This Newcastle United shirt dates from a Premier League match played at Filbert Street on 29 April, 1998 between Martin O’Neill’s Leicester City and Kenny Dalglish’s Magpies, two games before the end of the season.
The result was a 0-0 draw. O’Neill’s City side went on to finish 10th that season. Newcastle, who finished 13th, played in the FA Cup final less than three weeks later, losing to Premier League champions Arsenal.
The match in which this shirt was worn was notorious because of an incident which saw England captain Alan Shearer accused of kicking City’s Neil Lennon in the face. The referee took no action. O’Neill complained. Shearer apologised later and insisted that he meant no harm.
He was then cleared by a three-man FA commission. Lennon’s view was that, as far he was concerned, the incident was over and done with straight after the game. The shirt is signed by the Newcastle United squad from that season.
Signatures include, among others, Shearer, Shay Given, Stuart Pearce, David Batty, Gary Speed and future Leicester players Nikos Dabizas and Steve Howey.
The shirt is one of a collection of framed signed Premier League shirts from 1997/98 in the Club’s heritage collection. There are also shirts from Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Sheffield Wednesday, Everton, Derby County, Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers.
They are an evocative reminder of the Premier League towards the end of the 20th century.
