The buccaneering centre-forward would leave the Magpies for Arsenal at the end of the 1975-76 season
00:15, 19 Apr 2026
The Newcastle United squad and new manager Gordon Lee at the start of the 1975-76 season(Image: Mirrorpix)
We step back 50 years to April 1976. The Tyneside weather, with temperatures rising to 21°C, was unusually warm for the time of year, hinting at the famous heatwave to come.
In the news, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson quit and was replaced by Jim Callaghan, while Carry On actor Sid James died on stage at Sunderland’s Empire Theatre.
At the cinema, audiences were flocking to Jaws, while on UK television Starsky and Hutch was showing for the first time. In the pop charts, ABBA were singing about Fernando, and Jarrow-born John Miles was riding high with Music.
Meanwhile, as the 1975-76 football season approached its close, Newcastle United could reflect on a mixed campaign. A second Wembley cup final in two years had been reached – albeit ending in narrow defeat – but a 15th‐place league finish suggested the Magpies were less than the sum of their parts, despite being spearheaded by freescoring England striker Malcolm Macdonald.
Malcolm Macdonald celebrates his FA Cup wonder goal against Bolton Wanderers in the 3-3 draw at Burnden Park, February 1976(Image: Mirrorpix)
It had been all change at the start of the season. After 13 years in the job, club legend Joe Harvey was gone, replaced by a virtual unknown from Blackburn Rovers called Gordon Lee.
If fans had hoped for a big name like Brian Clough or Bobby Robson, they instead got a dour 41‐year‐old Midlander who favoured pragmatism over stardust. The Evening Chronicle’s back‐page headline “Gordon Who?” – the words uttered by Supermac himself – did not augur well. Lee was the chalk to Macdonald’s cheese, and a clash of personalities seemed inevitable.
The league campaign began well, with a 3–0 win over Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town at Portman Road. Macdonald notched twice (in a season when he would score 24 goals), with talented Scottish midfielder Tommy Craig netting from the spot.
As the season wore on, there were reasons for optimism. Young full‐backs Irving Nattrass and Alan Kennedy, seamlessly replacing David Craig and Frank Clark, were becoming one of the most effective pairings in the top flight. And newly arrived striker Alan Gowling, signed from Huddersfield for a modest £70,000, proved unexpectedly prolific, scoring 31 times in all competitions.
League form, however, was inconsistent. There were notable wins over Derby County, Everton, Arsenal and Spurs – but costly defeats to Leeds, Wolves and Manchester United.
The high point of the season saw United step out at Wembley in late February to contest the League Cup final against Manchester City, but the Magpies, ravaged by flu, lost 2–1, with City’s Newcastle‐born winger Dennis Tueart scoring the winner with a spectacular overhead kick.
Newcastle United in action against Manchester City during the League Cup final at Wembley, February 1976(Image: Mirrorpix)
In the FA Cup fifth round, during a run of three games against Bolton Wanderers, Supermac notched a thunderbolt himself in a 3-3 draw at Burnden Park. After finally prevailing, United tumbled out in the quarter‐final, losing 4-2 at Derby County’s Baseball Ground.
Macdonald’s last act in black and white was to score twice in a fine 3-0 win at Spurs on the final day of the league season. As the sweltering summer of 1976 arrived amid rumours of a strained relationship between Lee and Supermac, the expected bad news came – 26-year-old Macdonald was sold to Arsenal for £333,333, leaving United fans heartbroken.
Years later, speaking to the Chronicle, Macdonald said of Lee: “I really went on a diplomatic bender. It didn’t make any difference whatsoever. He would play me out of position and have me doing all sorts of things. I knew there was no way I was going to last here.”
The five‐year love affair between Newcastle United fans and their idol was over, and Gordon Lee became the most unpopular man on Tyneside. Fifty years on, he is still not well remembered.
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