A club, a circus or a soap opera? Newcastle United have never shied away from stoking the malevolent fires of controversy since the Premier League boomed into our existence two decades ago. 'Scandal' is a noun we've become anaesthetised to on Tyneside as we await the next instalment of this twisted, cringeworthy and enthralling serial melodrama. We're even immune to the scurrilous deeds of the players, managers and chairmen whose faces we've seen regularly splashed across the front page of a red-top newspaper down the years. Sifting through the surplus array of transgressions and misdemeanors stirs some painful memories and for as long as we live the Magpies will always be thrust under the spotlight as a consequence of the colourful controversies that we are unable to escape. Little wonder constantly labelled as a laughing stock. At least we've always got something to chew over when the football isn't palatable, right? Whether or not you ascribe to that way of thinking here are the 10 BIGGEST controversies that have gripped Newcastle United.
