All 21 Of Newcastle's Premier League Opening Day Fixtures

Date: 14 August 2004

Venue: Riverside Stadium

Result: 2-2

Starting XI: Given; Carr, Elliott, Hughes, Bernard; Milner (Dyer), Jenas, Butt, Robert (Ameobi); Shearer (Kluivert), Bellamy.

Goals: Bellamy (14), Shearer (83 pen)

Yellow Cards: Carr

Debuts: Carr, Butt, Milner, Kluivert

Manager: Sir Bobby Robson

What Happened?

You could say this is when the horse finally bolted from the cart and Sir Bobby Robson lost control of the dressing room on a day that was overshadowed by Kieron Dyer's refusal to play on the right wing and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's controversial equaliser. Robson subsequently benched the midfielder, new arrival James Milner starting in Dyer's place, and all seemed to be going to plan as Alan Shearer scored a late penalty to put the Magpies back in front after Stewart Downing had cancelled out Craig Bellamy's first half opener. But Newcastle were robbed of the three points when Hasselbaink stooped at the back post and pushed the ball into the net with his hand.

League Position: 6th

Was It A Sign Of Things To Come?

Two defeats and a draw from the next three games, including the 4-2 defeat against Aston Villa - in which he dropped Shearer in favour of Patrick Kluivert - saw Robson sacked by Freddie Shepherd, who said he felt like the man "who shot Bambi". Graeme Souness was brought in to bring an air of discipline to a wayward dressing room, but results on the pitch continued to go south under his watch.

Final League Position: 14th