It was the day the legend of Supermac was born and a messiah’s refrain greeted the hat-trick hero on his home debut against Liverpool. And it was arguably the last time Malcolm Macdonald had the upper hand on Kevin Keegan until Supermac sprinted 100 metres in an Olympian 10.4 seconds on the BBC ’s Superstars series where Mighty Mouse fell off his bike. When Newcastle United and Liverpool meet again in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, the Toon will have to lay the ghosts of nine consecutive Wembley heartbreaks. But the Geordie nation will always remember the day, in August 1971, when the No.9 crown passed from ‘Wor’ Jackie Milburn - even if it left Supermac knocked spark-out, and he lost his four front teeth, in a collision with Liverpool keeper Ray Clemence. “I was on the treatment table and Frank Clark was at the end of the bed when I came round,” he said. "Before games, I was in the habit of having a 10-minute power nap on the physio’s table when everyone else was hyper and went the other way, so when I regained consciousness I said to Frank, ‘I’ve just had a weird dream that I scored a hat-trick.’ “He replied, ‘No, you really did score three’ - then the pain of losing all my front teeth kicked in and my face was on fire. But when the headaches cleared, the thing I remember most about that day was a chorus which swept around the ground after my second goal - a penalty conceded by Keegan. “Jesus Christ Superstar was a big hit musical in the West End at the time, and as we headed back to the halfway line it went viral around St James’ Park: ‘Supermac, superstar, how many goals have you scored so far?’ To this day, I wish I could have found the guy who started it and handed out the songsheet. “That hat-trick against Liverpool created a special relationship between me and the Geordie public and the love has been passed down through two or three generations. It’s wonderful.” Newcastle’s relationship with Wembley, on the other hand - unblemished until 1955, the last time they won a domestic trophy - has been more strained for the last half a century. Nobody has turned more excursions along Wembley Way into trips down Misery Lane than the Toon, going back to Bill Shankly’s last game as Liverpool’s man of the people at the 1974 FA Cup final. “We just didn’t turn up,” lamented Supermac, now 75 and awaiting hip replacement surgery. “At half-time it was 0-0 and I remember heading down the tunnel thinking, ‘At least we can’t play as badly as that in the second half. And I was right - we played even worse. Kevin (Keegan) had a field day, we lost 3-0 and we never laid a glove on them. “I remember seeing in the paper that a quarter of a million people turned out to salute Liverpool when they brought the Cup home - which is impressive, but when we returned to Tyneside by train, there must have been half a million on the streets. “There was an open-top bus for us, even though we didn’t have a trophy to show them. Our captain Bobby Moncur was so disheartened by our performance he opened the train window and threatened to chuck his losers’ medal in the Tyne. But it was much more painful when we went back to Wembley two years later for the League Cup final and lost 2-1 to Manchester City. “We outplayed them but, out of nowhere, Dennis Tueart produced this unbelievable overhead kick for the winner. What made it worse is that Dennis was a Newcastle fan, born and bred in the city. He swapped shirts after the final whistle and when he went to collect his medal, one of the Wembley commissaires tried to stop him saying, ‘It’s not your turn, lad.’ “There is a picture of me somewhere, on my haunches in abject despair after the final whistle. That day was my biggest disappointment in football because we deserved a kinder fate.” Next month is the 50th anniversary of Macdonald scoring all five for England in a 5-0 win against Cyprus. He would love it if Alexander Isak filled his boots as much at Wembley on Sunday, but fears left-back Lewis Hall’s injury and Anthony Gordon’s suspension for an “utterly stupid” red card against Brighton 12 days ago has undermined the Toon’s chances. “We talk about 70 years without a domestic trophy and 55 years since winning the Fairs Cup, but Newcastle had a fantastic opportunity to put all that to bed nearly 30 years ago,” said Macdonald. “Kevin Keegan’s team of entertainers was incredible to watch, but in 1996 they were 12 points clear in the title race and got reeled in by Manchester United. “When I look back, I find it amazing that Newcastle were able to lose such a big lead from pretty much the same situation that Liverpool are in now. Everyone says the title race is over, and it should be. “But in a one-off final, you never know.” How Arsenal move fell through Geordie folk hero Macdonald still chuckles about his big-money move from Newcastle to Arsenal nearly 50 years ago - and how it almost fell through over one-third of a penny. The England striker was the Gunners’ top scorer for two seasons until his career was cruelly ended by a serious knee injury and he was forced to retire aged 29. In the summer of 1976, Newcastle had accepted - and then had second thoughts about - bids of £275,000 and £300,000 when Supermac was invited to meet Arsenal manager Terry Neill at Gunners chairman Denis Hill-Wood’s home near Lord’s cricket ground to force through the move. Supermac said: “We were sitting in his back garden when his butler brought him a telephone on a tray, with an enormous extension lead. He called Newcastle owner Lord Westwood and told him, ‘Well, my Lord, exactly a third of a million pounds is our final offer - and you are not going to renege on this one.’ “A couple of days later, when the deal was all but done, I got a message to go and see Arsenal chief executive Ken Friar in his office at Highbury. Ken told me he had written a cheque for £333,333.33 to send to Newcastle, but the chairman had refused to sign it. “Mr Hill-Wood said, ‘I promised Newcastle exactly a third of a million pounds, which means £333,333.33 and one third of a penny - I’m not going to let those thieving b******s up there kick off over one third of a penny.’ “So Ken wrote another cheque for £333,333.34, rounding up to the nearest penny instead of rounding down, to make sure there could be no last-minute quarrels.” Nearly 40 years later, Arsenal were still paying attention to the smallest detail in transfer business when they tried to trigger Liverpool striker Luis Suarez’s £40 million release clause by lodging a bid of £40,000,001. Their audacity fell short - just as the Gunners are doomed to fall short in the title race for a third consecutive year. Macdonald said: “If I was playing for Arsenal now, they would win the title because I would shoot on sight instead of trying to pass teams to death. “I watched their game at Manchester United and it was just pass, pass, pass in a must-win game. If they had taken the goalposts and nets away, I don’t think they would have noticed.” Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.