V Leeds United (August 19th 1989) There's a good reason that Scouse striker Mick Quinn is talked about in the same breaths as Alan Shearer, Jackie Milburn and Supermac from some Newcastle fans who know how to correctly value footballers: he knew, effortlessly, how to score a goal. He might not have been the most elegant of strikers, but the mighty Quinn was lethal in the box and a powerful handful for opposition defenders who had no answer to his movement or tenacity. That much was clear from his debut, when he scored 4 goals to put Leeds to the sword at St. James Park and earned himself instant hero status among Newcastle fans. Did It Last? That season, Quinn scored 34 league goals (and 39 in total) as Newcastle lost in the play-offs to Sunderland, and followed it up the next year with 20 as the club slumped to mediocrity and a 10th place finish. The following year he was out for three months injured and managed only 7 goals in 20 games as the Magpies survived relegation by the skin of their teeth, and his career at Newcastle was all but over when he clashed with Kevin Keegan and fell down the pecking order. But even with that fragmented time at the club, the man affectionately known as Sumo scored 59 goals in 115 performances, and he deserves the label of greatest Newcastle debutant ever. Which other notable Newcastle United debuts do you think belong on this list? Share your own favourites below.
