The former manager discusses his divisive tenure at St James' Park, the players he found difficult to manage, and why he decided to move on
At some point last season, Alan Pardew hiked up his coat collar, pulled down his cap and headed for a few pre-match beers on Newcastle’s Quayside.
Not quite a man in disguise, Pardew preferred to keep a low profile on his first – and only – visit back to St James’ Park as a supporter of the club he managed for four rollercoaster years.
“I kept it quiet, to be honest. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it – I was there for a business reason but I just wanted to experience it from a different perspective,” he says, sounding every inch like a man who is being sincere when he says he only has “positive memories” of four polarising years at Newcastle.
“It was really nice, to be honest. I was in a box upstairs, we had a stroll around the city, a few beers. And Newcastle won as well – so it was good.”
We’re chatting because the return of Benfica to St James’ Park stirs memories of a sliding doors moment for Newcastle and Pardew more than a decade ago.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 25: A general view during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park on August 25, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
The Magpies bowed out of the Europa League after a 1-1 draw to Benfica in 2013 (Photo: Getty Images)
It was 2013 and the Portuguese champions were visitors in an epic Europa League quarter-final as Pardew’s Magpies came agonisingly close to overhauling a 3-1 first leg deficit in front of a febrile home crowd. They were so close to masterminding one of the great European nights for the club.
Having gone ahead on the evening through a Papiss Cisse goal, a very good Benfica team got into a slugfest with a Newcastle side carried by the crowd on the night.
Then there was a moment – “The moment,” Pardew says – when the mercurial Hatem Ben Arfa, on as a substitute, cut into the penalty box and fired into the crowd with a few minutes left. Had he scored – and everyone inside the stadium thought he would – Newcastle would have won the tie on away goals and joined Basel, Fenerbahce and a Chelsea side they’d already beaten in the league in the last four.
The reality was crushing. Newcastle conceded an injury-time equaliser, were dumped out and then lost 3-0 to Sunderland in a devastating derby defeat a few days later that set the club into a prolonged nosedive and cast the die for Pardew’s own exit a year later.
“A sliding doors moment? You’re probably right there,” he reflects.
“We were so close and we’d have fancied our chances of going on from there, to be honest. (Benfica) is one that sticks with me because I think we played some of our best football in my time in Europe that year. What happened next happened. There was a different agenda after that but I’ve got very fond memories of that year.”
Newcastle were a strange club back then. The Mike Ashley era is unlamented on Tyneside as a time when club and city became detached and the institution drifted. But in 2012, when the Europa League campaign began, the narrative had changed. Newcastle had a very good team and their manager had just finished fifth in a campaign that won him the manager of the year award. Pardew sets the scene.
“I think we were a bit naive about what a European campaign might look like and there was a lot of anxiety in the boardroom about it. They were nervous the squad wasn’t big enough,” he admits.
There was always a rumour that Ashley was angry that, having been persuaded to sign Cisse in January 2012 to push the club towards the Champions League, they then finished fifth and dropped into the Europa League. Was that true?
“He was a realist, to be honest,” Pardew says.
“The Champions League was very lucrative and would enable us to kick on but after forking out for bonuses and travel, there wasn’t much change in the Europa League.
“His motivation was that if you finished three places higher in the Premier League it was worth more than the Europa League unless you won it, which came with a Champions League place.”
And the Europa League was no joke back then. “I remember our first game in Madeira, we underestimated the opposition,” Pardew says.
“When we watched the videos and we sent out a scout the feedback was it was going to be quite a straightforward game and it was far from that. We built into the competition we got better and better but it did start to impact on our Premier League form.
“It was not unlike Ange (Postecoglu) last year with Spurs. Our focus seemed to be in Europe as the competition went on, we didn’t have the freshness to turn it round and keep competition in the team.
“It was almost like the squad were concentrating on Europe and the Premier League would be OK. I had to sort of say to them ‘No, it won’t be OK! We need to win some games.'”
The Benfica game sums up that team. They had the talent and ability but sometimes it was mentality that seemed to be lacking for certain players.
Ben Arfa was a perfect example: a cause celebre for the fans on account of his wonderful talent he nevertheless was difficult to manage and divisive in the dressing room.
BOLTON, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 26: Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew congratulates Hatem Ben Arfa during the Barclays Premier League match between Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United at the Reebok Stadium on December 26, 2011 in Bolton, England. (Photo by Ian Horrocks/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Pardew says Ben Arfa ‘had a bad upbringing’ (Photo: Getty)
I had a theory that if he’d scored against Benfica, that would have set him on a different path as a Newcastle player. “I think you’re being a bit of a romantic there,” Pardew says.
“The problem with Hatem, he had a bad upbringing. Officialdom was a real issue for him so you had to almost protect him in the dressing room as well because it was liable to surface in the dressing room.
“He would go off the handle if anyone was criticising him in any shape or form.
“A lot of players were not accepting of that. His background wasn’t common knowledge. Part of the group were reluctant with him with his defensive work and lack of team play in key moments mattered.”
After Benfica something changed. Newcastle stayed up that year but started the next season badly, resulting in a campaign to remove Pardew from some fans. He admits his links to the unpopular Ashley meant a “kicking” was always on the agenda if form dropped off.
“It was why I ended up moving on even though when I left we were ninth,” he says.
“We weren’t struggling, I thought the team was in a decent position but whatever we did that was going to be the scenario. So I thought it was easier – for the team and the club actually – if I left. Unfortunately it didn’t happen quite that way for the team or the club because there were mistakes made after that but that’s another story.”
Time has taken the edge off the period. Pardew says Newcastle fans are almost always very generous about his time at the club when he meets them now. He sincerely hopes they win on Tuesday.
“How often do you go into a game against a Jose Mourinho team as favourites?” he says.
“I think they are this time but it’ll be a great occasion and will stir memories of Sir Bobby’s time. Jose’s not on the Newcastle fans hitlist, is he? They like him up there so it’ll be a great occasion.”
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