The driving force in the modern game is the vast sums of money swirling around at the top clubs, yet there are still some football traditions cherished by players and fans alike. For Newcastle United fans, echoes of the past are encapsulated in their celebrated No.9 shirt.  Malcolm MacDonald, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer have all worn that particular black and white jersey with pride in recent years, but the primary reason for its great significance is the figure that inspired successive F.A. Cup wins for the men from St James' Park in the early 1950s. The great Jackie Milburn has few peers in the football folklore of the North East.

 A tall, strapping Tynesider who was as fast as any striker of his time, his crowning glory was to arrive in the 1951 F.A. Cup Final against Blackpool. Newcastle had not appeared at Wembley in nearly 20 years, so Milburn carried the weight of expectation for a new generation of Geordies whose lives revolved around what he did on the football pitch from week to week. He did not disappoint his worshippers on the biggest day of them all.

 Milburn constantly fell victim to Blackpool's off‑side trap which was working to great effect. Ironically, it was Matthews who presented the great man with his first as his wayward pass handed 'Wor Jackie' ‑‑ as he was known ‑‑ his chance to put the Magpies ahead. He did not disappoint as he drew goalkeeper George Farm and fired low into the net.

Blackpool knew they were to be denied in their second Cup Final in four years when he smashed a second moments later that was hailed as a 'Wonder Goal by Milburn' in the newspapers the following morning. Milburn later described his thunderbolt 25yard shot that flew into the roof of the net as a fluke, but a bemused Stan Mortensen had to accept its quality. 'Well played, Jackie," he is thought to have said as he wandered back to the half‑way line. "That goal deserves to win any game."

Charlie Crowe was a member of that winning Newcastle side and he recalls their triumph with great affection. "The Football Association Challenge Cup was the attraction, you see.

 The League was mundane, your bread‑and‑butter stuff. There was no real incentive for us in the League, there was no European Cup; the glamour was at Wembley and so were the bonuses! Mind you, in 195 1, the bandsmen of the Coldstream Guards got more money for playing at the Cup Final than we did.

1 don't know about us being a Cup team but in the fifties Newcastle had a lot of Cup players who raised their game for the one‑off occasions. In 1951 we should have been the club that did the Double. Before the Final we played about 14 matches and never won one and finished about fourth in the League."

 Like the proverbial London bus, Newcastle's long wait for a Wembley visit was followed by a return trip a year later, when they overcame Arsenal in the Cup Final. This time, Milburn's room‑mate was to be the hero of the hour as George Robledo headed the goal that captured the trophy once again. With that Newcastle became the first club this century to successfully defend the F.A. Cup.

 Despite his lesser role at Wembley in 1952, Milburn remained the darling of the Gallowgate End and memories of the great man bum brightly amongst St James' more experienced regulars to this day. He collected his third winners' medal as Newcastle lifted the Cup once again in 1955.