The 2012–13 season was Newcastle United's 120th season of professional football. They competed in the Premier League for the third consecutive season. Chronological list of events 23 May 2012: The club announces the signing of attacking midfielder Romain Amalfitano, who will join the club when his contract at Reims expires at the end of June. 1 June 2012: First-team members Alan Smith, Peter Løvenkrands and Danny Guthrie are released by the club. Youngsters Samuel Adjei, Phil Airey, Ryan Donaldson, Stephen Folan, Jeff Henderson, Tamás Kádár, Greg McDermott and Patrick Nzuzi are also released. 18 June 2012: Youngster Dan Taylor joins Oldham Athletic on a free transfer after being released by the club. 18 June 2012: The 2012–13 Premier League fixtures are released at 9:00 am BST. 29 June 2012: Central midfielder Danny Guthrie joins Reading on a three-year contract, after being released by Newcastle a month previously. His contract will become permanent on 1 July. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Fraser Forster signs with Scottish club Celtic for a fee of £2 million. 2 July 2012: Striker Leon Best joins Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £3 million. 5 July 2012: The first Premier League TV fixtures (August–November) are announced with ESPN choosing Newcastle's first two games, against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Sky Sports select Newcastle's trips to Everton, Sunderland and Liverpool with the visit of Manchester United also selected. 6 July 2012: The club announces the signing of defensive midfielder Gaël Bigirimana from Coventry City for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £500,000. 13 July 2012: Newcastle's first pre-season game ends in a 1–0 defeat to German club Chemnitzer FC. 16 July 2012: Demba Ba scores the only goal in a 1–0 win over AS Monaco. 21 July 2012: Mehdi Abeid scores in a 1–1 draw with Fenerbahçe in Austria. 27 July 2012: Newcastle's Guadiana Trophy starts with a 1–1 draw with Olympiacos. 28 July 2012: Goals from Demba Ba and Ryan Taylor give Newcastle a 2–1 win over Braga and win the Guadiana Trophy for Newcastle. 31 July 2012: The club announce the signing of defender Curtis Good from Melbourne Heart on a six-year deal. 4 August 2012: ADO Den Haag hold Newcastle to a goalless draw at the Kyocera Stadium. After the match, Alan Pardew complains to the Dutch side about their fans racially abusing Cheick Tioté, Demba Ba