2008–09 Newcastle United F.C. season
The 2008–09 season was Newcastle United's 16th consecutive season in the top division of English football. This season saw the club relegated from the Premier League to the Championship, the first time the club had been relegated since 1989.
| 2008–09 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managing Director | Chris Mort Derek Llambias | |||
| Manager | Kevin Keegan (Until 4 September 2008) Chris Hughton (From 4 September 2008 – 26 September 2008) Joe Kinnear (From 26 September 2008 – 7 February 2009) Chris Hughton (From 7 February 2009 – 1 April 2009) Alan Shearer (From 1 April 2009 – 24 May 2009) Chris Hughton (From 1 June 2009) | |||
| Premier League | 18th (relegated) | |||
| FA Cup | Third round | |||
| League Cup | Third round | |||
| Top goalscorer | League: Michael Owen Obafemi Martins (8 each) All: Michael Owen (10) | |||
| Highest home attendance | 52,114 (vs. Liverpool and Fulham) | |||
| Lowest home attendance | 20,577 (vs Tottenham Hotspur) | |||
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Things had looked reasonable for Newcastle at the start of the new season, but a major falling out between Kevin Keegan and the board saw Keegan resign as manager. This led to an awful run of form under caretaker manager Chris Hughton and the surprise appointment of Joe Kinnear was made to try to help the team out. A health scare saw Kinnear have to leave his office as manager in February. Under Hughton and Colin Calderwood, the club went on another horrible run of form as they were sucked deeper into the relegation battle. Ex-player Alan Shearer was appointed as a temporary manager for the last eight matches of the season but he was only able to win one of these games and Newcastle were relegated.