50 free Newcastle United trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Newcastle United were born from a cricket club in Byker, took over a bankrupt rival's ground and have never dropped below the second tier since. This quiz covers the whole story: East End and West End, the rejected names of 1892, the 1900s side that would 'give any modern team a two-goal start', Hughie Gallacher's 1927 champions, the three Cups in five years of the 1950s, Joe Harvey and the Fairs Cup, Supermac, Keegan the player and Keegan the manager, the Entertainers and the 4-3 at Anfield, Shearer's world record and 206 goals, Robson and Dalglish, Mike Ashley and the Sports Direct Arena, Wonga, the Saudi takeover, Eddie Howe and the 2025 EFL Cup, and Isak's £125 million. Early questions suit anyone who has sung 'Blaydon Races'; later ones are for the Toon Army who know their Gallowgate from their Leazes: which colours the club wore before the stripes, why the shirt sponsor caused a player to refuse to wear it, who wrote the song the team walks out to, and what the city motto on the old badge means. Good for a supporters' club night or a Tyneside pub quiz. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's article on the club and its records, and each question shows its source.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Newcastle United trace their origins to an 1881 team formed by cricketers from which district?
Byker
It was renamed Newcastle East End in 1882 to avoid confusion with the cricket club in Stanley, County Durham.
Q 02East End took over the lease of St James' Park in May 1892 after which rival club collapsed financially?
West End
Many West End players and staff joined East End, and the merged club chose a new name that December.
Q 03Which of these was a rejected suffix considered before 'United' was chosen for the merged club in 1892?
Rangers
'1892 Newcastle', 'Newcastle City' and 'City of Newcastle' were also floated; 'United' signified the merger of East and West End.
Q 04Newcastle's first Football League match, in September 1893, was a 2-2 draw against which club?
Woolwich Arsenal
They had joined the Second Division alongside Liverpool and Woolwich Arsenal after twice being refused entry to the First.
Q 05In how many seasons of the 1900s did Newcastle win the League championship?
Three
1904-05, 1906-07 and 1908-09; the same era brought five FA Cup finals and just one win, in 1910.
Q 06Newcastle's first FA Cup win, in 1910, was against which club?
Barnsley
They lost the next year's final to Bradford City, their fifth final in seven seasons.
Q 07Which prolific striker captained Newcastle to their fourth league title in 1926-27?
Hughie Gallacher
He left for Chelsea in 1930 as the club flirted with relegation.
Q 08Newcastle's 1934 relegation ended a top-flight stay of how many seasons?
35
They nearly went down again in 1937-38, spared only on goal average.
Q 09Who did Newcastle beat in the FA Cup finals of 1951, 1952 and 1955 respectively?
Blackpool, Arsenal and Manchester City
Jackie Milburn was the star of the era; the 1955 win was the last domestic trophy for 70 years.
Q 10Newcastle's 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup win came 6-2 on aggregate against which Hungarian club?
Újpest
Joe Harvey's side had qualified for Europe for the first time only the season before.
Q 11Malcolm Macdonald said he loved Newcastle 'until' which manager took over and sold him to Arsenal?
Gordon Lee
Lee took Newcastle to the 1976 League Cup final, lost to Manchester City, then left for Everton.
Q 12Which manager took Newcastle up in 1984 with Beardsley, Waddle and Keegan?
Arthur Cox
He soon left for Derby County over a lack of funds and Keegan retired.
Q 13Which Argentine World Cup winner did John Hall replace with Keegan as Newcastle manager in 1992?
Osvaldo Ardiles
Keegan saved the club from dropping to the third tier, then won the First Division title in 1992-93.
Q 21In which competition did Newcastle win their first European trophy since 1973, in 2006?
The Intertoto Cup
Glenn Roeder was manager; he left by mutual consent in May 2007 after a season wrecked by injuries.
Q 22When Mike Ashley delisted Newcastle from the stock exchange in 2007, what was the final share price?
5p
He reached 95% ownership that month, forcing the remaining shareholders to sell.
Q 23Who was Newcastle's interim manager when the club was relegated at the end of the 2008-09 season?
Alan Shearer
He had stepped in when Joe Kinnear needed heart surgery; it was the club's first exit from the Premier League.
Q 14John Hall bought 79.2% of Newcastle United in 1991 for how much?
£3m
He floated the club on the stock exchange in 1997; Mike Ashley bought the Halls' 41% stake in 2007.
Q 15Which broadcaster labelled Keegan's attacking Newcastle side 'The Entertainers'?
Sky Sports
Their third place in 1993-94 was the club's highest league finish since 1927.
Q 16The 4-3 defeat in 1995-96 often called the greatest Premier League game ever, ending with Keegan slumped over an advertising hoarding, was played where?
Anfield
Newcastle finished runners-up that season and again in 1996-97.
Q 17Newcastle's signing of a Blackburn striker on 30 July 1996 set a then world-record fee of how much?
£15m
He retired in 2006 as the club's record scorer with 206 goals.
Q 18Which manager quit Newcastle five games into the 1999-2000 season after falling out with the squad and chairman?
Ruud Gullit
He and Dalglish had each lost an FA Cup final, in 1999 and 1998; Bobby Robson replaced him.
Q 19In 2002-03 Bobby Robson's Newcastle became the only team ever to do what in the Champions League?
Reach the second group stage after losing their opening three games
They finished third in the league that season and Robson was sacked in August 2004.
Q 20Graeme Souness broke Newcastle's transfer record in 2005 by paying £16.8 million for which striker?
Michael Owen
Shearer won the golden boot in that season's UEFA Cup as Newcastle reached the quarter-finals.
Q 24In 2011 St James' Park was renamed what, in an interim deal the sponsor paid nothing for?
The Sports Direct Arena
When Wonga bought the naming rights in 2012 they restored the St James' Park name.
Q 25In 2010-11 Newcastle drew 4-4 at home with Arsenal after doing what?
Coming back from four goals down
Alan Pardew's first season ended 12th; the next brought fifth place and Manager of the Season.
Q 26Which Newcastle player, having beaten testicular cancer, scored in the May 2015 win over West Ham that kept the club up?
Jonás Gutiérrez
John Carver was caretaker after Pardew left for Crystal Palace; he was sacked that June.
Q 27Which striker refused in 2013 to wear kit bearing the logo of payday lender Wonga on religious grounds?
Papiss Cissé
The matter was later resolved; Wonga sponsored the shirt until 2017.
Q 28Rafael Benítez won the Championship title with Newcastle in 2017 and left in June 2019 for what reason?
He rejected a new contract
Former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce replaced him and finished 13th and 12th.
Q 29For a reported how much did Mike Ashley sell Newcastle to the Saudi-led consortium in 2021?
£305m
PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media made up the rest of the consortium after a 2020 attempt collapsed.
Q 30In 2021-22 Eddie Howe's Newcastle became the only Premier League team to avoid relegation after doing what?
Failing to win any of their opening 14 games
They won 12 of their last 18 to finish 11th.