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Newcastle United at the Euros

Paul Madden

Updated: Jul 17, 2024

✍️ Paul Madden


My earliest European Championship memories (bar having a random collection of Euro 92 stickers stuck to my bed though I was only 5 when it took place) are the hype which surrounded Euro ‘96, the so called returning home of football and the excitement at the prospect of the best footballing nations in Europe facing off in the arenas of Old Trafford, Anfield, Villa Park and of course St. James Park. Having not long become self-aware as a Newcastle fan just a year prior to that tournament, every ounce of information about the competition, the players, the nations and the managers involved was absorbed instantly such was the appetite of the sponge that was my footballing mind at the time, and to this day I still feel a similar sense of awe and intrigue as the dawn of a new major international tournament approaches.


Trying to work out who has the best team on paper, which individual stars will shine, what teams will emerge from the group stages, who will fall or prevail on penalties and ultimately which nation will reign supreme at the close are just some of the emotional dilemmas one faces ahead of such a magnificent international spectacle, and while the adult in me is mainly focused on how many games he will realistically be able to digest and consume throughout the coming weeks, the child in me still wishes to hang and populate daily an old-school tournament wall-chart to track the competition progress and proceedings (much to the disdain of my other half who has vastly differing views on what qualifies as modern-day apartment wall decor - even though she is French and therefore has far more to be happy about than a lone Irishman with no horse in this race).


Anyway I digress - being a Newcastle United fan when it comes to the Euros hasn’t always triggered much emotional discourse; similar to World Cups, the trajectory of the club over the past 20-30 years (therefore the majority of my lifetime) has been such that player involvement at these major tournaments from a Newcastle United perspective has been relatively minimal, as has our recruitment following said events; back in those glorious 90s and 00s, it was common-place for any stand-out players to be instantly snapped up following a good innings at a major tournament - prime examples include Karol Poborsky and Patrick Berger whose stellar performances for Czech Republic at the aforementioned Euro ‘96 subsequently led to immediate Premier League moves to Man Utd and Liverpool respectively, and the same goes for the likes of Florin Raducioiu (West Ham), Thomas Brolin (Leeds) and Senegalese pair El Hadji Diouf & Salif Diao (Liverpool), all of whom signed for their new clubs following a successful Euros or World Cup campaign. Nowadays (for right or for wrong) clubs aren’t half as reactionary or trigger-happy when it comes to making transfer decisions off the back of major tournaments, and far more in-depth scouting and analysis are conducted before any such signings are made - a pity perhaps, but such is the evolution of the game and in particular the financial impact and repercussions of these international signings.


While Newcastle did attempt to follow suit in the late 90’s (particularly evident in the famously unsuccessful signing of Stephane Guivarc’h after he finished as Ligue 1 top scorer and was included in France’s 1998 World Cup winning squad) - Newcastle United involvement at major tournaments has been relatively limited over the past 30-40 years both in terms of representation and transfer activity, however with the club very much on an upward trajectory at present, the status quo has somewhat shifted once more, and for the first time since 1996 we now have two players included in an England Euros squad, making it four players in total from the club (would have been 5 but for the Tonali debacle) who will feature at a European Championship finals for only the second time in the last 10 renditions of the competition, and this gives us a great opportunity to not only celebrate the fact but also to reminisce on Euros tournaments gone by and in particular how Newcastle have influenced and been represented at these great events as time has progressed. Let the games begin.


Euro 1996 (Winners: Germany | Hosts: England)


NUFC Representatives: 3 

(Les Ferdinand & Steve Howey - England; Pavel Srníček - Czech Republic)


We start with Euro ‘96 - largely because we had zero representation at Euro ‘92, and just one lone representative at Euro ‘88 (shout out to our friend John Anderson who was part of that famous Ireland setup which beat England 1-0 in Stuttgart). Kevin Keegan’s entertainers have just finished 2nd in the Premier League after heartbreakingly throwing away a 12 point lead to Man Utd; three of that squad are called up to represent two of the 16 participating nations but remarkably none of them play a single minute of tournament football..England manager Terry Venables sticks rigorously to the duos of Adams & Southgate and Shearer & Sheringham at the back and up front respectively, rendering Steve Howey and Les Ferdinand unutilized throughout their run to the semi-final. Newcastle #1 Pavel Srníček also finds himself backup to Petr Kouba for eventual runners-up Czech Republic, consigning Newcastle’s impact on Euro 1996 to be null and void bar the three group games which were held at St. James Park.


