All 21 Of Newcastle's Premier League Opening Day Fixtures

Date: 13 August 2011

Venue: St James' Park

Result: 0-0

Starting XI: Krul; Simpson, Coloccini, S. Taylor, R. Taylor; Barton, Cabaye (Lovenkrands), Tiote, Gutierrez; Ba (Obertan), Ameobi (Best).

Goals: None

Yellow Cards: Coloccini, Barton, Tiote

Debuts: Cabaye, Ba, Obertan

Manager: Alan Pardew

What Happened?

A dismal affair given what had happened on the same ground some seven months earlier. Newcastle debuted three new players, Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye both started whilst Gabriel Obertan came off the bench, but it was the soon-to-depart Joey Barton who was the main talking point post-match. His scuffle with Gervinho after the Arsenal new boy went down in the box and appealed for penalty. Barton sought to drag the Ivorian to his feet as a melee ensued and the Magpies midfielder was left in a heap on the turf as Gervinho was shown a red card for raising his hands.

Was It A Sign Of Things To Come?

Newcastle played some intoxicating football at times during 2011/12 and equalled a club record of avoiding defeat in their first 11 matches of the season. Cabaye was a joy to behold in midfield, Hatem Ben Arfa finally delivered on latent talents and the goals flowed by Ba and later Papiss Cisse as the Magpies came close to finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League.

Final League Position: 5th