Just when the Geordies' anger towards Mike Ashley and his cronies was starting to wane.
Just when their hand-picked manager Alan Pardew was taking the club to an 11-game unbeaten run.
Just when the club hit the unimagined heights of third place, and the fans were starting to dream again.
Newcastle's owners have gone and renamed St James' Park the Sports Direct Arena, after Ashley's tracksuit company, with a view to selling naming rights to an external party.
Either it was the best possible timing, cushioning the blow with a stratospherically high league position, or it has wrecked any chance of reconciliation between the board and the supporters.
The move will "end 120 years of history", says the Daily Mirror's Simon Bird (yes, he's the one Joe Kinnear called a ****).
Rent-a-Newcastle-fan Steve Harmison reckons it is "an insult". But is it?
First things first: the club aren't moving. They will still play on the same patch of grass they have done for a century, and Early Doors has no doubt fans will continue to call it St James' Park.
The stadium has already been renamed once - in 2009 it became sportsdirect.com@St James' Park, making Newcastle the first club to play their home games at an email address.
Of course, everyone ignored the new handle because it was stupid, which is why Ashley has failed to flog half-baked naming rights to anyone else.
Ashley lapdog Derek Llambias said: "We must make this club financially self-sufficient in order to deliver success.
"To grow sustainably and allow us to invest in our future, we will need to rely increasingly heavily on commercial income.
"These are very difficult economic times and the board have a responsibility to maximise all revenue streams for the benefit of the club."
And you have to say he's got a point. Newcastle are still in debt - though this has been reduced - and clubs outside the Champions League need every financial boost they can get.
It is hard for fans to cry out for investment in the transfer market, while simultaneously opposing the club's attempts to bring in as much cash as possible.
Romantic it isn't - reality it is.
The thing is, they haven't got the money yet. As Llambias said: "Sports Direct Arena helps us to showcase the opportunity to interested parties."
At the moment, it's just a big advert for Ashley's trainers.
If Newcastle do manage to sell naming rights, they will be the seventh Premier League club to do so - the others are Manchester City, Arsenal, Swansea, Stoke, Bolton and Wigan.
What makes this one jarring is that existing stadia are rarely renamed - rights are generally sold when a new ground is built.
And as such, we get so used to using the sponsors' name we forget it is even there. Do you think of a bank when you mention the Britannia Stadium? Or an airline when you talk about The Emirates? And hands up if you have any idea what the Liberty Stadium advertises. Ladies knitwear? Perhaps.
While that might be a concern for the companies who have shelled out millions on naming rights, it makes the commercialism that bit more bearable.
The exception on that list is Manchester City, who shifted seamlessly to the Etihad Stadium this summer - this was hardly an issue given that everyone was pleased to do away with the cumbersome City of Manchester Stadium, which is less than a decade old anyway. And it's not as if City fans are going to complain about selling out to Abu Dhabi.
Ultimately, Newcastle's decision reflects the fact that - unless you're bankrolled by some freewheeling sugar daddy - it is increasingly difficult to balance the books in football.
And in a sport where where owners frequently jeopardise their club's future by spending recklessly, you can hardly blame Newcastle's owners for trying to live within their means.
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HEADLINE OF THE DAY: 'IT'S STILL A DISGRACE'
After FIFA and the FA's compromise deal on poppies, The Sun pleads with Britain not to lose its sense of moral outrage. They've got a Harry Redknapp exclusive lined up, after all.
Undermining the tabloid fury is the Royal British Legion, whose poppy it is anyway. A rare beacon of sanity - and therefore criminally overlooked in this debacle - the Legion's spokesman said last night:
"As we said earlier today, there are other ways of honouring the poppy than wearing it on your shirt - the armband will do nicely. Now everyone can concentrate on enjoying the game."
The game? What game? Oh, right! Of course, the game between England and one of the finest teams international football has ever produced. Yes, that might be worth paying attention to.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I saw, from 10 metres, a table full of drugs."
Mario Balotelli, appearing as a witness for prosecutors investigating money-laundering in Naples, describes a meeting with a suspected Mafia boss.
FOREIGN VIEW: Brazil striker Neymar will stay at Santos until 2014, the year his country stages the World Cup finals, the teenager said on Wednesday.
The gifted 19-year-old has rejected offers from big European clubs, notably Barcelona and Real Madrid, to stay at home and become one of the world's richest footballers.
"I'm very happy, it's another decision I'm taking in my life, a family decision," Neymar told a news conference where he was handed a Santos shirt with the number 2014 on it by club president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira.
"There was interest (from other clubs) but my father didn't tell me about any concrete offers. I always said I wanted to stay here."
De Oliveira said Neymar was tired of speculation about his future.
"Neymar has got tired of being 'sold' to Barcelona and Real Madrid in these last months. The truth is he will stay at Santos until 2014," he said.