18 Biggest Newcastle United Villains

8. Freddy Shepherd (And Douglas Hall)

Although some Newcastle supporters may be pining for a return to the aspirational days under former chairman Freddy Shepherd, that is viewing the Geordie businessman's time at the helm through rose-tinted spectacles - because he used the club as a cash cow. Shepherd did orchestrate the then-world record signing of Alan Shearer in 1996, and this convinced owner Sir John Hall to effectively retire to Spain. This left Shepherd as chairman, with Sir John Hall's son Douglas at the active family member on the board. Yet it is estimated that Shepherd alone made more than £8.35million from Newcastle United - almost £5.5million in share dividends and £2.9million in salaries - and Douglas Hall acquired a substantial figure too, with the former's annual wage from the club set at £552,954 in 2005. If lining their own pockets with club money was bad enough, Shepherd and Douglas Hall made themselves even less popular on Tyneside when a News of the World exposé caught the pair mocking the club's own supporters. Shepherd and Hall both laughed at Newcastle fans for paying extortionate prices for club merchandise, called female supporters "dogs", and also mocked Geordie legend Shearer by labelling him as the "Mary Poppins of football". Despite resigning for a period of ten months, both returned to the Newcastle board - and then Shepherd sacked the extremely-popular Sir Bobby Robson in August 2004, who would later criticise the chairman for how he ran the Magpies, further angering Toon supporters. Shepherd and Hall proved to be extremely controversial board members at Newcastle - with the former earning such nicknames as "The Fat Controller", "Fatty Shepherd" and "Baron Greenback" - and, despite some fans longing for their return due to the dire situation the club finds itself in, most Magpies supporters remember the pair with derision.