Which Arsenal player will join Newcastle Dream Killers XI?

Newcastle United’s wait for a first major trophy since the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup win of 1969 could finally come to an end this season, with the Magpies taking a two-goal lead into the second leg of their League Cup semi-final with Arsenal.
But the St. James’ Park faithful have witnessed plenty of false dawns before. Here’s an XI made up from players who helped extend Newcastle’s trophy drought.
Goalkeeper: Peter Schmeichel
The 1995/96 season is perhaps the most painful of Newcastle’s near-misses, losing out on the Premier League title despite having a 12-point lead in January.
A hugely anticipated clash at St James’ Park with eventual champions Manchester United saw the Magpies’ advantage cut to just one; Eric Cantona scored the only goal of the game but the match is remembered for what many consider Peter Schmeichel’s finest ever performance.
Despite having the lion’s share of possession and 16 attempts on goal, the home side couldn’t find a way past the Red Devils ‘keeper, with the Great Dane producing a string of fine stops.
Defender: Keith Rowland
Kevin Keegan wasn’t loving it after losing out on the title in ’96 but a few months later he certainly had a smile on his face following a famous 5-0 thumping of Alex Ferguson’s side in October. The Magpies were eight points clear of the Red Devils at the start of the following month but a disappointing 1-1 draw with West Ham at St James’ Park that saw Hammers defender Keith Rowland on the scoresheet was the catalyst for a dreadful run of seven games without a win.
Keegan resigned in January, with his replacement Kenny Dalglish guiding the team to second place. Newcastle had won the battle, but once again Man Utd won the war with another Premier League title added to the Old Trafford trophy cabinet.
Defender: Sol Campbell
Top of the league at Christmas in 2001 following a thrilling 4-3 victory against Leeds, added to a Boxing Day victory over north-east rivals Middlesbrough, left the St James’ Park faithful hopeful of a very happy new year.
The Magpies stayed in contention until a miserable March saw them pick up just six points from six games. Future Newcastle defender Sol Campbell started the downfall, scoring in Arsenal’s win over Bobby Robson’s men at the start of the month. The Gunners were at the start of an incredible 13-match winning run that saw them pick up the title.
Defender: Casemiro
The lofty heights of the top four that Robson reached in the early noughties seemed an eternity ago for the Magpies until the 2022/23 season saw them back in the Champions League again. A trophy looked a real possibility too, with nineties hostilities resumed after a League Cup semi-final win over Southampton set up a Wembley date with old foes Manchester United.
Newcastle’s last major domestic final ended in a 2-0 FA Cup final defeat to the Red Devils as part of Alex Ferguson’s march to the treble in 1999 and this one ended in the same scoreline, with Brazilian international Casemiro heading home from a Luke Shaw free-kick.
Central midfield: Gus Poyet
After losing their second consecutive FA Cup final in ’99, Newcastle almost made it three in a row the after reaching the semis in Robson’s first season as boss. Eventual winners Chelsea proved too strong though, with Uruguayan midfielder and future Sunderland manager Gus Poyet scoring both goals in a 2-1 win for the London side.
Central midfield: Paul Scholes
No one has done more to extend the trophy drought than Manchester United legend Paul Scholes. A goal in the 1999 FA Cup final to kill off any hopes of a comeback; a brace in January 2002 to help the Red Devils leapfrog them near the top of the table; a hat-trick at St James’ Park in the April of 2003 to put an end to their title challenge. Another goal in a FA Cup semi-final win against them in 2005. The captain of the misery-makers.
Winger: Peter Barnes
Despite the persistent pain Scholes and his team-mates inflicted on Tyneside, keeping trophies out of St James’ Park isn’t restricted to the red side of Manchester. Before that defeat in 2023, Newcastle’s only appearance in the League Cup final came in ’76, with Man City the opponents. Teenage winger Peter Barnes opened the scoring, sending the Citizens on their way to a 2-1 win.
Winger: Kevin Keegan
The 1974 FA Cup final gave Newcastle their first chance of a trophy since their triumph in Europe. Bill Shankly’s Liverpool proved too good at Wembley though and ran out 3-0 winners, with Kevin Keegan scoring a brace. It was only five years since that Inter-Fairs triumph, so they wouldn’t be waiting much longer, right? Especially after reaching a record 11th FA Cup final and it’s not as if a future club icon just kicked off a painful half-century long spell of missing out on major honours.
Forward: Nicolas Anelka
Home-town hero Alan Shearer’s arrival at Newcastle United in 1996 for a record fee was expected to be the final piece in the jigsaw at St James’ Park, with trophies expected to follow England’s star striker.
But despite helping his side reach a first FA Cup final since the Keegan-inspired loss of ’74, another forward was making the headlines in the 97/98 campaign. Shearer spent a large chunk of the season out injured, but did score the goal that sent the Magpies to a Wembley showdown with Arsenal after a 1-0 win over Sheffield United in the semis.
Teenage striker Nicolas Anelka was the new kid on the block though and having broke into the Gunners first team, he repaid Arsene Wenger’s faith with a goal in the final to complete the domestic double.
Forward: Didier Drogba
The third former Chelsea hero in this XI comes in the shape of the man who scored the winning Champions League final penalty for the Blues in 2012. Didier Drogba’s inclusion stems from another victory in a European competition but comes from a time before his Stamford Bridge spell.
In the 2003/04 season Newcastle dropped into the UEFA Cup after losing their Champions League qualifier and made it all the way to the semis. Marseille put an end to the Magpies’ run in the last four, with Drogba bagging both goals in a 2-0 win for the French side.
Forward: Malcolm Macdonald
Just to round off the misery, the final player in this side is a former hero who came back to haunt his former team so soon after leaving St James’ Park. Malcolm Macdonald scored around a third of all Newcastle’s goals during his five-year stay at the club and his departure in 1976 left many believing the Magpies would be facing a relegation battle without his presence up top.
However, the team ended up finishing fifth, three places ahead of Macdonald’s new club Arsenal, but the Gunners inflicted two morale-sapping defeats on Newcastle, with their new forward at the centre of it all. A hat-trick in a 5-3 win at Highbury was followed up by another goal in the reverse fixture in April that started a run of three straight defeats for the Magpies and ended any chance of a title push.