A history of the best supported underachievers in world football

What is the real history of Newcastle United? Why has this frustrating football club always inspired such fierce devotion, and what do its fortunes tell us about the region of England that it has long represented in the national imagination? In Howay the Lads! Dan Jackson, best-selling author of The Northumbrians, North East England and its People, recounts the fascinating origins of NUFC amid the backstreets of Victorian Tyneside, how football in the North East came to be so popular as a pastime and a mass spectator sport, Newcastle United's rise to become the most brilliant football team in Edwardian England, and then its century long obsession with chasing Wembley glory. In this story we meet some of the most extraordinary icons who have built this institution, from the footballer and polymath, Colin Veitch, to local goal-scoring folk-heroes Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer - as well as the larger-than-life characters who have inhabited the St James' Park boardroom. Jackson explores the unique place of the club within the social and cultural life of North East England, its local and national rivalries, and the fan culture that for a long time made Newcastle United arguably the best supported underachievers in world football. Following its controversial Saudi take-over, and with the club now poised on the cusp of an optimistic future, Jackson brings the story up to date and considers what Newcastle United still means to its city and its supporters.

Praise for Jackson's The Northumbrians:
'Superbly researched and written with immense affection' Sunday Times
'Both an education and an entertainment' The Telegraph
'The most enjoyable book on a region of Britain that I have ever read' New Statesman
'A celebration of his land and ancestors... I heartily recommend it' Mail on Sunday

Dan Jackson is a founding member of the Northumbria WW1 Commemoration Project, which received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. Author of Popular Opposition to Irish Home Rule in Edwardian Britain, he has written for the New Statesman and appeared on the BBC's Making History and Who Do You Think You Are?.