Newcastle vs Liverpool: 7 Stars Who Played for Both Iconic Clubs

Hostile homecoming awaits Isak

Liverpool will travel to St James’ Park on Sunday for their Premier League opener against the Magpies, a fixture that has provided plenty of entertainment over the years.

Last season, the Reds won 3-2, with 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha scoring the 100th-minute winner against a defiant Newcastle.

Just six days later, Alexander Isak completed a £125 million move to Liverpool, a British record deal, in what was a protracted transfer saga.

Isak will face the Tyneside outfit in a Liverpool shirt for the first time, and he is likely to face a hostile welcome from the Toon Army.

7. John Barnes

The all-time Liverpool great enjoyed a decade at Anfield, clinching three FA Cup trophies and two league titles under the previous First Division format.

In August 1997, a 34-year-old John Barnes left Liverpool on a free transfer and decided to join Newcastle, reuniting with former teammate and manager Kenny Dalglish.

The left winger was tasked with deputising for the injured Alan Shearer, resulting in only six league goals for the Magpies, yet he emerged as their leading goalscorer for the season.

Following the dismissal of Dalglish, Barnes was dropped from the first team by new manager Ruud Gullit, and departed the club in February 1999.

6. Jonjo Shelvey

Jonjo Shelvey endured a rather uninspiring three years at Liverpool, making only 47 appearances and scoring twice.

After his departure in 2013, he spent over two years with Swansea before Newcastle signed Shelvey in January 2016, where he went on to make 186 appearances.

The midfielder was Newcastle’s top scorer during the 2019-20 season, but experienced fitness struggles two years later, during Eddie Howe’s first full season as manager, resulting in a transfer to Nottingham Forest in January 2023.

5. Kevin Keegan

The late Kevin Keegan sadly passed away last month, aged 75 and will be honoured with a tribute by both clubs on Sunday.

Keegan was part of the Liverpool side that won their first European Cup in 1977, completing seven major honours, with 68 goals in 230 appearances before joining Hamburg that summer.

The two-time Ballon d’Or winner joined Newcastle in 1982, where he was hugely popular among the Toon faithful, scoring 48 goals in just 78 appearances during his two years on Tyneside.

The Englishman went on to manage the Magpies in 1992, gaining promotion to the Premier League just a year later, where he would break the world record transfer fee to sign Alan Shearer in 1996.

4. Craig Bellamy

Bellamy joined Newcastle in the summer of 2001, where he formed a formidable partnership with Shearer, scoring 41 goals between them during his first season.

The Welshman saw out the final months of Sir Bobby Robson’s tenure at Newcastle, and had a strained relationship with new manager Graeme Souness.

Bellamy left the Tyneside outfit for Blackburn in 2005, before joining Liverpool a year later, where the controversy that seemingly followed him throughout his entire career made his Anfield stay a short one.

Following spells at West Ham, Manchester City and Cardiff City, Bellamy returned to Liverpool in 2011, where he won the League Cup and finished as a runner-up in the FA Cup final.

3. Georginio Wijnaldum

Wijnaldum became Newcastle’s most expensive signing under Mike Ashley’s ownership when he joined in 2015 for a reported transfer fee of £14.5 million.

The Dutch midfielder became only the second Newcastle player to score four goals in a 6-2 win over Norwich City, and he scored against Liverpool in a 2-0 win at St James’ Park.

However, his brilliant campaign was not enough to keep the Magpies in the Premier League, who were relegated in 2016, after which Wijnaldum switched Tyneside for Merseyside.

His standout performance for the Reds came against Barcelona in 2019, where he bagged a brace in the Champions League semi-final, before going on to win the competition, and the Premier League a year later.

2. Andy Carroll

At 6ft 4in, Carroll boasted an imposing physical presence, as the striker spent just under five years at Newcastle, where he was awarded the no. 9 shirt in his final season.

In January 2011, Carroll was tasked with replacing the synonymous Fernando Torres at Liverpool, who had left for Chelsea, as a reported £35 million bid was accepted by Newcastle.

However, due to an injury sustained while playing for the Magpies, Carroll did not make his Liverpool debut until March, in a 3-1 win against Manchester United.

The Englishman scored in both the semi-final and final of the FA Cup as the Reds lost out to Chelsea, while he also won the League Cup, before joining West Ham United in the summer.

1. Michael Owen

Perhaps the only thing greater than Michael Owen’s footballing ability were the controversies he was embroiled in during his playing career.

Aged 17, he scored on his Liverpool debut in May 1997, and went on to win the Premier League Golden Boot a year later with 18 goals.

Following Liverpool's treble of the FA Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001, Owen was awarded the Ballon d’Or.

118 goals in 216 Liverpool appearances earned him a transfer to Real Madrid in 2004, but his stay with Los Blancos was short-lived as Owen joined Newcastle in August 2005.

The striker’s Newcastle career was plagued with injuries, damaging his ACL during England’s 2006 World Cup campaign, keeping him out of action for over a year.

He eventually departed the Magpies in July 2009, making the widely controversial move to Manchester United, the arch rivals of his former club Liverpool.

This effectively severed all ties with the Anfield faithful, while Newcastle fans will feel that their club record transfer did not live up to the billing in the slightest during his spell on Tyneside.

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