The move to pluck Souness from Ewood Park was a surprise to many supporters and the former Liverpool-man was tasked with dragging Newcastle from the relegation zone after a poor start to the season.
In his first campaign, Souness steered Newcastle to a UEFA Cup Quarter-Final and an FA Cup semi-final.
However, in his second, and final season, United struggled with injuries as some players also complained about a low dressing-room morale.
Souness left Newcastle lying in 15th position, one lower than the 14th they finished the season before.
His final game in charge was a 3-0 humbling at Manchester City - former Magpie-favourite Andy Cole grabbed the second-goal.
17 years on from his appointment, we look at who played for Newcastle United on that cold evening in Manchester and see where they are now.
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. MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 01: Graeme Souness of Newcastle United looks dejected after the Barclays Premiership match between Manchester City and Newcastle United at the City Of Manchester Stadium on February 1, 2006, in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Graeme Souness during his last game in charge of Newcastle United against Manchester City (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) Photo: Clive Mason
. Shay Given
Newcastle’s goalkeeper that day was unsurprisingly Shay Given. Given played 463 games for United in all competitions before also making appearances for Manchester City, Aston Villa and Stoke City. He is now Assistant Manager at Derby County with Wayne Rooney. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) Photo: Clive Mason
5. Celestine Babayaro
After starring for Nigeria at the 1996 Olympic Games, Babayaro joined Chelsea where he stayed for eight seasons. After a largely forgettable three years on Tyneside, Babayaro moved to LA Galaxy in the MLS. After retiring, it was reported that Babayaro had been made ‘bankrupt’, however, he denied these accusations. (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images) Photo: ODD ANDERSEN
6. Lee Clark
This was Clark’s second-spell at St James’s Park and the midfielder retired at the end of the 2005/06 campaign. Following retirement, he took up a number of managerial roles, including a very successful spell whilst in charge of Huddersfield Town. However, following this, Clark was unable to repeat these successes and most recently had been in charge of Al-Merrikh in Sudan. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) Photo: Laurence Griffiths
7. Emre Belozoglu
The Turkish midfielder came to Tyneside from Inter Milan with a huge pedigree. However, he left after just three seasons, with just a free-kick against Sunderland a memorable highlight. Emre was playing football right up until last summer where he retired from the game. Emre had been accused of racism by Dider Zokora in a match in 2012. Despite denying these claims, he was handed a two and a half month suspended prison sentence. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) Photo: Clive Mason
8. Charles N’Zogbia
After leaving Newcastle United, the Frenchman played for Wigan Athletic before moving to Villa Park. N’Zogbia was due to move to Nantes in France in summer 2016 but a reported heart problem discovered in the medical stopped the transfer - he retired aged just 30 in summer 2016. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) Photo: Matthew Lewis