Howey (mid-left) & Ferdinand (mid-right) watch on

What about Alan Shearer I hear you ask? The Golden Boot winner was still technically a Blackburn player as he scored 5 goals (plus two more in penalty shootouts) to propel England to the semi-final. The prodigal son returned to St. James Park exactly one month after the final was played in Wembley, his world record £15m transfer fee made him our only paid transfer that season thus missing out on a host of post-Euros talent on the move that summer; probably worth it though…



Euro 2000 (Winners: France | Hosts: Belgium & Netherlands)


NUFC Representatives: 1 (Alan Shearer - England)


Not our best period of football in the seasons prior to this tournament, with Sir Bobby Robson only 9 months into his reign when the Euro squads were announced, confirming Alan Shearer would be the sole Newcastle player travelling that summer with the likes of Barton and Howey overlooked and Silvio Maric’s Croatia failing to qualify for the only time in their history (the latter featured 4 times at World Cup ‘98 helping his side to an impressive third place finish). England crashed out of the group stages despite Shearer scoring twice in three games and again, the Toon influence on a European Championships ended before it even began.


Shearer at Euro 2000

It wasn’t until the 2001/2002 season that Sir Bobby was able to exert his full influence over the Newcastle squad and achieve a hugely impressive 4th place finish, unsurprising considering our summer 2000 signings completely ignored the Euros and comprised Carl Cort, Lomano Lua Lua and Christian Bassedas..make of that what you will.



Euro 2004 (Winners: Greece | Hosts: Portugal)


NUFC Representatives: 1 (Kieron Dyer - England)


The year of one of the biggest shocks in footballing history; not Dyer in the England squad of course, no, the fact that Greece against all odds pulled off a miracle to go all the way to the final and beat Portugal on their own soil, a day that will be remembered by Greeks for all eternity not to mention this author who happened to be holidaying on a Greek island at the time as a 17-year-old - needless to say it was one hell of a night. 


Despite a distinctly English feel to Sir Bobby’s Newcastle squad that had finished 5th in the season prior with a squad including the likes of the aforementioned Kieron Dyer, Jermaine Jenas, Jonathan Woodgate, Lee Bowyer and of course the internationally retired Alan Shearer, only Dyer makes Sven-Göran Eriksson’s England squad; the absence of Ireland and Wales mean no tournament for the likes of Shay Given or Gary Speed, while eventual winner Nikos Dabizas has already moved on to Leicester in the previous season so no trophy glory for us there either. Dyer played 7 minutes in that tournament in a 3-0 win over Switzerland, so once more our influence and impact on a European Championship was minimal to say the least. 



In terms of signings post Euro 2004? Nicky Butt arrived from Manchester United after being included in the England setup during the summer however he failed to play a single minute in Portugal; Jean Alain Boumsong arrived from a brief spell at Rangers having been given the #2 shirt in Jacques Santini’s France 2004 squad (perhaps the less said about that the better), and through he didn’t travel to Euro 2004 at all, it’s worth mentioning we did sign Patrick Kluivert that summer (perhaps 4 years too late, the Dutchman having won the Golden Boot at Euro 2000 for the Oranje).



Euro 2008 (Winners: Spain | Hosts: Austria & Switzerland)


NUFC Representatives: 2 

(David Rozehnal - Czech Republic; Emre Belözoğlu - Turkey)


Rejoice - we have two players travelling once more!! A time when Kevin Keegan was back at the helm (albeit brief), but little did we know we were about to embark on a season which would culminate with our first Premier League relegation despite a desperate attempt by a Newcastle-led Alan Shearer to prevent the inevitable. Before all that though, a squad containing the likes of Emre, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Damien Duff had achieved a 12th place finish prior to just the two names above heading off to the Euros that summer.


Sadly neither enjoyed good fortune in Austria & Switzerland - Rozenhal featured in all three group games for Czech Republic which started with a win against hosts Switzerland, but defeats against Turkey and Portugal saw them fail to reach the Quarter Finals; meanwhile Emre was named Turkey captain for the tournament in the same group but an injury in their opening clash with Portugal saw him ruled out for the rest of the tournament, made even more regrettable as Turkey advanced to the semi-finals only to be knocked out by a 90th minute Miroslav Klose goal against Germany. 


Emre clashes with Portugal’s José Bosingwa

Would this be the turning point which might see Keegan’s Newcastle snap up some elite European talent following the tournament? Not quite - we instead had our eyes on South America with the arrivals of Fabrizio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez, not to mention Kevin Nolan from Bolton and Xisco from Deportivo La Coruna (I prefer not to speak).




