CHRIS HEWETT
THINKING ALLOWED

IT WAS a clear-cut case of “capitalism gone mad” as the loadsamoney class snapped up English club rugby in the spending frenzy of the mid-1990s, with search parties on the streets looking for missing marbles. “I’ve just bought a team for three million,” said one new owner to a rival investor, according to the joke doing the rounds at the time. “You fool,” came the reply. “You could easily have had one for twice as much.”
Newcastle were at the forefront of the gold rush, even though they were a Second Division outfit back then. They persuaded a player as high...