2008–09 Newcastle United F.C. season
| 2008–09 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managing director(s) | Chris Mort Derek Llambias | |||
| Manager | Kevin Keegan (til 4 September) Chris Hughton (from 4 September & 7 February til 26 September & 1 April) Joe Kinnear (from 26 September til 7 February) Alan Shearer (from 1 April til 24 May) | |||
| Premier League | 18th (relegated) | |||
| FA Cup | Third round | |||
| League Cup | Third round | |||
| Top goalscorer | League: Michael Owen Obafemi Martins (8 each) All: Michael Owen (10) | |||
| Highest home attendance | 52,114 (vs. Liverpool and Fulham) | |||
| Lowest home attendance | 20,577 (vs Tottenham Hotspur) | |||
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The 2008–09 season was Newcastle United's 16th consecutive season in the top division of English football. This season saw the club relegated from the Premier League to the Championship, the first time the club had been relegated since 1989.
Things had looked reasonable for Newcastle at the start of the new season, but a major falling out between Kevin Keegan and the board saw Keegan resign as manager. This led to an awful run of form under caretaker manager Chris Hughton and the surprise appointment of Joe Kinnear was made to try to help the team out. A health scare saw Kinnear have to leave his office as manager in February. Under Hughton and Colin Calderwood, the club went on another horrible run of form as they were sucked deeper into the relegation battle. Ex-player Alan Shearer was appointed as a temporary manager for the last eight matches of the season but he was only able to win one of these games and Newcastle were relegated.