finished in 14th position. During the following campaign he played in all of Newcastle’s 42 league matches, scoring 19 goals. In one fixture against West Ham United, Beardsley ended the game as a stand-in goalkeeper. The game ended in an 8–1 defeat for Newcastle, with Beardsley conceding the last 3 goals.

Over two spells at the club, Beardsley played a total of 324 games and scored 119 goals.

3. Jimmy Lawrence`[1904-1922]

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Lawrence was a formidable stopper and an integral part of United’s great Edwardian side. He spent 14 seasons as United’s first-choice goalkeeper and won three Championship medals during his Tyneside stay.

Durable and consistent, along with John ‘Jock’ Rutherford and Colin Veitch, he was one of only three players to take part in all of United’s Edwardian era successes.

He played with Newcastle for eighteen years after joining the Tyneside club in 1904 and still holds the record for making the most appearances for them – 432 league appearances, 496 matches in total.

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2. Jackie Milburn [1943-1957]

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Milburn played two trial matches at St James’ Park as a 19-year-old in 1943. In the second of these, he scored six second half goals. Milburn made his competitive debut in the FA Cup in the 1945–46 season. On 18 October 1947, Milburn wore the number nine shirt for the first time as he was given the Centre-Forward’s role and scored a hat-trick. In 397 games for the club, Milburn scored 200 goals.

In total, Milburn played in three FA Cup winning finals for United; 1951, 1952 and 1955. Despite his achievements, Milburn was reportedly a very shy and self-deprecating individual, whose modesty further endeared him to Newcastle United supporters,though according to Tom Finney, this stemmed from an “innate inferiority complex”.

By the time Milburn left Newcastle in 1957, he had become the highest goalscorer in Newcastle United’s history.He remained so until he was surpassed by Alan Shearer in February 2006. Milburn remains Newcastle’s second highest goalscorer, having scored 200 competitive goals. He was finally granted a testimonial ten years later after leaving the club, in 1967.

1. Alan Shearer [1996-2006]

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As a player, Shearer was often styled as a classic English centre-forward, owing to his strength, physical stature, heading ability and strong shot, which enabled him to be highly prolific goalscorer.

With his time during with Blackburn Rovers, Shearer had established himself as one of the best strikers in the league.

It was in July 1996 when the Magpies beat Manchester United to Shearer’s signature, smashing the world transfer record to bring him home.

With £15m offers tabled from Newcastle and Manchester United, the lure of the number nine shirt at his hometown club proved too good to turn down, and Kevin Keegan finally got his man ahead of the 1996/97 season.

As they had done for the bulk of his career, the goals continued to flow for Shearer, and in the first of his ten seasons at St. James’ Park, he scored 28 goals – forming a lethal partnership with Les Ferdinand.

He went on to become Newcastle’s and the Premier League’s record goalscorer. He scored 206 goals for the club, of which 49 were scored with his head.

Shearer is arguably the best striker the Premier League has ever seen.

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