Any Newcastle all-time XI starts with two number nines. Jackie Milburn scored 200 goals for the club. Alan Shearer went past him in February 2006 and finished on 206. You can't leave either of them out, so the shape has to be built around both.
That means a 4-3-1-2, with Peter Beardsley behind the front two. It costs us the wingers, which hurts at a club that's had a few good ones. Years in brackets are years at Newcastle.
The team
Goalkeeper
Shay Given (1997 to 2009). Twelve seasons, most of them as first choice, and in goal for the 2002-03 Champions League run that reached the second group stage.
Defence
Kieran Trippier, right back (2022 to 2026). I know, he's recent. But he came from Atlético Madrid in January 2022 when Newcastle were in a relegation fight, and his crossing and set pieces won them games from right back. He was in the side that won the League Cup in 2025, and his exit was confirmed in April this year, with his contract running out in June. Warren Barton fans will want their man in. I'd still take Trippier.
Bobby Moncur, centre back (1962 to 1974). He captained Newcastle in the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final against Újpest Dózsa and scored twice in the 3-0 first leg at St James' Park. In Budapest he got another in a 3-2 win. A centre half scoring three across two legs of a European final is ridiculous when you say it out loud. Nobody has brought a European trophy back to Tyneside since.
The chip. October 1996, Manchester United beaten 5-0, and Philippe Albert (1994 to 1999) wanders forward from centre back and lifts it over Peter Schmeichel. He passed like a midfielder, which is handy next to a stopper like Moncur.
Frank Clark, left back (1962 to 1975). The boring pick, on purpose. There are no wingers in this shape and Trippier is always getting forward on the right, so someone on the other side has to stay home. Clark did that for thirteen years and was in the back four that won the Fairs Cup. John Beresford was more fun to watch in Keegan's side, and he'd get in most Newcastle teams. Just not one where Albert is already stepping into midfield.
Midfield
Rob Lee came from Charlton in 1992 as a winger and Kevin Keegan moved him into the middle. Two years later he was an England player. He liked arriving late in the box and played in both FA Cup finals, 1998 and 1999. Rob Lee (1992 to 2002) goes on the right of the three.
Bruno Guimarães (2022 to 2026) sits in the middle, and he's the hardest one to write about after the summer. He arrived from Lyon a few weeks after Trippier and ran the midfield for four and a half years. In March 2025 he captained the side at Wembley, where Dan Burn and Alexander Isak scored in a 2-1 win over Liverpool. That was the club's first major domestic trophy since 1955. Then in August he went to Arsenal for £75m. Some of you won't want him anywhere near this team now, and I understand that. I'm judging him on what he did here.
Gary Speed (1998 to 2004) on the left, because he'd played there for Leeds and can tuck in behind Clark when the ball goes wide. Kevin Nolan scored more often, but he was a runner, and this side needs someone who stays.
Behind the strikers
Peter Beardsley (1983 to 1987, 1993 to 1997). Two spells, and Keegan is in both of them. First as a teammate, when they went up together in 1984. Then as manager, when he brought Beardsley back from Everton just after promotion to the Premier League. Over the next four years he fed Andy Cole, then Les Ferdinand, then Shearer, and in 1995-96 that side went twelve points clear at the top. The 4-3 at Anfield in April was the night it all slipped away, and it's still the best game a lot of us have ever watched.
Up front
Jackie Milburn joined during the war and won the FA Cup in 1951, 1952 and 1955. He scored both against Blackpool in the 1951 final, and four years later he scored inside the first minute against Manchester City. Wor Jackie (1943 to 1957) is one half of the front two.
The other half is the Gosforth lad. Alan Shearer (1996 to 2006) came home from Blackburn for a world record fee and wore the nine for ten years. He captained the side in the 1999 Cup final and broke Milburn's record in his last season. His best late years were under Bobby Robson, and so were Given's, Speed's and Solano's. That Robson side took Newcastle into the Champions League, and it gets talked about less than it should. Shearer also managed the last eight games of 2008-09, which ended in relegation.
The bench, and the arguments
Hughie Gallacher (1925 to 1930) is the one I keep going back to. He captained the side that won the league in 1927, and Newcastle haven't won it since. If you want him in, go 4-4-2 and drop Beardsley. I wouldn't, because without Beardsley the two nines are just standing next to each other waiting for crosses that aren't coming.
The 1950s Cup sides give you Joe Harvey, captain in 1951 and 1952 and later the manager who won the Fairs Cup. Frank Brennan played centre half in both of those finals. Bobby Mitchell scored on the left wing in 1955.
From the 70s there's Supermac. Malcolm Macdonald scored both goals in the 1974 FA Cup semi-final win over Burnley, and he'd be in a lot of people's front two. Keegan himself was only here two seasons as a player but captained the 1984 promotion side. David Ginola is the winger everyone pictures from that 1995-96 season, and Nolberto Solano crossed for Shearer for years. Both miss out because there's no wide man in this shape. I'd find room for Srníček or Harper as the reserve keeper, and Batty if you want a proper holder.
Then Alexander Isak, who scored at Wembley in 2025 and left for Liverpool that September. Further back, Colin Veitch won three league titles before the First World War, in 1905, 1907 and 1909. Len White is third on the club's all-time scoring list behind Shearer and Milburn and hardly anyone mentions him.
A Premier League only version
Only count the Premier League years and the wingers come back. It turns into a 4-4-2.
Given; Trippier, Coloccini, Albert, Beresford; Solano, Bruno Guimarães, Lee, Ginola; Beardsley, Shearer.
Solano finally gets his game, and Beresford can bomb on with Ginola in front of him. Les Ferdinand is the one I feel bad about. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year for 1995-96 and was at Tottenham by the summer of 1997. I still want Beardsley's passing.
Quick answers
Who is Newcastle's record goalscorer? Alan Shearer, with 206 goals. He passed Jackie Milburn's 200 in February 2006.
When did Newcastle last win a major trophy? The League Cup in March 2025, beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley.
Build your own
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