Sir Bobby Robson's 10 Greatest Moments At Newcastle

7. He Broke The London Hoodoo

Sometime in 1997, Newcastle beat Crystal Palace away in what was a thoroughly unremarkable game, however by December 2001 that game had become almost legendary for the travelling Toon Army, as it was the last time any of them had seen the team win in London. While that might not sound like too big a deal, remember that Newcastle is the furthest away Premier League team from the capital. That meant that fans had spent untold sums of money, endured so much travel chaos, and had to put up with the smugness of so many cockneys, without ever getting so much as a win to take home with them. Four years. They give you less for assault. But when Sir Bobby took his new look Newcastle down to Highbury towards the end of the year, he was presented with not only the chance to end this particular jinx, but to send his side top of the league at Christmas. After being battered by Arsenal for half an hour, a fortunate sending off to Ray Parlour (quickly rectified by an equally daft red for Bellamy), Newcastle managed to turn the game with two classic counterattacking goals. Uri Geller would later claim to have had a hand in this. Whizzing around Highbury projecting positive thoughts towards Newcastle. No, really.