The 2009–10 season was the first time Newcastle United Football Club had played in the Championship following relegation after 16 consecutive years in the Premier League. In the 2009–10 season, they won promotion back to the top division after finishing in first place in the 2009–10 Championship.

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Newcastle United

2009–10 season
Managing Director	Derek Llambias
Manager	Chris Hughton
Stadium	St James' Park
Championship	1st (promoted)
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan (17) All: Andy Carroll (19)
Highest home attendance	52,181 (v Ipswich Town)
Lowest home attendance	15,805 (v Plymouth Argyle – FA Cup)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
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Following the club's relegation, the team's pre-season had been dominated by uncertainty over manager, owner and the players. By the time the season began, caretaker manager Chris Hughton was put in charge, and his position was made permanent in October. Despite a blip in October, the club spent almost all of its season in the top three in the division and some blistering home results saw Newcastle automatically promoted by Easter. They confirmed their promotion as winners of the entire division two weeks later, with the club registering 102 points.

The club spent the majority of the pre-season searching for a new owner,^[1] and by the start of the season, no successful attempt was made to sell the club, and no players signings were made.^[2] Obafemi Martins, Sébastien Bassong, Habib Beye, David Edgar, Damien Duff, Michael Owen, Peter Løvenkrands and Mark Viduka all departed the club.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Alan Shearer announced he was unsure whether he would be continuing as manager due to lack of contact from the club.^[10]

An emotional distraction from the club's situation occurred when Sir Bobby Robson died on 31 July 2009,^[11] uniting the world of football in tributes to the manager who was fondly remembered by Newcastle United fans as well the many other clubs he managed in his time,^[12] including the national side. St James' Park proved to be the leading tribute for Sir Bobby Robson as tributes of flowers and messages were laid among the stadium.^[13][14] The season went underway managerless with some players futures at the club still in jeopardy, but achieving a draw with West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the Championship,^[15] and a 3–0 victory over Reading, as Shola Ameobi scored and dedicated his hat-trick to the late Sir Bobby Robson.^[15]

Several takeover bids were revealed, yet none prevailed. United, however, continued a bright opening start to the season with six games unbeaten at the top of the table,^[16][17] and caretaker boss Chris Hughton collect the Manager of the Month prize for the Championship.^[18] The transfer window closed without full-time players signed, although Løvenkrands decided to rejoin on the final day of the transfer window,^[19] but Hughton was granted permission to sign players on loan, acquiring Danny Simpson from Manchester United,^[20] and Zurab Khizanishvili from Blackburn Rovers.^[21] Later in the year, he signed Marlon Harewood on loan from Aston Villa^[22] and Fabrice Pancrate on a free transfer.^[23]

The team kit for the 2009–10 season is produced by Adidas and Northern Rock will remain as the main sponsor.^[50] During the season Northern Rock signed a new contract but dissatisfaction with Mike Ashley saw Adidas terminate their deal after 15 years as sponsors. Puma became Newcastle's new kit makers at the end of the season.

• 3 June 2009: Newcastle United and Middlesbrough were given byes into the second round of the League Cup.^[51]

• 11 June 2009: Singapore-based Profitable Group declared an interest in acquiring Newcastle United.^[52]

• 17 June 2009: The Championship 2009–2010 season fixtures were announced.^[53]

• 19 June 2009: Four unidentified groups progressed to the due diligence phase in the bid to take over the club. Neither Profitable Group or the consortium involving Freddy Shepherd were amongst them.^[54]

• 22 June 2009: Newcastle unveil new yellow striped away kit.^[55]

• 27 June 2009: Mark Hulse and Robbie Elliott announced that they would quit the backroom staff at the end of July.^[56]

• 11 July 2009: Newcastle's first Pre-Season Friendly sees them thrash Irish side Shamrock Rovers 3–0 on their home turf.
• 13 July 2009: Newcastle's planned pre-season match on 26 July against Utrecht was cancelled, following concerns raised by the Mayor of Amsterdam regarding both Newcastle and Sunderland visiting the Netherlands at the same time^[57]

