Newcastle and Boro relegated from Premier League

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-25 10:14

LONDON - One-time Newcastle great Alan Shearer failed to keep the club in the Premier League after it lost 1-0 to Aston Villa on Sunday and was relegated along with West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough.

Newcastle and Boro relegated from Premier League

Newcastle United's coach Alan Shearer reacts as he watches his team against Aston Villa during their English Premier League soccer match at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England May 24, 2009. [Agencies]

On a tense final day of the league campaign, Sunderland and Hull managed to stay up despite losing.

Hull lost 1-0 at home to newly crowned champion Manchester United, which rested most of its stars ahead of Wednesday's Champions League final against Barcelona, and Sunderland tumbled 3-2 at home to third-place Chelsea.

Middlesbrough needed a big victory at West Ham to stand any chance of survival, but lost 2-1 and finished tied on points with West Brom, which already was assured of being relegated despite a 0-0 draw at Blackburn.

West Brom and Middlesbrough finished with 32 points, Newcastle had 34, Hull 35 and Sunderland 36.

Newcastle has not won the league since 1927, but began the season with high hopes under Kevin Keegan. He quit after disputes with the owner, and Shearer, a local-born former England captain who scored a Premier League record 260 goals, took over for the last eight games, winning only one.

"I can't say we were unlucky in the season. We went down because we weren't good enough over 38 games," said Shearer, who scored 206 league and cup goals for Newcastle. "Big changes have to be made at the football club."

In Sunday's other games, Arsenal outplayed Stoke 4-1, Liverpool beat Tottenham 3-1, Everton won 2-0 at Fulham, Manchester City edged Bolton 1-0, and Wigan beat Portsmouth 1-0.