This was the moment. Seventy years in the making. So many near misses, heartbreaking failures, bitter disappointments. So many players. So many fans. At least three generations of Tynesiders, trained through excruciating experience to expect things to go wrong.
Not this time. As Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier stood either side of the Carabao Cup, this was finally the moment to write a new chapter. Newcastle’s supporters waited. Then as the trophy was lifted to the sky, they let it all go. This is what it feels like to win something. This is history. This is the Newcastle United that always threatened to break into existence, but that had always previously been held back. Not anymore.
There were so many memorable images. Enough to keep Newcastle supporters going for the next 70 years? Hopefully, it won’t come to that. But if it does, those who were lucky enough to have been at Wembley yesterday will never forget what they witnessed.
Dan Burn going berserk after thumping home Newcastle’s first Wembley goal in more than two decades. Joelinton beating his chest every time he thundered into a tackle. More than 30,000 Geordies twirling their scarves above their heads amid a mounting sense of delirium. Was this really happening? It was. And for once, there wasn’t going to be an unhappy ending.
_(Image: John Walton)_
In years to come, this might come to be seen as the start of something special. Newcastle are going to be getting either a new stadium or an improved St James’ Park. Their Saudi Arabian owners have the finances to completely transform for the club. Perhaps, in the next decade or so, winning trophies will become routine.
For now, though, one day of glory is more than enough. The Newcastle supporters celebrating at Wembley were the lucky few to witness it first hand. Their memories will last forever.
The exodus from Tyneside started in the early hours of Saturday morning and continued all weekend. The logistics were difficult – engineering on the East Coast mainline meant there were no direct trains between Newcastle and London – but were never going to be insurmountable. Trains, planes, automobiles. Plus, a succession of coaches heading down the M1. For the second time in three years, Carabao Cup final weekend meant London was turned black-and-white.
Unlike in 2023, however, the pre-match party was not staged at Trafalgar Square. Preparations for St Patrick’s Day meant North-East football’s preferred London staging post was out of bounds. Lord Nelson and his lions were no doubt relieved.
Instead, thousands of Newcastle fans descended on Covent Garden, transforming one of the capital’s most popular tourist spots into a throbbing mass of Tyneside energy. Songs were sung, friends were embraced, the Punch and Judy pub was drunk dry by 6pm. “Are you a football fan?” asked one of the police officers guarding the gates of the closed-off tube station to a couple whose attire hardly had them marked down as St James’ Park regulars. “Because if you’ve got tickets for the Royal Ballet, you’re probably going to miss the start.”
At the western fringe of Covent Garden, Sandro is a high-end French fashion retailer, proud of its prime spot in the capital. Or at least it was for most of Saturday afternoon. By early evening, it had become the prime backdrop for a Geordie singsong. “Sandro, ole, ole, ole, midfield maestro, from Milano, Sandro ole, ole, ole.” There’s one you don’t hear much during Paris Fashion Week.
_(Image: Newsquest)_
By the end of Saturday night, pretty much every pub in central London was reverberating to similar tunes. Hence, when Sunday morning arrived, there were more than a few sore heads. “What time did you get in?” asked a father to his son at breakfast in one of the many hotels that was dominated by North-East accents. “I don’t know, but Match of the Day certainly wasn’t on.”
By the following morning, thoughts had turned to the game. There is still a sense of novelty about Newcastle appearing in a major final, but whereas the 2023 League Cup final with Manchester United had felt like a once-in-a-lifetime moment, the focus two years on had switched to actually getting the job done.
Yes, the pubs outside Baker Street were packed by Sunday lunchtime. Yes, the tube carriages reverberated to the Blaydon Races. But while Wembley Way was a sea of black-and-white three hours before kick-off, the mood was much calmer than at previous finals. Newcastle supporters still vastly outnumbered those in Liverpool colours, who seemed to delay their descent on Wembley until the last possible moment, but there was less of the emotional drama that accompanied the Magpies’ first appearance at the new national stadium. It was never going to be ‘just another game’, but it felt like a football match rather than an excuse for a day out.
The roars that greeted Newcastle’s players as they poured onto the pitch for their warm-up were cries of expectation rather than excitement. Might this finally be the year? Newcastle’s sponsors, Sela, had shelled out for 32,000 scarves, one for each of the fans who had travelled to Wembley. As a result, the East End of Wembley looked a picture as the players returned to the field ahead of kick-off.
The sight of 32,000 twirling scarves was quite something. Especially when it was accompanied by the kind of guttural roar that has repeatedly brought opposition teams to their knees at St James’. The giant crowd surfer flag unfurled at kick-off charted all the previous trophies won by the Magpies. “Write your name into the history of Newcastle United,” it implored. Liverpool had won 38 major trophies since Newcastle lifted the Fairs Cup in 1969. Surely, they didn’t need one more.
What Newcastle needed was a bright start. Unlike in their league defeat at Anfield earlier this month, they enjoyed one. There was an intensity and aggression to the Magpies’ early play that spoke of a determination not to be cowed. Unlike in so many of their previous Wembley appearances, this Newcastle side was on the front foot from the off, hassling and harrying from front to back in order to deny Liverpool’s players any space.
The crowd fed off their evident hunger and desire, cheering deliriously towards the end of the first half as Joelinton charged back towards his own corner flag to close down an overlapping Jarell Quansah. When the Brazilian gestured to the fans after winning a free-kick, his passionate imploring elicited an even more frenzied response.
What Newcastle needed was a chance, an opportunity to turn their first-half dominance into something meaningful. It arrived on the stroke of half-time. Kieran Trippier swung over a corner from the left, and from 14 yards out, Dan Burn rose above Alexis Mac Allister to thump a downward header past Caoimhin Kelleher. Cue absolute pandemonium.
Newcastle’s supporters went mad. Liverpool’s were stunned. The big screen in Wembley panned to Alan Shearer, dancing around maniacally in his cloth cap. The Magpies’ all-time record goalscorer scored 206 goals for the club. You got the distinct impression this meant more to him than each and every one of them.
Newcastle were in dreamland. Could things get any better? The answer arrived eight minutes after half-time. Alexander Isak had already had a goal chalked off for offside when Jacob Murphy’s headed knockdown fell at his feet. With one swing of his right boot, Isak doubled his side’s lead and took them into a position even their most ardent cheerleaders could hardly have anticipated. 2-0 up. In a cup final. Wow.
This being Newcastle, there was a final agonising moment when Federico Chiesa’s stoppage-time goal threatened to spoil the party. For once, though, there was to be no bitter ending. Just joy unconfined.