Awakening the giant from the north - NEWCASTLE UNITED

Newcastle will get new owners from Saudi Arabia, it is now definitive and official, after the Premier League approved the takeover, because it received "legally binding guarantees" that the foreign state will not control the club. As confirmed, Newcastle was bought in total for 300,000,000 pounds (about 350,000,000 euros). Fans celebrate. Because, as things stand, they will soon be watching their club in the fight for trophies, but also due to the fact that after 14 years, the controversial Mike Ashley left the club.

 Although there are many who are against this financial injections from foreign countries as many would say it destroys the spirit of the sport and football, Newcastle United with all its history and glory deserve to have stable budget and to be among best teams in England and Europe.

 However, the very roots of Newcastle United are in the football club that the Stanley Cricket Club founded in a part of the city called Baker in November 1881. The first friendly match was played against Celtic and a 1-0 victory was recorded in front of 6,000 people. The management of the club was hungry for success and for even bigger visits. At the next meeting, a proposal was made to change the name of the East End in order to unite the entire city and stand behind one club. On Friday, December 9th , 1892. The East End becomes NEWCASTLE UNITED!

 Newcastle United - one city one club. The way to increase profits was to leave the Northern League and join the First Division of the Football League, the club applied for a place in it in 1893. They were rejected and offered a place in the Second Division. They agreed in the same year with Liverpool and Arsenal to join the Football League.

Now Newcastle United is playing on St. James's Park in the Football League, but another change has remained. They still played in red East End jerseys. In 1894, they switched to the famous black and white jerseys we know today.

At the very transition to the new century, Newcastle managed to enter the first league through a series of test matches, which is the forerunner of today's playoffs.

 Newcastle managed to be champion of England 4 times but through history this team was more famous about success in the FA Cup which this team has won 6 times and finished as runners up 7 times.

 Newcastle united had very turbulent periods and had ups and downs throughout their history, but this club can proudly say that it was home of some of the greatest players that played in English top rank league. Alan Shearer is certainly the most successful and most famous player of Newcastle, Rob Lee, Shay Given, Kevin Keegan, etc.

 From the first match on that field, the field was immediately named St. James Park, the name remained when the stadium was built and when it was renovated, until today.

The first major works took place in 1899, when the capacity was 30,000, and only 6 years later it was increased to 60,000 with great auxiliary fields and even a swimming pool. It was the largest stadium in England at the time.

 It has been renovated many times but the best job was done by Sir John Hall during his time as president. He arranged for United to have a modern stadium with 36,610 seats by 1996, where the European Championship was played. Later, a stand was named after him.

The stadium was expanded with works from 1998 to 2000 to the current capacity of 52,000 seats. The upgrade cost £ 43m but St. James Park is known around the world as one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world of football.

 They have the fiercest rivalry with Sunderland, the Tyne - Wear derby is one of the fiercest in the country. The other big rival of the Magpies is also from the north-east, it is Middlesbrough. This derby is called the Tyne-Tees derby, and the cities are only 55 kilometers away. This rivalry was fueled in the 1990s and early 2000s as a north-east rivalry, as the clubs were in the Premier League and Sunderland was not.

 With this kind of history, legends and the support of the local community, Newcastle United definitely deserves to be among the best teams in Premier League and maybe in the near future to fight for the title.