The season started with much promise but quickly deteriorated into a relegation battle. Manager Ossie Ardiles struggled to add to his squad of talented youngsters due to lack of funds, the truth being the club was severely in debt. At one point it had looked like Newcastle would be relegated and could go out of business.
Sir John Hall had all but taken control of the club, and replaced Ardiles with Kevin Keegan on 5 February 1992. An improvement in form helped Newcastle to narrowly avoid relegation from the Second Division, with their survival only confirmed on the last day of the season. They finished 20th, two places above the relegation zone – the lowest League finish in the club's history.
Season synopsis
Ossie Ardiles
In a season that saw a change of manager, the club had three different chairmen: Gordon McKeag stepped down under pressure from the Magpie Group consortium, to be replaced by board member George Forbes, before Sir John Hall, the head of the Magpie Group since the late 1980s, replaced Forbes
Kevin Keegan
Hall presided over a period of boardroom calm at the club, debts were restructured and the funds were made available for team strengthening. He chairman installed Kevin Keegan, a former Newcastle player, as the new manager on 5 February 1992, in place of Ardiles. In the last few weeks of the season Keegan led the team to safety and the possibility of relegation to the third division for the first time in the club's history.
Just as in the 1980s, Keegan's mere presence captivated the region.[citation needed]St James' Park was regularly packed to capacity again and United confirmed their Second Division survival with a 2–1 win at Leicester City on the last day of the season, after a last-minute own goal.[citation needed]
Even though the club had narrowly avoided relegation, the club's supporters were overjoyed with the choice of manager and the prospect of a bright new start.[citation needed]