• 18 July 2009: A Fine Performance sees Chris Hughton's side thrash Darlington 7–2 at the Darlington Arena
• 21 July 2009: The Magpies win their third friendly in a row beating Huddersfield Town 2–1.
• 25 July 2009: Newcastle suffer probably their most humiliating friendly defeat losing 6–1 at League 1 side Leyton Orient, some newspapers then say that they're going down again.
• 28 July 2009: Profitable Group stated they had no further interest in buying the club, citing "a lack of communication and response" from Mike Ashley.^[58]

• 29 July 2009: Newcastle's only pre-season match at St James' Park sees them held to a goalless draw by Leeds United
• 31 July 2009: Newcastle United mourned the passing of former manager Sir Bobby Robson, who died following a long battle with cancer.^[59]

• 2 August 2009: Newcastle unveiled new black and blue striped third kit.^[60]

• 8 August 2009: Newcastle's first match of the season sees Damien Duff earn a 1–1 draw at West Brom, who were also relegated in what proved to be the Irishman's last game for the club.
• 14 August 2009: Danny Simpson joins on loan from Manchester United
• 15 August 2009: Shola Ameobi nets his first Newcastle hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Reading.
• 18 August 2009: Derek Llambias stated that Barry Moat had "stepped up his interest" in regards to a possible £100 million takeover.^[61]

• 19 August 2009: Shola Ameobi goes to the top of the Championship goal scoring charts with the only goal of a win over Sheffield Wednesday
• 22 August 2009: Newcastle win 2–0 at Crystal Palace to move into second place, with Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor scoring their first goals for the club.
• 24 August 2009: Newcastle United made an official statement extending the deadline for Barry Moat to table an offer for the club.^[62]

• 26 August 2009: Geoff Sheard confirmed that he was fronting a bid by a mystery American company to buy the club.^[63]

• 26 August 2009: In a classic Carling Cup encounter at home to League 1 Huddersfield Town, the visitors equalized through Theo Robinson just a minute after Danny Guthrie opened the scoring before taking a 3–1 lead through another for Robinson from the penalty spot and a Jordan Rhodes strike. However, a Geremi goal and a Kevin Nolan strike sandwiching a Shola Ameobi penalty give Newcastle a 4–3 win, denying former Newcastle midfielder Lee Clark's team their first win on Tyneside since October 1953, just five weeks after the terriers were beaten in a friendly by the Magpies.
• 31 August 2009: A fantastic strike from Danny Guthrie puts Newcastle top of the Championship with a 1–0 win over Leicester City.
• 3 September 2009: Chief scout Lil Fuccillo joined Championship rivals Swansea City.^[64]

• 13 September 2009: Newcastle are the first team to win at promotion rivals Cardiff City's new Cardiff City Stadium thanks to Fabricio Coloccini's first Newcastle goal.
• 16 September 2009: Chris Hughton's side suffer a first league defeat of the season at Blackpool despite Andy Carroll's first goal of the season.
• 26 September 2009: Both teams playing in the Ipswich Town – Newcastle United match wore strips commemorating Sir Bobby Robson. The strips were to be auctioned after the match, with the proceeds going to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.^[65]

• 2 October 2009: Former manager Kevin Keegan was awarded £2 million damages by an employment tribunal for constructive dismissal.^[66]

• 27 October 2009: Newcastle appointed Chris Hughton as permanent manager until the end of the 2010–11 season. Also, Mike Ashley announced that he had taken the club off the market and intended to invest a further £20 million.^[67]

• 18 January 2010: Northern Rock signed a new four-year sponsorship deal with Newcastle United, worth between £1.5 and £10 million, starting from the 2010–11 season.^[68]

• 19 January 2010: Puma signed a deal to become the club's official supplier for two years starting from the beginning of the 2010–11 season.^[69]

• 5 April 2010: Newcastle promoted to the Premier League for the 2010–11 season after Nottingham Forest draw 0–0 with Cardiff.^[70]

• 19 April 2010: Newcastle won the Football League Championship after a 2–0 win over Plymouth Argyle.^[71]

• 24 April 2010: Newcastle lifted the Championship trophy in front of a new Championship record attendance of 52,181 fans after a 2–2 draw with Ipswich.^[72]

• 2 May 2010: Newcastle finished the 2009–10 season with a 1–0 victory at Queens Park Rangers. This gave the team a total of 102 League points, surpassing the 100-point mark for the first time in the club's history.^[73]

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