Sun 30 Mar 08
Tottenham 1
Newcastle 4
Goal

Sat 26 Jan 08
Arsenal 3
Newcastle 0
Goal

Sun 06 Jan 08
Stoke 0
Newcastle 0
Missed Chance

Birthplace: Manchester
Date Signed: July 29, 2004
NUFC Debut: August 14, 2004 v Middlesbrough (a)

Honours
Premier League 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2001/02, 2002/03; FA Cup Winner 1996, 2004; Champions League Winner 1999.

International Career
39 England caps
International Debut
March 29, 1997 v Mexico

Nicky, a gritty, tigerish, but skillful ball winning midfielder who blends some tough tackling with good distribution, joined Newcastle from Manchester United on 28 July 2004. After one season on Tyneside, he spent the 2005/06 campaign at Birmingham City.

Nicky was born in Manchester on 21 January 1975 and after playing for Oldham and Greater Manchester Schoolboys, he signed for Manchester United as a trainee in July 1991, turning professional in January 1993.He was a part of the successful Youth Cup winning side in 1992, scoring twice in the first leg of the Final against Crystal Palace - a year later he was a finalist once again, but this time on the losing side.

His first team debut at Old Trafford came on 21 November 1992, against Oldham, as a substitute for Paul Ince and apart from Ryan Giggs, Butt was the first of Fergie's Fledglings to break into the first team.

By the end of the 1994/95 season he had earned himself a place in the starting line up for the FA Cup Final, only to finish on the losing side. Twelve months later Butt was to collect a winners' medal in the 1996 Final, completing a League and Cup double for himself and Manchester United. Later that year he scored against the Magpies in the Charity Shield at Wembley.

During the early part of the 1998/99 season Butt's progress was hampered by two consecutive sendings-off against Barcelona and Arsenal. The subsequent suspensions forced him to miss important games and he ended up virtually sharing the role of midfield partner to Roy Keane with Paul Scholes, depending on the requirements of particular matches.

The suspension of both Keane and Scholes from the Champions League Final in Barcelona guaranteed Butt a place in the starting line-up and again he played an important - if unsung - role in their dramatic victory. Butt has represented England at schoolboy, youth, Under-21 and full international level.

He was also a member of the England Under-18 squad that lifted the European Championship in July 1993. Butt added to his medal collection in 1999/2000, claiming a fourth Premiership winners medal.

His tenacious playing style and valuable contribution to the Reds did not go unnoticed by the international selectors and he was recalled to the England squad in 2000/01 after an absence of nineteen months.

Domestically, Butt won his fifth championship medal in 2000/01 after his good form forced the manager, at one stage, to play all three midfielders in the same side. Nicky was called up to the England squad for the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea and after an injury to Steven Gerrard, Butt became an integral part of Sven Goran Eriksson's team, to the extent where the Swede described Butt as his most important player - controlling the pace of the game against Argentina and Denmark.

There was also praise from Brazil legend Pele, who called Nicky "the best player at the tournament." Although knocked out at the quarter-final stage, Butt returned to Manchester a man reborn. Sadly he picked up an ankle injury whilst on international duty in Macedonia, and was forced to sit out the best part of four months in the 2002/03 season.

He fought his way back to fitness in time to anchor the midfield during the vital closing months of the season when the Reds came back from an eight-point deficit to win their eighth Premiership title. His ankle still wasn't right, though, and an operation on the troublesome ankle kept him out of England's games during the summer of 2003.

Without being a regular for Manchester United in 2004, he made the England squad for Euro 2004 but a knee injury picked up whilst training in Portugal meant he was unable to add to his 35 England caps.

Nicky has played 67 Champions League matches in his career, scoring twice, and in 2004/05 tasted the UEFA Cup for the first time in a season where in jury kept him out of the Newcastle side more often that he would have liked.

Captained United in the 3 - 1 UEFA Cup victory at Zulte Waregem on 15 February 2007 and was for many people, United's Player of the Season in 2006/07 after winning over many supporters who had doubted his ability to succeed on Tyneside following his loan-spell at Birmingham.