“TWENTY-ONE PLAYERS WERE TRANSFIXED AS HE DID HIS TRICKS, BUT WHERE DID IT GET US?”
It’s October 5, 1946, and the North East is adjusting to life in the aftermath of a conflict that has decimated the region. Strict rationing remains in place for the people of Newcastle, with bread being added to a list that already includes margarine, tea, cheese and bacon.
Neither has the supply of goals been overflowing at St James’ Park. Newcastle United have won three of their first eight games in the Second Division, scoring 10 fewer goals than Barnsley at the top. Times by the Tyne are hard and the city’s beloved team isn’t doing much to alleviate the pain. But things are about to change.
That afternoon, the Magpies would give debuts to two new signings: former pitman Charlie Wayman and an Arsenal youth team reject by the name of Len Shackleton, recruited from Bradford (Park Avenue) for a fee of £13,000. Newport County, visitors to St James’, had no idea what was about to hit them. Before long, Newcastle had triumphed 13-0 and Shackleton had bagged a double hat-trick.
His first goal, an outrageous chip over the head of the hapless Newport goalkeeper, best summed up the contribution newspaper, turned Newcastle’s display into “more of a show than a Second Division football match”. It was a prescient observation, too. With Shackleton, the show often overtook pretty much everything else.
