1987–88 Newport County A.F.C. season explained

Season:	1987–88
Manager:	John Lewis (until 7 September 1987) Brian Eastick (until 11 March 1988) David Williams (from 11 March 1988)
Chairman:	Archie Menzies (until February 1988) Jerry Sherman
League Result:	24th (relegated)
Cup1 Result:	1st round
Cup2 Result:	2nd round
Cup3 Result:	Southern section 1st round
Cup4 Result:	3rd round
League Topscorer:	Taylor (4)
Season Topscorer:	Taylor (5)
Highest Attendance:	4,022 vs Cardiff City (21 November 1987)
Lowest Attendance:	988 vs Peterborough United (9 April 1988)
Average Attendance:	1,759
Nextseason:	1988–89
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The 1987–88 season was the 60th season played by Newport County in the Football League and the first season played back in the Fourth Division since relegation from the Third Division at the end of the 1986–87 season. The club suffered a second successive relegation and were only the second team to be automatically relegated to the Football Conference.

Newport's first Division Four campaign in seven years rapidly turned into an absolute nightmare, against the backdrop of an increasingly desperate financial situation. John Lewis was sacked with the season barely a month old after a return of just one point from County's first five games, and Brian Eastick was called in to take over. Eastick won his first match in charge, but took a month to get another win. Victories over Welsh rivals Swansea City and Wrexham proved to be the sole highlight of this campaign, but were followed by a three-month run without victory, the third successive season Newport suffered such an indignity. January 1988 saw a minor improvement in form, but the already poor campaign totally fell apart afterwards, and Newport earned no wins and just three points in the next four months. Eastick was sacked during this dreadful run, and coach David Williams took charge for the remainder of the season in a fruitless attempt to avoid relegation.

Season review

Results by round

Fixtures and results

Fourth Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
15 Aug 1987	Hartlepool United	A	0–0		1,926
22 Aug 1987	Burnley	H	0–1		2,006
29 Aug 1987	Exeter City	A	0–3		2,628
31 Aug 1987	Stockport County	H	1–2	Giles	1,626
5 Sep 1987	Halifax Town	A	1–3	Collins	1,095
12 Sep 1987	Torquay United	H	3–1	Sherlock, Evans, Withers	1,368
16 Sep 1987	Scarborough	A	1–3	Evans	2,345
19 Sep 1987	Scunthorpe United	A	1–3	Tupling	2,004
27 Sep 1987	Hereford United	H	0–0		1,480
29 Sep 1987	Leyton Orient	A	1–4	Hodson	3,761
3 Oct 1987	Colchester United	H	1–2	Thomson	1,200
10 Oct 1987	Cambridge United	A	0–4		1,874
17 Oct 1987	Swansea City	A	2–1	Taylor 2	3,739
21 Oct 1987	Peterborough United	A	0–3		3,163
24 Oct 1987	Wrexham	H	2–0	Thackerey, Preece	1,470
31 Oct 1987	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–2	Miller	6,467
3 Nov 1987	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–1		1,566
7 Nov 1987	Carlisle United	A	1–3	Preece	1,766
21 Nov 1987	Cardiff City	H	1–2	Miller	4,022
27 Nov 1987	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–4		3,252
19 Dec 1987	Rochdale	A	0–3		1,494
26 Dec 1987	Hereford United	A	2–4	Williams, Downes	3,203
28 Dec 1987	Crewe Alexandra	H	1–2	Downes	1,918
1 Jan 1988	Exeter City	H	1–1	Gibbins	1,691
9 Jan 1988	Burnley	A	0–2		5,305
12 Jan 1988	Darlington	H	2–1	Clement, Brook	1,402
16 Jan 1988	Scunthorpe United	H	1–1	Sherlock	1,760
29 Jan 1988	Stockport County	A	1–5	Jones	2,509
5 Feb 1988	Halifax Town	H	1–0	Mann	1,509
13 Feb 1988	Crewe Alexandra	A	1–2	Bodin	2,080
19 Feb 1988	Hartlepool United	H	2–3	Williams 2	1,880
26 Feb 1988	Colchester United	A	0–0		1,784
1 Mar 1988	Leyton Orient	H	0–0		1,656
5 Mar 1988	Swansea City	H	1–2	Brook	2,235
12 Mar 1988	Cambridge United	H	0–0		1,208
26 Mar 1988	Wrexham	A	1–4	Millett	1,627
2 Apr 1988	Carlisle United	H	1–2	Taylor	1,376
4 Apr 1988	Cardiff City	A	0–4		6,536
9 Apr 1988	Peterborough United	H	0–4		988
12 Apr 1988	Scarborough	H	0–4		1,025
19 Apr 1988	Torquay United	A	1–6	Hamer	3,416
23 Apr 1988	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–6		4,357
26 Apr 1988	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–3	Tupling	3,409
30 Apr 1988	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–3		1,110
2 May 1988	Darlington	A	2–0	Thompson, Taylor	1,675
7 May 1988	Rochdale	H	0–1		2,560

