This is what makes a Newcastle United Number 9 legend | OneFootball

I was recently having a conversation with my mate Auld Ellas, on what it takes to be a Newcastle United Number 9 legend in the famous shirt.

By the end of our conversation, we were both in agreement that it takes a lot more than goals to earn the love and respect of the Geordie public.

Honesty, charisma and an obvious love for the club, as well as Tyneside in general, also come into play.

An appetite to embrace their adoring fans at any given opportunity has always also been a major attribute.

I am going to trawl through our history and pick out what I consider the greatest centre forwards, who had the god given talent and the charisma to go with it, and carried the role of Newcastle United Number 9 legend off to a tee.

Hughie Gallacher was already a legend in Scotland, having scored 100 league goals in 129 games for high flying Airdrieonians, before he joined Newcastle United in 1921.

He would go on to score 143 goals in 174 appearances for United but that is only half the story.

Hughie was a marked man from the start in England but even though only 5’5″, he luckily knew how to look after himself. He was as tough as they come and also had a fiery temperament to go with it. This and his unquestionable will to win endeared him to the Geordie public.

Off the field and around town, Hughie Gallacher was known as one of the smartest dressers of his day, and enjoyed his local celebrity. Fans appreciated Wee Hughie’s honesty and realised that like some of them he hadn’t had life easy.

His alternative (to say the least) style of captaincy and record total of 39 goals in a season up until that time, delivered United’s last top flight title in 1927.

Hughie Gallagher died tragically on Tyneside in 1957 and his story has since became immortalised.

John Edward Thompson Milburn was JET to some, simply and humbly ‘Wor Jackie’ to the masses on Tyneside who worshipped him.

He was one of our own and straight out of the pit, having been raised in the Northumberland town of Ashington.

Unlike Gallacher a couple of decades before him, Jackie was quiet and tried to avoid the bright lights. Supporters that were lucky enough to meet him, stated how approachable, easy going and well mannered he was.

Wor Jackie was Newcastle United’s goalscoring pin-up boy when we brought the FA Cup back to Tyneside three times between 1951 and 1955.

He scored 200 goals for his beloved black and whites in a decade of loyal service.

When Jackie Milburn passed away in 1988, thousands lined the streets to give this wonderful gentleman and local hero, a tearful and emotional send off.

Issue 31 – December 1991

Malcolm Macdonald is the most swashbuckling centre forward that has ever played for Newcastle United.

After signing from Luton Town in 1971 for a club record fee of £185,000, Malcolm arrived in Newcastle in a gold Rolls Royce.

He was met and shown around the city by Wor Jackie, who explained to him how important the Number 9 shirt was to the Geordie public.

A hat-trick against Shankly’s Liverpool on his home debut soon followed and the legend of ‘Supermac’ was born.

Confident, brash and ruggedly handsome, the fans could instantly identify with Supermac in an era of Glam Rock, flares and voluminous sideburns.

Our team was full of characters like Jinky Jim, Terry Hibbitt and Terry Mac, but it was Malcolm Macdonald who captured the hearts and minds of his adoring public the most.

He was undoubtedly our main man and figurehead in the amazing run to the 1974 FA Cup Final, that ended in such heartbreak at Wembley.

Supermac scored well over 100 goals in his five seasons at Gallowgate and in my opinion he stands alongside Gallacher and Milburn as one of the three greatest Number 9’s in our history.

Peter Withe and Imre Varadi were both excellent players with the personality to match in the late 1970s and early 80s.

The next player on my list is someone who I regard as a bit of a ‘Jack the lad’ and Toon cult hero. He arrived at Newcastle United in the summer of 1989 after we were relegated from the old First Division.

Micky Quinn blasted four goals on his debut at St James’ Park against promotion favourites Leeds United, on the opening day of the 1989/90 season.

He went on to score 36 goals that season in a deadly double act with Mark McGhee. However, it wasn’t just about goals with Mick, he liked a laugh and a joke, even if it was at his own expense at times.

Everyone I know who has come into contact with Mick over the years all say the same thing. That he is a real ‘people’s person’, who deeply loves our football club.

Issue 37 – April 1992

David Kelly is another former Newcastle United Number 9 who weaved his name into the fabric and history of our great club in the early 1990s.

‘Ned’ played with a bit of swagger and assurance and could always come up with some cheerful patter when confronted by fans and media alike.

He loved playing for Newcastle United and like Macdonald and Quinn ‘Just got it’, if you know what I mean.

My final two players both instantly became fan favourites.

Issue 51 – May 1993

Les Ferdinand really doesn’t need no introduction. In his two seasons at United between 1995 and 96, he scored 50 league goals in 80 games as United finished runners-up twice.

I would also like to add that I believe Les wasn’t always treat as well as he should have been, whilst at Newcastle United.

Another very friendly and approachable man, I will always look fondly upon Sir Les.

Issue 81 – September 1995

After joining Newcastle United in January 2012, Papiss Cisse made one of the most explosive impacts any of us are ever likely to see.

Cisse immediately embarked on an incredible scoring run when he scored on his debut against Aston Villa, after coming on as a substitute for Leon Best at St James’ Park.

By the April, Papiss had scored his third successive brace, this time at Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium, to overtake the great Hughie Gallacher’s goals per game record set almost 90 years earlier.

He rounded the season off with another brace, this time against that season’s Champions League winners Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Both of these goals were sublime in their execution and his second in the dying embers of the game was a ‘worldie’ from 37 yards that won the BBC’s Goal of the Season.

Papiss Cisse had a smile as wide as the Tyne Bridge and loved his time on Tyneside.

All of the players I have mentioned were special and all had two things in common. That is true compassion to go with the common touch.