On this day in 1958, Newcastle United boosted their hopes of survival in the First Division with a 4-1 thrashing of Manchester City at St James’ Park, courtesy of goals from Reg Davies, Albert Franks and a brace from Len White.
The Magpies played in front of 53,226 people and lined up with Ronnie Simpson, Dick Keith, Alf McMichael, Bob Stokoe, Franks, Jimmy Scoular, Bobby Mitchell, Gordon Hughes, George Eastham, White and Davies.
Newcastle ended up finishing 19th out of 22 teams with 32 points that season, level with 20th-placed Portsmouth and 21st-placed Sunderland who ended up going down with 22nd-placed Sheffield Wednesday. They narrowly beat the drop, so the City victory really was key to their unlikely survival.
Stan Seymour, who won the First Division for Newcastle as a player in the 1920s, was the manager but ended up being replaced by Charlie Mitten at the end of the campaign.
United did improve with a more convincing 11th-placed finish in 1959 and 8th-placed finish in 1960, but United failed to beat the drop in 1961 and were forced to ply their trade in the second division.
Nevertheless, the City win was key to them staying up, and all the more impressive given the Sky Blues finished fifth in the table.