Euro 2012 (Winners: Spain | Hosts: Poland & Ukraine)


NUFC Representatives: 3 

(Yohan Cabaye & Hatem Ben Arfa - France; Tim Krul - Netherlands)


Two players called up to Laurent Blanc’s France squad? Okay, I can get behind this...we are in the midst of Newcastle’s French revolution after all which has seen Alan Pardew’s side finish 5th in the Premier League, sadly no call ups for Sylvain Marveaux or Gabriel Obertan though but we move on. Tim Krul is included in Bert van Marwijk’s Netherlands squad but is clearly second fiddle to Roma’s Maarten Stekelenburg, so no minutes for him as they finish bottom of Group B but his time on the international stage will come. Slightly better fortune for our French contingent however; Cabaye starts two of France’s group games and scores in a 2-0 win over hosts Ukraine, while Ben Arfa’s cameo in their draw against England leads to a start in their final group match against Sweden where they are defeated but still manage to qualify before losing to eventual winners Spain in the Quarter Final.



The French revolution continues after the tournament as Newcastle bring in Mathieu Debuchy from Lille having started all four games for France in the Euros, and he is joined by Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Montpellier), Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse), Yoan Gouffran (Bordeaux) and Romain Amalfitano (Reims). Those French sure do love a Greggs.




Euro 2016 (Winners: Portugal | Hosts: France)


NUFC Representatives: 1 (Moussa Sissoko - France)



Here we go again. Similar to the real French Revolution which lasted just over 4 years in duration, it’s safe to say the same success levels were not reached in the 2015/2016 season as Newcastle succumb to yet another relegation in the Mike Ashley era, and a squad deemed “too good to go down” do exactly that despite the signings of Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Florian Thauvin and Jonjo Shelvey in the previous summer - none of whom end up on the plane to Euro 2016. Instead, Moussa Sissoko is Newcastle’s lone representative in Portugal that summer, who after being ignored throughout the Group Stages manages to break into Didier Deschamps’ starting XI for both the semi-final and final where they eventually lose out to Portugal (interestingly Sissoko would not make Deschamps’ World Cup 2018 winning squad, arguably losing out to the aforementioned Florian Thauvin whose form dramatically improved after returning to Marseille..typical).



An inspired Ireland side reach the Last 16 only to lose to Sissoko & co. but surprisingly no Newcastle players featured in that Irish side (this was pre-Jeff Hendrick and Ciaran Clark Newcastle after all); don’t let that bother you though, we made up for it by signing Daryl Murphy from Ipswich so silver linings and all that.



Euro 2020 (Winners: Italy | Hosts: Various)


NUFC Representatives: 4 

(Martin Dubravka - Slovakia; Emil Krafth - Sweden; 

Fabian Schär - Switzerland; Ryan Fraser - Scotland )


The glory days have returned. Four players (I repeat, FOUR) representing at a European Championship finals for the first time in the club’s history, all hailing from Steve Bruce’s plucky Newcastle United side that have just finished 13th in the league. Is this a sign of things to come? Only time will tell - very much a mixed bag of fortunes for these underdogs however, with Fabian Schär’s Switzerland the only side to qualify from the group stages and impressively make it to the Quarter Finals during which the handsome centre-back scores both his penalties in shoot-outs against France and Spain; Krafth comes on as a substitute in all four of Sweden’s games as they impressively top their group ahead of Spain before an extra-time defeat at the hands of Ukraine, while both Fraser and Dubravka are headed home early after they fail to qualify from Groups D and E respectively.


Fabian Schär, penalty king 👑

What followed that tournament (which actually took place in 2021 due to Covid-19) changed Newcastle United history forever; the end of the Mike Ashley reign, the Saudi PIF takeover and the beginning of the Eddie Howe era which saw us make our first elite signing who also played a key role in England’s path to the final of Euro 2020; Kieran Trippier, we salute you 🫡.


So what have we learned? It’s fair to say that Newcastle United’s impact and influence on the European Championships has been fleeting and sporadic at best; our representation at these major tournaments has very much echoed where we were as a club at the time, rising with the success of our entertainers of the mid-late 1990’s, falling as we endured multiple relegations throughout the Ashley era and finally rising again as get ready to watch another four of our boys take to the international stage as they represent their nations at Euro 2024. Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schär and Anthony Gordon are the four names who will fly the flag for us in Germany this summer (as will Bruno at the Copa America), and in a perfect world this number would be higher but for injuries and issues surrounding the likes of Nick Pope, Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Callum Wilson; that said, the signs are promising, and this author remains confident that we will see record numbers of Newcastle United representation at major international tournaments for many years to come.


The future is bright.


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