Will Shearer measure up to the Newcastle nines?

Jock Peddie

1897-1902

Goals 78 Appearances 136

Signed from: Third Lanark for pounds 135

One of the Scot's notoriously powerful shots ripped out the net pegs at St James' Park

Bill Appleyard

1903-08

Goals 87 Appearances 145

Signed from: Grimsby Town

A 14-stone former fisherman from Cleethorpes, "Cockles" Appleyard had a penchant for bundling the keeper as well as the ball into the opposition net

Albert Shepherd

1908-1914

Goals 94 Appearances132

Signed from: Bolton for pounds 800

Broody Lancastrian, once walked off the pitch and straight out of St James' after being barracked by home fans

Neil Harris

1920-25

Goals 103 Appearances 194

Signed from: Partick Thistle for pounds 3,300

The Glaswegian scored Newcastle's first Wembley goal, in a 2-0 FA Cup final win against Aston Villa in 1924

Hughie Gallacher

1925-1930

Goals 142 Appearances 174

Signed from: Queen Of The South for pounds 6,500

The 5ft 5in firebrand Scot guided Newcastle to their last championship success in 1927, was charged with being drunk and disorderly on the pitch during an end-of-season match in Budapest and brought a premature end to his turbulent life when he stepped in front of the York- Edinburgh express train in 1957

Albert Stubbins

1937-1946

Goals 237 Appearances 218

Signed from: Whitley and Monkseaton

Immortalised on the cover of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band because of the fame he found on the Mersey beat, Stubbins is nevertheless still a legend in his native Tyneside for his wartime goalscoring feats

Jackie Milburn

1943-1957

Goals 200 Appearances 395

Signed from: Ashington

The statue on Northumberland Street stands as testimony to the place "Wor Jackie" won in Geordie hearts as the hero of Newcastle's three triumphant FA Cup campaigns in the 1950s

Len White

1953-1962

Goals 153 Appearances 268

Signed from: Rotherham for pounds 12,500

Discounting Stubbins's wartime goals, only Milburn stands ahead of the former Doncaster miner in the pantheon of plundering Magpies

Wyn Davies

1966-71

Goals 53 Appearances 215

Signed from: Bolton for pounds 80,000

Built in the classic target-man mould, "Wyn the leap" was the towering totem of Newcastle's Fairs' Cup- winning side in 1969

Malcolm Macdonald

1971-76

Goals 121 Appearances 227

Signed from: Luton for pounds 180,000

The barnstorming "Supermac" was a Tyneside idol from the day he scored a hat-trick against Liverpool (which included a penalty conceded by one K Keegan) on his home debut

Mick Quinn

1989-93

Goals 63 Appearances 126

Signed from: Portsmouth for pounds 680,000

The burly Liverpudlian scored four goals on his debut at St James' and topped the league scoring charts in his first season but was sent to Coventry after criticising Kevin Keegan's managerial methods on the eve of a crucial Second Division

relegation clash

Andy Cole

1993-95

Goals 68 Appearances 84

Signed from: Bristol City for pounds 1.75m

Cole's strike rate is bettered only (in peacetime) by Gallacher, whose club record for one season he broke with a tally of 41 in the 1993-94 campaign

Les Ferdinand

1995-96

Goals 29 Appearances 44

Signed from: Queen's Park Rangers for pounds 6m

The former painter and decorator made an instant splash with 20 goals in his first 20 games but, after a disappointing 9 goals from his last 24, has agreed to pass on the No 9 mantle to his new strike partner