Game #4569
Saturday, 7 August 1999
Attendance: 36,376
Won
Premier League
1st=
Newcastle United
Last 5: 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟩
St James' Park
Villa open the season with victory at St James' Park.
Newcastle United
0-1
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | Mark Delaney | 75’ |
KEY MAN
Villa look on astonished as Alan Shearer is sent off by Uriah Rennie after a tussle with Colin Calderwood as Villa win at Newcastle on the opening day of the Premier League season, Saturday, 7 August 1999.
RELATED MATCHES
MATCH TIMELINE
🟢 | 1’ Debut, David James, George Boateng
🕒 | HT Newcastle United 0-0 Aston Villa
🔁 | 56’ Sub off, George Boateng, Sub on, Lee Hendrie
🟥 | 70’ Sending off (Newcastle United), Alan Shearer
⚽ | 75’ Goal, 1-0, Julian Joachim, Assist by Mark Delaney
🔁 | 87’ Sub off, Colin Calderwood, Sub on, Steve Stone
🕒 | FT Newcastle United 0-1 Aston Villa
🟨 | Booking, Ugo Ehiogu
🟨 | Booking, Mark Delaney
🟨 | Booking, Alan Thompson
ON THIS DAY
Goalkeeper David James made his Villa debut aged 29 after joining from Liverpool for a fee of £2,160,000 in June 1999.
Midfielder George Boateng made his Villa debut aged 24 after joining from Coventry City for a fee of £5,580,000 in July 1999.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96
Newcastle United
European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1954-55
FIXTURE HISTORY
Previous 5 vs. Newcastle: 🟨 🟥 🟥 🟩 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1999-00 |
Matchday | #1 |
League Game | #1 |
Manager Game | #59 |
Saturday, 7 August 1999
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: John Gregory | 🏴 | Scunthorpe, 1998-2002
Referee: Uriah Rennie | 🏴 | Sheffield, 1994-2009
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Result: 🟩 Won
FT Score: 🟩 1-0
Last 5: 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟩
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Uriah Rennie | 🏴 | Sheffield, 1994-2009
Previous 5: 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟨 🟥
Last Match: 🟥 27 Feb 99, Villa 1-4 Coventry (h)
Cards: 🟥 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Villa hand debuts to David James and George Boateng as well as giving Mark Delaney his first start.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 27.86 |
Oldest Player |
CB Colin Calderwood | 🏴 | 34.57 |
Youngest Player |
FB Mark Delaney | 🏴 | 23.25 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
John Gregory | 🏴 |
Ruud Gullit | 🇳🇱 |
Aston Villa
GK David James | 🏴 | 🟢 |
RB Mark Delaney | 🏴 | 🔥 | 🟨 |
CB Colin Calderwood | 🏴 | 🔁 |
CB Ugo Ehiogu | 🏴 | 🟨 |
CB Gareth Southgate | 🏴 |
LB Alan Wright | 🏴 |
M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 | 🟢 | 🔁 |
M Ian Taylor | 🏴 |
M Alan Thompson | 🏴 | 🟨 |
F Julian Joachim | 🏴 |
CF Dion Dublin | 🏴 |
Newcastle United
GK Steve Harper | 🏴 |
LB Carl Serrant | 🏴 | 🔁 |
LB Didier Domi | 🇫🇷 |
CB Franck Dumas | 🇫🇷 |
CB Marcelino Elena Sierra | 🇪🇸 | 🔁 |
CB Alain Goma | 🇫🇷 | 🟨 |
RB Warren Barton | 🏴 | 🟨 |
M Gary Speed | 🏴 | 🟨 |
M Temuri Ketsbaia | 🇬🇪 |
W Nolberto Solano | 🇵🇪 | 🔁 |
CF Alan Shearer | 🏴 | 🟨 | 🟨 | 🟥 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | M Lee Hendrie | 🏴 | for M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 | 56’ |
🔁 | M Steve Stone | 🏴 | for CB Colin Calderwood | 🏴 | 87’ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | LB Carl Serrant | 🏴 | (M Silvio Marić | 🇭🇷 |)
🔁 | CB Marcelino Elena Sierra | 🇪🇸 | (W Kieron Dyer | 🏴 |)
🔁 | W Nolberto Solano | 🇵🇪 | (CF Paul Robinson | 🏴 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Michael Oakes | 🏴 |
LB Najwan Ghrayib | 🇮🇱 |
M Paul Merson | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Lionel Perez | 🇫🇷 |
RB Laurent Charvet | 🇫🇷 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 10/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 14/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 6/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 8/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
Not recorded
UNAVAILABLE
Not Recorded
Player Abbreviations:
GK : Goalkeeper
LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back
CB, D : Centre Back, Defender
M, W : Midfielder. Winger
F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
DEBUT APPEARANCES
GK David James | 🏴 |
M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 |
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE
PROGRAMME

MATCHDAY QUOTES
"Villa snatched the points having been second best most of the game but the talking point surrounded referee Uriah Rennie, who booked seven players and controversially sent off Newcastle and England skipper Alan Shearer late in the second half."
*The Guardian*
Saturday, 7 August 1999
*Shearer sent off in 100th match*
Villa snatched the points having been second best most of the game but the talking point surrounded referee Uriah Rennie, who booked seven players and controversially sent off Newcastle and England skipper Alan Shearer late in the second half. It is the first time in his career that the England captain has been dismissed and this was his 100th appearance for Newcastle.
After losing the FA Cup final and finishing 13th in successive seasons, Newcastle fans were expecting their underachieving Magpies to raise the roof this season, but the club have taken them literally at their word: half the stadium - including the press box and the visitors’ end - will be exposed to the elements until January at the earliest as part of the £40 milion expansion of St James’ Park’s to a capacity of 51,900. The building work has not been at the expense of team building. Although manager Ruud Gullit has sold or released 12 professionals in the close season, raising £11 million - assuming Nicos Dabizas’ projected move to Leicester is completed next week - he has also brought in £17 million worth of new talent. Elena Marcelino, Alain Goma, Franck Dumas all started here, Kieron Dyer was on the bench after suffering a slight hamstring strain.
Despite six of yesterday’s starting eleven having been bought under Kevin Keegan or Kenny Dalglish, Gullit knows this is now his team. The pressure is also on Aston Villa boss John Gregory to match the progress made last season, although his close season spending is somewhat more modest than Gullit’s. He handed debuts to £4.5 million capture from Coventry George Boateng and ex-Liverpool goalkeeper David James.
Newcastle enjoyed the best of a scrappy first period, which somehow witnessed five yellow cards. Goma hit the bar with a header from Serrant’s cross in their most significant attack, though the approach play, especially from Nolberto Solano, was occasionally thrilling. Dyer was introduced at half time for Marcelino, and his presence immediately galvanised Newcastle. Ketsbaia drew two brilliant saves from James before Dyer himself shot over from the Georgian’s cut-back. But the failure to score allowed Villa back in the game.
But then controversy struck. Shearer and Colin Calderwood challenged for the ball. With the defender on the ground, referee Rennie, brandished a red card at Shearer, to the astonishment of even Villa players. With the boos still ringing around the ground, Mark Delaney found Joachim free in the box and his stooped header crept in.