All 21 Of Newcastle's Premier League Opening Day Fixtures

Date: 7 August 1999

Venue: St James' Park

Result: 0-1

Starting XI: Harper; Serrant (Maric), Domi, Goma Marcelino (Dyer), W. Barton; Solano (Robinson), Dumas, Ketsbaia, Dumas, Speed, Solano; Shearer

Goals: None

Yellow Cards: Barton, Goma, Shearer, Speed Red Cards: Shearer

Debuts: Goma, Marcelino, Dumas, Dyer, Robinson

Manager: Ruud Gullit

What Happened?

Newcastle suffered their first home defeat in an opening day fixture since 1993, losing by the same 1-0 scoreline to Aston Villa as they did against Tottenham. However, this match is remembered mostly for the controversial red card received by Shearer on his 100th appearance for the Club. The flashpoint came in the 70th minute as Shearer and Colin Calderwood scrapped for the ball, with the defender going down despite there being only gentle contact between the two players. To everyone's astonishment, however, referee Uriah Rennie brandished a red card at Shearer, indicating that he'd illegally used his elbows against Calderwood. Julian Joachim struck five minutes later to decide the match in Villa's favour.

League Position: 18th

Was It A Sign Of Things To Come?

This was the first time Newcastle had ended the opening round of fixtures in the bottom three and they'd have likely stayed there had Gullit not been jettisoned in late August and replaced by Sir Bobby Robson, who piloted a painfully mediocre Magpies team to an admirable high mid-table finish.

Final League Position: 11th