Beasant's spell on Tyneside was brief as the Magpies struggled and were finally relegated from the First Division in bottom place. Beasant had left in January 1989 to join Chelsea. He immediately became first choice keeper, replacing Roger Freestone. Between 1981 and 1990 (across most of his time with Wimbledon, the season at Newcastle and the start of his Chelsea spell) he made 394 consecutive league appearances, the second-highest sequence in English football history.Record breaker, John Sinnott, BBC Sport, 6 December 2005
