Manufacturer: Puma

Sponsor: Virgin Money

This was the four season that Puma had produced The Magpies kit and carried the Virgin Money logo. This logo appeared in January 2012, replacing Northern Rock on the shirts, and lasted only until the end of the 2012/13 season, before the controversial shirt deal with Wonga in 2013/14 began.

In terms of design, the away shirt was burgundy with a shoulder flash in navy, with burgundy shorts and burgundy socks with a single navy band. There was also a third strip which mirrored the away kit with the burgundy replaced with fluorescent lime green.

Pulling on the shirt that season for The Magpies were:

Adam Campbell, Cheick Tioté, Dan Gosling, Danny Simpson, Davide Santon, Demba Ba, Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Obertan, Gaël Bigirimana, Haris Vuckic, Hatem Ben Arfa, James Perch, James Tavernier, Jonás Gutiérrez, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio Haïdara, Mathieu Debuchy, Mehdi Abeid, Mike Williamson, Moussa Sissoko, Nile Ranger, Papiss Cissé, Paul Dummett, Rob Elliot, Romain Amalfitano, Ryan Taylor, Sammy Ameobi, Shane Ferguson, Shola Ameobi, Steve Harper, Steven Taylor, Sylvain Marveaux, Tim Krul, Vurnon Anita, Yoan Gouffran and Yohan Cabaye.

Having finished a very creditable fifth place in 2011/12, which earned Newcastle a spot in the Europa League, 2012/13 proved to be very nearly catastrophic with relegation only avoided by five points, as they ended the season sixteenth.

Alan Pardew’s team opened their league campaign with a 2-1 home win over Spurs, followed by a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. Draws followed at St James’ Park, 1-1 with Aston Villa and 2-2 at Everton, with a 1-0 home win over Norwich City and a 2-2 draw at Reading. A second defeat of the season came at home 3-0 to Manchester United, but bounced back with a draw at local rivals Sunderland 1-1, a 2-1 victory over WBA ay home and a creditable 1-1 draw at Anfield, against Liverpool. Ten games played, only two defeats and a comfortable mid-table position.

However, the club then went on an awful run of thirteen games, in which only seven points were picked up out of a possible thirty nine. This barren spell included ten losses including a 7-3 hammering at Arsenal. This left The Magpies in amongst the relegation candidates and battling for survival. Their cause was helped as in their next two games, Newcastle pulled off two straight wins, including a win on the road at Aston 2-1 and at home over Chelsea 3-2. However, they couldn’t put forward a run and as the games ran down, they would win one and follow it with a loss. They were very much still in danger with three games remaining after a 6-0 home defeat to Liverpool, but managed a 0-0 at West Ham, before a 2-1 win with 10-men at QPR guaranteed their Premier League status with a game to go. Their last game of a disappointing campaign saw them slip to a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.

There was no great run in the FA Cup (sponsored in this campaign by Budweiser), this season, as Newcastle exited the competition in the Third Round, losing at then Championship side Brighton. The Magpies had a number of injuries going into the tie, and their cause was also not helped in the game when Shola Amoebi was sent off for a second bookable offence. Brighton’s goals came courtesy of Andrea Orlandi after thirty three minutes and three minutes from time through Will Hoskins.

Given that Newcastle were in Europe for this season, they were exempt from entering the League Cup (sponsored by Capital) until the Third Round. They were handed a tough trip away to Manchester United, going down 2-1. United went two-up through Anderson (44’) and Tom Cleverley (58’), but The Magpies got back in the tie after sixty two minutes through Papiss Cissé. However, United held on and progressed to the Fourth Round.

Newcastle save their best cup performances for the Europa League. In the Play-Off Round, they emerged 2-1 aggregate winners over Greek side, Atromitos, with Haris Vuckic getting the solitary goal at St James’ Park in the Second Leg which sent The Magpies through into the Group Stages.

Newcastle were placed in Group D, along with French side Bordeaux, Marítimo from Portugal, and the Belgian team Club Brugge. The Magpies opened their European adventure with a 0-0 draw at Marítimo and followed it with a 3-0 home win over Bordeaux (programme right). In matchday three and four, Newcastle played Club Brugge home and away. At St James’ Park, a Gabriel Obertan goal on forty eight minutes secured a 1-0 victory and all three points. In the return in at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium, The Magpies came back from 2-0 to snatch a draw through goals from Vurnon Anita and Shola Ameobi. Newcastle secured progress to the knock-out phase with a 1-1 draw at home to Marítimo. The Magpies travelled to Bordeaux knowing that in order to top the group, they had to beat the French side. However, Les Girondins won 2-0 to take top spot, whilst Newcastle had to settle for finishing second.

Into the Round of 32, The Magpies faced Metalist Kharkiv from the Ukraine, with the First-Leg ending 0-0 at St James’ Park. In the Second Leg at the Metalist Stadium, a Shola Ameobi penalty on sixty four minutes was enough to sent Newcastle through 1-0 on aggregate, with Tim Krul outstanding in goal for The Magpies. Newcastle’s reward was another trip to Eastern Europe in the Round of 16 this time to Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala. The First Leg at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow saw Newcastle emerge with a creditable 0-0 draw. Back at St James’ Park Newcastle left it late, scoring three minutes into time added-on to go through once again 1-0 on aggregate with Papiss Cissé the hero.

The Magpies were one of three English teams in the last eight, with Chelsea and Spurs making up the Premier League trio. Newcastle travelled to the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon to face Benfica, and despite going ahead after twelve minutes through Papiss Cissé, succumbed to a 3-1 defeat. Papiss Cissé put The Magpies ahead with nineteen minutes remaining in the Second-Leg, but as Newcastle went in search of a second that would have taken them through, Benfica scored in stoppage time to end The Magpies European adventure 4-2 on aggregate.