10 Newcastle Players Who Really Weren't Worth The Hassle

7. Lee Bowyer

They knew what they were letting themselves in for when they signed a player who had been charged with racially-aggravated assault in a Leeds nightclub. While Lee Bowyer was eventually acquitted, his Leeds United comrade and future Newcastle United colleague Jonathan Woodgate was convicted of affray. Undeterred, Newcastle snapped them both up - after all, the Toon seem to be one of the only clubs who almost seem to collect 'bad boys'. Often seen as a spiky and volatile character, it didn't come as too much of a shock to see Bowyer's frustrations get the better of him and proceed to lash out on the St. James Park turf in April 2005. What was perhaps a little eyebrow-raising was the fact that the receiving party of the blow was his own team-mate Kieron Dyer, which sparked the infamous on-pitch scuffle. Enraged with Dyer's unwillingness to pass him the ball, Bowyer swung at the former Ipswich winger, leading to scenes reminiscent of a drunken punch-up. Bowyer was subsequently charged by the Northumbria Police and was fined £600 and ordered to pay £1000 in damages. While Bowyer proved to be a decent and useful player for the club, just two appearances shy of a centenary in a three-year spell, that infamous moment of madness in April 2005 was an unforgiveable act of treachery to this great club, and should never be tolerated. With the hallowed jersey hanging off his bare chest in tatters as he departed the field in disgrace, the Newcastle hierarchy should have sacked the pair of them on the spot.