Dan Burn and Jackie Milburn | OneFootball

In all that has been written about the 70 year Newcastle United domestic trophy drought, there is one thing that seems to have been overlooked, an interesting link between Dan Burn and Jackie Milburn (other than that they both hail from South East Northumberland).

Newcastle’s first goal in the 1955 FA cup final was scored by Jackie Milburn, also a header from the edge of the box direct from a corner.

This is my first football memory, witnessed in the packed front room of a Council House in Heworth.

My Aunt and Uncle had just purchased a TV, black and white of course, probably 17 inch (Then, and for many years to come, the ONLY live football on TV was the FA Cup final).

Surprisingly, Jackie Milburn was not renowned for his heading ability – a point I remember being made forcibly by one of those present, who added, with words that have stuck with me ever since, “I’m not saying he did not mean it.”

Subsequently, my uncle took me to Sunderland a few times, but I soon graduated to Newcastle United. Then, entry was by the half price “Boy’s Gate” at the Leazes End. A queue quickly developed, so you needed to get there very early, and once through the turnstile rush to obtain a spot at the front. There was a low concrete wall, but you stood below pitch level, so you got a good view of the players’ legs!

A year or two later we discovered that the man on the West Paddock turnstile would allow two boys to squeeze through together – thus achieving half price entry, and a better view of the match.

IMAGO/Colorsport

There was something of a trough in Newcastle’s fortunes after the three FA Cup final victories in the early 1950s, but at the end of the decade there was a brief second golden age, starting when Newcastle purchased Ivor Allchurch from Swansea in 1958. Another of those words that stick in your mind – the father of a schoolfriend saying sagely – when I conveyed to him my excitement at the news – “He’s an old man Christopher, an old man.” (Ivor Allchurch was 29).

It turned out though, that Ivor Allchurch was by no means over the hill. He Joined Len White, who took the corner for the cup final goal, but who, following Milburn’s retirement, had been moved from the right wing to become one of Newcastle’s best ever Centre Forwards. A classic attacking trio was completed by George Eastham.

Many who played in the 1955 cup final were still in the team – the captain Jimmy Scoular, famous for his long balls from right half to outside left where another of the 1955 scorers was still playing, Bobby Mitchell. Bob Stokoe, who subsequently found fame as Sunderland Manager, was still at Centre Half. And Newcastle had two marauding full backs – Dick Keith and Alf McMichael.

This golden age was sadly short-lived. Most of those mentioned above, left the club in the early 1960s. First to go was George Eastham, who went on strike at the end of the 1959/60 season to force the club to allow him to transfer to Arsenal, and which led to the famous “Restraint of Trade” Court Case which improved players freedom to move between clubs.