It was March 11th, 2016. Newcastle were languishing in the bottom three of the Premier League and Steve McClaren had finally been relieved of his duties after months of ineptitude at the helm.
Everyone knew the sacking came too late and that ultimately, the incompetency of the board and management was going to cost the frail Magpies sooner rather than later.
However, just when United fans thought their club was about to be buried into the ground without a fight or any desire, hope was restored in the shape of a man who had just been in charge of one of the biggest clubs in world football – Rafa Benitez.
The appointment of the Champions League winner represented a change in guard from Mike Ashley. He had loosened the shackles of this great football club once and for all.
Anytime the Spaniard spoke about Newcastle, fans couldn’t believe what they were hearing. This wasn’t a so-called ‘yes man’. It wasn’t a man who everyone thought was lucky to land the manager’s job.
This time, it was the other way around. Newcastle were the lucky party in this relationship.
As soon as he signed on the dotted line, Benitez thought of the fans. He said: “All of us must push together in the same direction and with the same target in mind. I need your total involvement.”
13 games later and the scars left from McClaren’s reign meant that one of England’s biggest football clubs had been demoted to the second division. Rafa couldn’t pull another miracle out of the hat.
When Newcastle’s fate was sealed, what hurt the fans most was the fact that they’d probably lose the man who had restored faith and pride in a club who had lacked these aspects for a decade.
On the day of their last Premier League game, Toon fans passionately sang the name of Rafa Benitez for the whole game. You could see the man was emotionally moved by the unconditional support he had received.
A few weeks later, the impossible happened. Benitez shocked the world of football by agreeing to stay with a club that had just been relegated to the second-tier of English football.
Articles from neutral journalists poured out, entitled “From The Bernabeu to Burton” and “From Real Madrid to the Championship”. Their intentions were wrong. This was “From Unloved to Loved”.
I have never seen a Newcastle fan utter a single bad word about Benitez. His decisions have had the total support from each and every fan. They trust him, which is something many managers would welcome at their clubs.
“The love I could feel from the fans was a big influence in my decision”, Benitez said when he committed his future to United. He went from being ridiculed at Real to being worshipped at Newcastle.
It’s been more nearly four months since McClaren was relieved of his duties, and it’s been two months since United were officially relegated.
If you had no clue about Newcastle’s relegation and felt the aura surrounding the club at the moment, you’d think they qualified for the Champions League or done a Leicester.
Rafa Benitez has completely transformed the relationship between the club and its fans – a tough feat after years of disenchantment in this troubled relationship.
Recently, the 55-year-old launched the Newcastle United Foundation 1892 Cup which saw 128 local kids compete in a football tournament. Would Steve McClaren or Alan Pardew have done something like that? No.
So much has changed since he came in to awaken the sleeping giant. There is a wonderful atmosphere surrounding Newcastle and season ticket sales have significantly increased, much to the surprise of the neutrals.
Rafa Benitez has made us fall in love with Newcastle United once again, and I don’t want to imagine where we would have ended up without his stewardship and willingness to accept a tough challenge.