FA Cup

See main article: 1987–88 FA Cup.

Football League Cup

See main article: 1987–88 Football League Cup.

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Aggregate
1–1	18 Aug 1987	Cardiff City	A	2–1	Evans 2	3,383
1–2	25 Aug 1987	Cardiff City	A	2–2	Taylor, Tupling	3,550	4–3
2–1	22 Sep 1987	Crystal Palace	A	0–4		6,085
2–2	6 Oct 1987	Crystal Palace	H	0–2		1,303	0–6

Football League Trophy

See main article: 1987–88 Football League Trophy.

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
Grp S6	13 Oct 1987	Port Vale	H	2–0	P.Giles, Gibbins	569
Grp S6	24 Nov 1987	Exeter City	A	1–0	Thackeray	1,006
S1	19 Jan 1988	Hereford United	H	2–3	Tupling, Mann	1,232

Welsh Cup

League table

width=20	Pos!	width=220	Team!	width=20	Pld!	width=20	W!	width=20	D!	width=20	L!	width=20	F!	width=20	A!	width=20	GD!	width=20	Pts!	Notes
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	27	9	10	82	43	+39	90	Champions, promoted
2		46	24	13	9	66	41	+25	85	Promoted
3	Bolton Wanderers	46	22	12	12	66	42	+24	78	Promoted
4	Scunthorpe United	46	20	17	9	76	51	+25	77	Play-offs
5	Torquay United	46	21	14	11	66	41	+25	77	Play-offs
6	Swansea City	46	20	10	16	62	56	+6	70	Play-off winners, promoted
7	Peterborough United	46	20	10	16	52	53	−1	70
8	Leyton Orient	46	19	12	15	85	63	+22	69
9	Colchester United	46	19	10	17	47	51	−4	67
10	Burnley	46	20	7	19	57	62	−5	67
11	Wrexham	46	20	6	20	69	58	+11	66
12	Scarborough	46	17	14	15	56	48	+8	65
13	Darlington	46	18	11	17	71	69	+2	65
14	Tranmere Rovers	46	19	9	18	61	53	+8	64
15	Cambridge United	46	16	13	17	50	52	−2	61
16	Hartlepool United	46	15	14	17	50	57	−7	59
17	Crewe Alexandra	46	13	19	14	57	53	+4	58
18	Halifax Town	46	14	14	18	54	59	−5	55
19	Hereford United	46	14	12	20	41	59	−18	54
20	Stockport County	46	12	15	19	44	58	−14	51
21	Rochdale	46	11	15	20	47	76	−29	48
22	Exeter City	46	11	13	22	53	68	−15	46
23	Carlisle United	46	12	8	26	57	86	−29	44
24	Newport County	46	6	7	33	35	105	−70	25	Relegated

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

width=50	Key!	width=280
	Division Champions
	Promoted
	Welsh Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
	Into play-offs
	Relegated to Conference