In the ever prosperous post takeover years a lot of Newcastle United fans will think of the era under Mike Ashley as some kind of wilderness period. In fact, the club has had many wilderness periods. But for some of us more middle aged fans the years between 1978 and 1984 were memorable for all the wrong reasons. For much of them there was literally nothing to cheer, whatsoever. The Ashley years had Ben Arfa and Cabaye while from ’78-’84 we had Shinton and Rafferty! Gary Sherrard’s ‘The Wilderness Years Newcastle United 1978-1984’ covers it all brilliantly.
Newcastle had been relegated from the old First Division at the end of the ’77/’78 season. We’d finished second bottom of the league and ended up 11 points short of safety with a -36 goal difference. A spectacular failure. We would stay in the old second division for the next 6 seasons, often with no hope of going up. These were the wilderness years.
It was during these years that I first started going to St. James’ Park. As a Newcastle United daft kid I’d been desperate to start going to games, having watched my dad going (and coming back in a very different state to the way he left the house) for years. It took heart surgery, a letter from a family friend to Newcastle and a magnificent gesture from the club to make that happen. And so, at the start of the ’79/80 season I was able to take up a seat alongside my dad in the East Stand.
So, for me, ‘The Wilderness Years’ captures my first years of properly supporting the club, while also reminding of a lot of things that my young brain probably didn’t quite take in.
‘The Wilderness Years’ is, in my opinion, essential reading for any Toon fan. Whether you were there or not shouldn’t matter. Sherrard’s writing is superb, capturing the line that we tread between a sense of hope and a sense of helplessness, brilliantly. It’s all done with a sense of humour too, while remaining true to the feeling of the times. Newcastle United was a fractured, directionless football club at this time; the team felt like it was in permanent transition and almost always looking for the final 11 pieces of the jigsaw. Even the ground wasn’t complete, despite ambitious plans.
The attention to detail here is superb too. There’s lots I don’t remember about this period – I was dedicated, but also very young – but the book brings it all flooding back in glorious and not so glorious black and white. So any of the players that I may have forgotten are brought back to mind, while all of those that I’d tried so hard to forget over the years – the aforementioned Rafferty, Shinton et al – are also unfortunately brought back too! Sherrard also gives us a little social commentary along the way too; some politics, some culture and current affairs and more pertinently some comments about terrace culture and the epidemic of hooliganism at the time, making the book even more interesting.
‘The Wilderness Years’ ends with the first incarnation of Kevin Keegan at the club; truly wonderful years when suddenly there was innovation and imagination about the way we were run and the direction of travel felt ever more hopeful.
Overall, ‘The Wilderness Years’ is an illuminating read. It’s certainly offers a contrast to more recent history and serves to illustrate that Mike Ashley certainly wasn’t the first steering a rudderless ship. The book might even help remind a few of just how lucky we are under the present ownership and stewardship of Eddie Howe.
I’d thoroughly recommend Gary Sherrard’s ‘The Wilderness Years’ for any Newcastle fan. It’s a comprehensive and enjoyable read, not only about the club, but also the region and the culture during a period of time where supporting the club genuinely felt like a severe test of your patience and loyalty. As the writer says, ‘Newcastle have always been oblivious to the obvious’ and this period of our history highlights that in the most glaring way possible.
A cracking read for any Mag!
Middle Age Fanclub 