Ruel FOX

While Ruel Fox was actually only a Newcastle player for eighteen months there will be many Geordie fans with happy memories of the diminutive winger's time on Tyneside. At his best he was exhilarating, combining great pace and trickery with a superb right foot. Fox joined Newcastle from Norwich midway through the 1993-94 season, shortly after a wonderful performance for the Canaries in United's 2-1 win at Carrow Road. At the time, the fee of £2.25 million made him Kevin Keegan's record signing, although this would only last a month before Darren Peacock arrived from Queens Park Rangers for half a million more. Fox's first two games for the club ended in defeat, but after that he played a full part in Newcastle's excellent late season form, as the club secured a return to European football in their first season back in the top flight.

By the end of the 1993-94 season Fox had played 14 games for Newcastle, with his first goal for the club coming in a 7-1 thrashing of Swindon Town in March. The 1994-95 season started in the same vein. Newcastle began in electric form, winning their first seven games, with Ruel playing a leading role and chipping in with some important goals, including the winner at Highbury as the Magpies beat Arsenal 3-2. Unfortunately the team's form declined after the sale of Andy Cole to Manchester United, and while Fox remained a virtual ever-present, Newcastle slumped to an eventual finish of sixth. Sadly, by the end of Ruel's spell at St James' he was increasingly playing out of position to accommodate the raw, young talent of Keith Gillespie on the right wing. At times in the second half of the 1994-95 season Cole's absence even saw Fox pushed up front, and at one point he hit four goals in five league games. At 5 foot 6 however, he lacked physical presence as a centre forward, and his Newcastle career tailed off without ever returning to the heights it had briefly reached. While many Newcastle fans were sorry to see him go, the £4.2 million Spurs paid in October 1995 seemed an excellent piece of business, particularly with Gillespie developing into one of the finest young wingers in the country. Ruel Fox ended his Newcastle career with a total of 70 appearances and 14 goals. He went on to play for West Bromwich Albion after five seasons with Spurs and, having never quite gained an England cap, had a brief late-career international cameo with Montserrat. (Martin Rowntree)