All 21 Of Newcastle's Premier League Opening Day Fixtures

Date: 17 August 2003

Venue: Elland Road

Result: 2-2

Starting XI: Given; Hughes, Woodgate, A. O'Brien, Bernard (Jenas); Dyer, Speed, Bowyer (Ameobi), Robert (Solano); Shearer, Bellamy.

Goals: Shearer (18 pen, 87)

Yellow Cards: Bellamy, Woodgate

Debuts: Bowyer

Manager: Sir Bobby Robson

What Happened?

Alan Shearer, as ever, was the saviour for Newcastle on the opening day at Elland Road as an indifferent display from Sir Bobby Robson's charges nearly ended in defeat had it not been for the captain's decisive late intervention. Newcastle actually led in the 20th minute via Shearer's penalty, only for future Magpies Marc Viduka and Alan Smith to turn the game in the home side's favour with goals either side of the half time whistle. It was left to Shearer to rescue a point when he poked home from close range with two minutes remaining. 

League Position: 11th

Was It A Sign Of Things To Come?

Sort of. Newcastle were muscled out of the top four by Liverpool and failed to win any of their six opening games, collecting just three points in that sequence, before finally breaking their duck at the seventh time of asking with a 1-0 victory over Southampton kicking off a run of four straight victories. Only Champions Arsenal and Manchester United lost less than the eight games Newcastle did that season but a total of 17 draws tells its own story.

Final League Position: 5th