Rise of the Magpies - Abi Smith

Rise of the Magpies charts the ascent of Newcastle United over the past two decades, paying particular attention to the 2022/23 season, which saw Toon fans celebrate a Champions League placement for the first time since 2003.What a season it was. Now all the years of cheering, crying, jeering; the heartache and the hope - that cruel and bitter emotion that clung to Toon comrades young and old - has been rewarded.This book takes us back to the moment the Saudi-backed consortium, which bought Newcastle in late 2021, brought anticipation about the club's future. Few of those black-and-white supporters expected a team in a relegation battle at the time of the takeover to be contenders for Champions League qualification.This is a story of a club that has been transformed, a club that is much more than money: it's a club that has never lost sight of Geordie glory. It's time for the Magpies to soar again.