Entering a new decade often sparks a bout of nostalgia - top Ten lists become as unavoidable as a Simon Cowell Christmas number one and we all laugh at predictions, scientific advancements and political promises that were all made or pledged 10 years ago.

To keep in line with this seemingly mandatory musing, I thought I'd have a look at what Sunderland fans were watching, talking about and, and looking forward to at the end of 1999.

For starters, the seats at the Stadium of Light, all 42,000 of them, were adorned with this kit. Sponsored by Reg Vardy as SAFC moved away from Lambtons and made by Asics for the final time. The away kit from the previous season was kept, but the sponsor was updated.

The summer saw Peter Reid bring in experienced players such as Stefan Schwarz and possibly one of his best signings, Steve Bould. The former Arsenal defender was made club captain and became a rock for Sunderland until his retirement with injury in September 2000.

Other arrivals included the much maligned Kevin Kilbane, Eric Roy and John Oster. Not to mention Milton Nunez. Peter Reid's lack of skill in the transfer market was exposed.

It was a summer of departures as well as fans mourned the loss of Andy Melville, Michael Bridges, Kevin Ball and Allan Johnston. Lee Clark was bought by Fulham manager Paul Bracewell for £3millon after 'T-Shirt-Gate'.

Sunderland started slowly, as always, but their early season form was turned around on the 25 August with the famous 2-1 win in torrential rain at St. James' Park. Kieron Dyer put Newcastle 1-0 up in the 28th minute before Niall Quinn scored this equaliser in the 64th minute and Kevin Phillips bagged this winner in the 75th. Kevin Ball hit his own cross bar in frenetic encounter. The game will also be remembered for Ruud Gullit leaving Alan Shearer on the bench and subsequently losing his job.

Another memorable game was when Sunderland played Manchester United in the last game of the Millennium at the Stadium of Light. The game would end in a 2-2 draw with Gavin McCann putting The Lads 1-0 up after just two minutes and Niall Quinn making it 2-0 in the 13th minute. Roy Keane pulled one back in the first half, but United would leave it typically late to equalise with Nicky Butt making it 2-2 with four minutes to go.

Kevin Phillips would go on to score 30 goals in 36 appearances in the Premier League, becoming the first Englishman to win the European Golden Boot with Quinn bagging 14 for himself.

Thomas Sorensen, Chris Makin, Michael Gray, Paul Butler, and Quinn would also make 30 or more appearances as Reid found a settled core of a first team.

Sunderland would finish the season in 7th place, a remarkable achievement for a promoted side. With 16 wins, 10 draws and 12 defeats, only three of which were at home, Sunderland would wait until November 20th for their first home defeat against Liverpool and only Leeds and Bradford would go on to win at the Stadium of Light.

View the final 1999/2000 league table

The 99/00 season would be one of the most successful and enjoyable seasons in recent history. The potential of the club seemed to have been realised and they appeared to be on their way to European football before long.

Hundreds of people gathered in Ashington on Tuesday to welcome home the Second Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, from their tour of Afghanistan. The Duchess of Northumberland and Alan Shearer, in his official capacity as Deputy Lord Lieutenant, were in attendance for the parade through Ashington town centre.

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Union Jacks lined the streets and cheers filled the air as battle-hardened North East soldiers staged a traditional homecoming parade.

Hundreds looked on as servicemen from the Second Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers marched through the Northumberland towns of Morpeth and Ashington yesterday, following their return from Afghanistan.

And the two towns came alive with the sound of cheers and the beating of drums as locals turned out in force to welcome the regiment home.

What is with those oil rich nations in the Middle East? I mean anyone would think they believe they're at the centre of the earth. Oh hang on a minute, I guess geographically they are.

Actually, my rant isn't really directed at the dubious political regimes with the uber-rich oil sheikhs and burgeoning tourist industries.

It's with the England Football Association for signing up for an international friendly against Brazil just before the busiest spell of the domestic season in the seating heat of Qatar.

ALAN Shearer is not interested in becoming the new manager of Middlesbrough despite the apparent collapse of Barry Moat's Newcastle United takeover.

Shearer has been waiting all summer for Moat, who was the chairman of his testimonial committee, to complete a deal to buy Newcastle from Mike Ashley, but now believes that hope is a forlorn one.

The former Newcastle skipper has reluctantly turned his attention to other possible opportunities and, while he is not in the running to succeed Gareth Southgate on Teesside, who was sacked late on Tuesday night, he is looking for another management position while continuing to work as a pundit for the BBC.

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Football is all about timing and Newcastle United have predictably managed to get it all wrong. Chris Hughton is in line to become the club's permanent manager just as the first major cracks in his management structure begin to appear.

Whether a run of four games without a win will change Mike Ashley's mind about appointing Hughton on a full time basis remains to be seen. But I doubt it. That ship looks like it's sailed and Alan Shearer wasn't given a boarding pass.

It is too early for everyone to start rushing for the emergency exits, but you should probably at least have a quick look round to check where they all are because if Newcastle get into trouble they will crash quicker than a stock market which has just been told a meteorite is on a collision course with central London.

ALAN SHEARER has revealed he will not give up hope of reclaiming the managerial hotseat at Newcastle United.

However, just like the rest of the Tyneside public, Shearer - who brought the house down at a charity talk-in for Wallsend Boys Club last night in Dunston - has grown sick and tired of false dawns when it comes to takeover talk.

And the BBC Match of the Day pundit says he will simply get on with his life while waiting for the conclusion of the long drawn-out process of the sale of the Magpies.

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SUNDERLAND forward Darren Bent has been taking striking lessons from "Sir Alan" Shearer as he looks to continue his red-hot scoring run.

