Many United supporters have been eagerly awaiting the publication on November 1st of the club's new official record book, NEWCASTLE UNITED: The Ultimate Record 1881-2011.
To mark Newcastle United's 130th Anniversary it is appropriate that the Ultimate Record charts United's celebrated history season-by-season, match-by-match, almost 6,500 games and around 586,000 minutes of football.
Branded the United Bible, the book contains just about everything you want to know about the Black'n'Whites.
Founded as Stanley Football Club in the St Peter's and Byker area of Newcastle during November 1881, soon to change their name to East End FC and ultimately Newcastle United in 1892, the club's past is well known for being a hugely colourful story packed with incident.
All of 130 years of action on and off the field is comprehensively reviewed and charted from the very first pioneering game when Stanley played the Elswick Leather Works 2nd XI on 26th November 1881, to Newcastle United's final fixture of the 2010-11 Premier League against West Bromwich Albion.
The book is wonderfully illustrated and produced in the precise style of Club Historian Paul Joannou enthusiasts of the club are accustomed to. With co-authors Alan Candlish and Bill Swann, the expert knowledge of United's history is second to none.
Paul says: "When the first edition of Newcastle United's match by match history was published over 25 years ago in 1986 it was one of the earliest Complete Record books at a time when detailed historical works of that type on football clubs were in their infancy. Now almost every club in the country has such a volume."
"Since 1986 much new data has been researched on United's match record with even obscure and until recently, hidden friendly games now being discovered. This book takes the club's match record a stage further and brings everything up to date, a fitting way to mark 130 years of action since the founding of the club in St Peter's."
The Ultimate Record is the Newcastle United Bible. No supporter should be without a copy, a book to answer almost every query and also to dip in and out of time and time again. Yet, it is not just a statistical record of the Black'n'Whites but also relates the history and a comprehensive summary of every season as well as profiles of star players. The detail is immense, included are not only United's senior fixtures but also all other first-team matches, friendlies included, as well as a review of the club's Reserve and Junior teams since Victorian times.
Newcastle's Chairmen, Directors and Officials are charted as are Managers, Coaches and Trainers over the years while there is a comprehensive Player Register scheduling the club record of every player to appear for the Black'n'Whites, nearly 1,200 individuals. A focus is also given to pioneer grounds and St. James' Park, while an informative Facts & Figures section catalogues United's principal records over those 130 years.
Fully authorised by Newcastle United, the Ultimate Record is produced in limited edition and should not be missed. It runs to 344 large pages, containing a wonderful array of photographs, and retails at £27.50.