2013/14 Newcastle United (Home Shirt)

Manufacturer: Puma

Sponsor: Wonga

This was the fifth season that Puma had produced the United kit, and the first that it controversially carried the Wonga logo, with the deal with the loans company continuing until the 2016/17 campaign. Indeed, certain players initially refused to wear the shirt, but were persuaded otherwise before the league campaign got underway.

In terms of design, the famous black and white Newcastle stripes were added to by light blue and gold trim, worn with black shorts and black socks.

Pulling on the shirt that season for The Magpies were:

Adam Armstrong, Adam Campbell, Cheick Tioté, Conor Newton, Curtis Good, Dan Gosling, Davide Santon, Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Obertan, Gaël Bigirimana, Haris Vuckic, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jak Alnwick, James Tavernier, Jonás Gutiérrez, Loïc Rémy, Luuk de Jong, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio Haïdara, Mathieu Debuchy, Mike Williamson, Moussa Sissoko, Papiss Cissé, Paul Dummett, Remie Streete, Rob Elliot, Romain Amalfitano, Ryan Taylor, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi, Steven Taylor, Sylvain Marveaux, Tim Krul, Vurnon Anita, Yoan Gouffran, Yohan Cabaye.

Behind the scenes, the reign of owner Mike Ashley was again subject to protests during the season, as was the appointment of Joe Kinnear as director of football. Kinnear though didn’t last the season as he resigned from the post in February 2014.

This was to be United’s fourth season back in the Premier League since winning promotion and one which saw them finish in tenth position, with 49 points from their 38 league games. Their best run in the league saw them collect four successive wins in November, beating Chelsea 2-0 at home, 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur, and two 2-1 victories over Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion. This pushed Newcastle up to fifth in the table, their highest position during the campaign and saw manager Alan Pardew win Manager of the Month. Any chance of making it into the top-six faltered badly in the New Year as from their last nineteen games they only won five games.

In the League Cup (sponsored that season by Capital One), Newcastle were drawn away to League Two Morecambe, with the Premier League side leaving it very late to secure the win. Shola Ameobi put The Magpies in front with just six minutes remaining, with his brother Sammy getting United’s second, four minutes into added-time. The Third Round brought Leeds United, then in the Championship to St James’ Park, with The Magpies again securing a similar 2-0 score-line as in the previous round. Papiss Cissé gave the home side a 1-0 lead after thirty-one minutes, with Yoan Gouffran sealing the win with a goal on sixty-seven minutes. Into the last 16, United were once again given a home draw, with fellow Premier League opponents, Manchester City the visitors to the north-east. It was a tie that ended 0-0 after ninety minutes, with City progressing to the Fifth Round after two goals in extra-time through, Álvaro Negredo (98’) and Edin Džeko (105’). City went on to win the League Cup against Newcastle’s rivals Sunderland at Wembley with a  3-1 victory.

There was no great run in the FA Cup (sponsored by Budweiser), this season, as Newcastle exited the competition in the Third Round, losing at home to Cardiff City (programme left), who were then in the Premier League. The Magpies looked to have been going into the draw for the Fourth Round draw after Papiss Cissé had put a much changed Newcastle team 1-0 up after sixty-two minutes. However, the visiting Bluebirds had other ideas as Craig Noone levelled on seventy-three minutes, and then struck a winner ten minutes from time through Fraizer Campbell, giving Cardiff passage with a 2-1 come from behind victory.