Key man: Craig Bellamy
The current PFA young player of the year, still only 22, the Welsh international striker’s extraordinary pace and tenacity have become a crucial part of Newcastle’s gameplan. Bellamy terrified Premiership defences last season and proved a major factor in Newcastle’s Champions League qualification. Never short of a word or six, he is now pledging to ‘become one of the best players of my generation’

Coach: Sir Bobby Robson
Football’s newest knight provides glorious proof that you do not have to be young to be modern and offers a wonderful rebuke to ageists everywhere. Moreover, the deceptively streetwise former England and Barcelona coach guided Newcastle into the Champions League playing attack-minded football — they rarely draw games — featuring two authentic wingers. Conducts by far the most entertaining press conferences in the Premiership

Full squad
Goalkeepers 1 Shay Given 13 Steve Harper 29 John Karelse, 33 Adam Collin	Midfielders 4 Nolberto Solano 6 Clarence Acuna 7 Jermaine Jenas 8 Kieron Dyer 17 Christian Bassedas 11 Gary Speed 21 Diego Gavilan 22 Jamie McClen 25 Brian Kerr 32 Laurent Robert 35 Olivier Bernard, 45 Hugo Viana
Defenders 3 Robbie Elliott 5 Andrew O’Brien 12 Andy Griffin 14 Wayne Quinn 15 Elena Marcelino 18 Aaron Hughes 19 Titus Bramble 30 Stephen Caldwell 34 Nikos Dabizas	Forwards 9 Alan Shearer 16 Carl Cort 10 Craig Bellamy 20 Lomana Tresor Lua Lua 23 Shola Ameobi 28 Michael Chopra

Strongest XI

Nationalities
England (16), Scotland (2), Wales (2), France (2), Peru (1), Ireland (1), N.Ireland (1), Chile (1), Argentina (1), Spain (1), Paraguay (1), Holland (1), Greece (1) Total 31

Players in
Hugo Viana, Titus Bramble

Players out
Mark Boyd

Instant expert
Ground St. James’ Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4ST
Telephone 0191 201 8400
Capacity 52,193
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Ticket office 0191 261 1571
Can I get a ticket? 3000 tickets on sale for non-season ticket holders
How to get there Newcastle Central railway station half a mile from ground Club call 09068 121190
Club shop 0191 201 8426

New boy: Hugo Viana
Newcastle fans asked Hugo who? when Bobby Robson invested £8.5m in the 19-year-old from Sporting Lisbon. Just ask David Dunn, who was humiliated by a virtuoso performance from Viana when the England Under-21s lost to Portugal in May

Money talk
Top earners Shearer £42,000, Robert £32,000, Speed £30,000

Total wage bill £26.88m
The high-flying Geordies pay the seventh highest wages but they balance the books because their turnover of £54.91m is the fifth highest figure in the Premiership

Where are they now?
Tony Cunningham The one-time Newcastle No 9 — back in the early 1980s a rare black player at St James’ — qualified as a lawyer and is now a solicitor in Lincoln