The pair met at a restaurant opening on Tuesday night and Newcastle's record goalscorer dished out advice to the Sunderland hit-man, currently at the top of the Premier League scoring charts with seven goals since his summer move to Wearside.

Bent blogged about the words of encouragement on his Twitter page and paid tribute to Shearer, who he referred to as 'Sir Alan' for his goalscoring exploits during a long and illustrious career.

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Soccer favourite Alan Shearer last night told of his pride as he landed a prestigious and centuries-old ceremonial role.

The former Newcastle United goal scoring hero has been made a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, after the appointment was approved by the Queen.

He was nominated for the role by the Duchess of Northumberland, who in May became the first-ever female Lord Lieutenant of England's most northerly county.

Soccer favourite Alan Shearer last night told of his pride as he landed a prestigious and centuries-old ceremonial role.

The former Newcastle United goal scoring hero has been made a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, after the appointment was approved by the Queen.

He was nominated for the role by the Duchess of Northumberland, who in May became the first-ever female Lord Lieutenant of England's most northerly county.

Soccer favourite Alan Shearer last night told of his pride as he landed a prestigious and centuries-old ceremonial role.

The former Newcastle United goal scoring hero has been made a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, after the appointment was approved by the Queen.

He was nominated for the role by the Duchess of Northumberland, who in May became the first-ever female Lord Lieutenant of England's most northerly county.

Soccer favourite Alan Shearer last night told of his pride as he landed a prestigious and centuries-old ceremonial role.

The former Newcastle United goal scoring hero has been made a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, after the appointment was approved by the Queen.

He was nominated for the role by the Duchess of Northumberland, who in May became the first-ever female Lord Lieutenant of England's most northerly county.

Well that was a complete waste of everybody's time and money at London Road wasn't it?

Unless of course you are a Peterborough fan that is after a performance they believed was so good they produced a DVD the morning after the night before.

The loyal 2,500 fans who made the journey to London Road probably deserve a refund from Mike Ashley after this one.

And not because some of the Toon kids suffered stage fright on a tough evening against one of Newcastle's Championship counterparts.

NICKY BUTT has reluctantly accepted there must be life after Alan Shearer at St James's Park - and praised the work of Chris Hughton and his staff.

Toon fans who wanted to see Big Al handed the job this summer have all but given up hope of seeing the legendary No 9 back in the dugout any time soon.

United owner Mike Ashley seems happy to let caretaker boss Chris Hughton keep hold of a much-passed-on black and white baton.

Butt, a close pal of Shearer from their England days, has called for stability on Tyneside throughout his United career - and it is no wonder after playing under the guidance of NINE different gaffers.

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ALAN Shearer has not ruled out the possibility of working for Mike Ashley again as Newcastle United manager despite the immense frustration he has felt this summer.

Although Shearer's close friend Rob Lee intimated this week that Shearer was fed up with waiting for the job to be offered to him after last season's eight-game stint, the former Magpies skipper remains keen to take on the challenge of guiding United back into the Premier League. And, while his relationship with Ashley and Newcastle's managing director Derek Llambias has been soured by the constant confusion and speculation surrounding the still unresolved takeover saga, there is a chance Shearer will return to St James's Park even if the club is not sold.

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If Mike Ashley eventually does turn to Alan Shearer to haul Newcastle United out of the brown stuff - Big Al would every right to reply with a big fat no given that it would be the ultimate insult.

In doing so, he'd probably be cutting his nose off to spite his face but Shearer's life has been turned upside down in the last six months and the comments from his close pal Rob Lee today merely underline that Ashley has never had any intention of bringing back the legendary number 9.

Many fans have suspected for months exactly what Lee is implying in his latest outburst.

I have to be honest. I didn't think Newcastle United had a prayer of mounting an early season promotion push with Chris Hughton as caretaker manager.

And, as I'm someone who has never particularly enjoyed being proven wrong, I can honestly say I've never been more pleasantly surprised by events at Newcastle.

I've never disliked the guy and have a huge amount of respect for the calm and calculated manner with which he has conducted himself while the rest of St James's Park has looked like a lunatic's asylum.

WITH time appearing to run out on Alan Shearer's ambitions of managing Newcastle United this season, Ryan Taylor has backed Chris Hughton to be the club's next permanent boss.

Shearer's best hopes of re-taking the job he held temporarily last season lie with his friend Barry Moat, the local businessman trying to buy United. But yesterday Moat was served with a very public ultimatum by current owner Mike Ashley.

Although no timescale was outlined in the statement, it is thought he has been given seven days to secure the bank support needed to complete a buy-out. If not, the club will be taken off the market.

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To give an idea as to how difficult it is to sort out the lies from the truth in football I'd like to point out that the club, via Sky Sports News, have finally confirmed they are in takeover talks with Barry Moat.

The ridiculous thing is, that although it may have been pitched as breaking news on the dedicated 24 hours sports channel on Tuesday this is a story, as regular readers of this blog will know, The Journal broke almost two weeks ago.

I'm not sure of the rules yet, but we are playing the takeover end game this week. Given everything that has happened this summer - or rather hasn't happened - it will probably amount to a club statement on the insipid official website proclaiming Mike Ashley has taken the club off the market.

This will be followed by a plea in the official programme for the Reading game from the "misunderstood" owner for unity and another chance to get things right at St James's Park. Yawn, yawn, wretch, wretch.

But there is a chance, and it may only be a slim one, that Newcastle United will finally have new owners in the next few days and Alan Shearer will be in the dugout by the time the Royals arrive next weekend. While that chance remains we must try to stay positive.