After the departure of Jackie Milburn leaving the club, Newcastle struggled in the first division during the 1960-61 season and finished it off poorly, in 21st position, in turn relegating the club. They reached the last eight of the FA cup however they lost 3-1 to Sheffield United.
The 1961-62 campaign was not a joyous period for Newcastle fans, any hopes of a quick return to the top flight were dashed as they got of to a woeful start, despite gradually improving the finished in 11th position.
The 1962-63 campaign got off to a fine start for Newcastle, in the top four for the majority of the season, however few unlucky results towards the climax of the campaign, condemned the Geordies to 7th place, missing out on promotion.
The 1963-64 season saw much of the same for Newcastle, their football was decent, however they could not find the end product, in turn the club could only finish in eighth place and were eliminated out of the cup competitions in the third round, losing to Bedford and Bournemouth respectively.
The 1964-65 season witnessed the domination of Newcastle United in the second division, they ran out run away winners, on 59 points and earned their place of a return to the first division.
The club suffered early cup exits, losing to Swansea City and Blackpool in the competitions.