NEW signing Malcolm Macdonald had yet to make his mark in a black and white shirt when he lined up for his home debut in front of 39,720 fans at St James' Park.

Macdonald was a prolific scorer for Second Division Luton when Joe Harvey swooped to sign him as part of a reorganisation of the United side that had failed to build on their 1969 Fairs Cup success.

Along with Macdonald, Terry Hibbitt was signed at the start of the 1971/72 season and although Hibbitt had already looked the part, Supermac was still finding his feet.

He had yet to open his account and was described prior to the game as 'naturally anxious to show why Joe Harvey paid £180,000 for him'.

With a return of no goals from the opening two games, it was 3pm on August 21 when Newcastle United's season ignited against unbeaten Liverpool and the legend of Supermac was born on Tyneside.

Liverpool themselves had a newcomer by the name of Kevin Keegan drawing rave reviews, but the day belonged to Supermac, whose hat-trick inspired the Magpies to a 3-2 win.

The Newcastle fans had been searching for a new idol with the departure of Wyn Davies, and by 4.40pm they had found one.

Joe Harvey missed the game due to a scouting trip to Scotland, and Macdonald himself had little memory of his second and third goals following an 85th minute collision with Ray Clemence

Liverpool started brightly and were awarded an early penalty after Keegan was brought down. But Willie McFaul was equal to Tommy Smith's effort.

Emlyn Hughes, however, put the Merseysiders 1-0 up before Macdonald made his mark on the game.

After 24 minutes he smashed home a penalty then just before half-time a trademark left-foot drive put Newcastle 2-1 up.

He completed his hat-trick after 67 minutes, steering the ball just inside the upright after a good move between Hibbit and John Tudor opened up the defence.

A super game still had time for Keegan to bring the visitors within striking distance but Newcastle hung on for a deserved victory.

Inevitably, Macdonald continued to score goals for Newcastle and then in international football.

During the space of five special weeks in the Spring of 1975, the fast and powerful striker had his finest moments in an England shirt.

Firstly, he scored one of the goals that helped his country to an excellent 2-0 Wembley win over reigning World Cup holders, West Germany. Then, in a home European Championship qualifier against Cyprus, Macdonald wrote his name into footballing history, equalling the England individual scoring record by notching all five goals in a 5-0 triumph.

He scored a total of 95 goals in 187 appearances for Newcastle before heading back down south to Arsenal in August 1976.