Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon celebrate after winning the Carabao Cup Final
Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon celebrate after winning the Carabao Cup Final
Enough Geordie tears have flowed to fill the Tyne and still they pour forth.
However where once they were of frustration, irritation, exasperation and even humiliation they are now of undiluted joy. These are the times God promised us if we just stuck around and kept the faith.
Of course at this very moment it all seems surreal because immediately after the Carabao Cup was claimed by Bruno as ours many scattered to the far recesses of the globe to play international football while the others took off for Dubai and a sunshine break.
Reality will only set in again next week when players and manager return to base and Tyneside wraps them in a warm embrace for the first of two thank yous on home soil. A victory celebration on the Saturday will be followed by another love-in when United next play at home to Brentford.
I so recall the joy of previous rare laps of honour. I went with my uncle Frank, the only member of my family interested in NUFC, to watch goggle-eyed as United's heroes Jimmy Scoular, Wor Jackie and Bobby Mitchell brought the FA Cup home in 1955. They stuck out of the sun roof of a distinctly ancient single decker bus bedecked in black-and-white as it nosed its way through the streets of a city swamped by the delirious.
Then in 69 I was in a coach behind the main one as United brought home the European Fairs Cup. The parade was down from the airport to St James' Park and skipper Bob Moncur managed to singe the precious trophy as he exuberantly thrust it into the air and on to the electric wires across the road! What this time? Well, it will be different. Not in the streets of the city itself it would seem but on the Town Moor which is a place of Geordie joy every year when the Hoppings arrive. Whatever the fine detail I cannot wait.
Previously both the other receptions were immediate of course whereas this time it will be a fortnight after the event though I know without doubt the wait will not have dampened enthusiasm one iota.
Was this all a dream? Naw. Was it ever bettered in terms of result, performance, occasion, drama? Naw, naw, naw and naw.
While so many of United's old stars were at Wembley to witness the great occasion sadly one of our biggest icons Malcolm Macdonald was not, confined to his North Shields home awaiting a double operation. However he was amongst a welter of the good and great who have been in touch with me to voice their gratitude.
SuperMac enthused: "What an amazing day John. Newcastle totally outplayed Liverpool from the first whistle to the last. Fabulous goals, great tactics, and every player on top and in control. It was a genuine masterclass, well done Eddie Howe.
"It's been a great few days for the fans. They have waited a long time. The next game at SJP is going to be something to behold."
While we wait one of the black-and-white Wembley heroes will this Friday night be back at the scene of his triumph hopefully adding another chapter to a fairytale story. Thomas Tuchel please get Dan Burn on the green grass at some time against Albania and make him an England international.
We've discussed and smiled and given the thumbs up to so much of Big Dan's Geordie upbringing . . . Asda trolley pusher, fun footballer with Blyth Town and Blyth Spartans, lowly league learner at Darlington, Yeovil and Wigan but since his cup final blockbuster header I've received yet another reminder of humble beginnings.
John Maley Jnr of New Hartley Juniors got in touch to say: "Big Dan has become the third person who played for us to win the League Cup after Ray Kennedy with Liverpool (against West Ham in 1981) and Graham Fenton who was in the Aston Villa team that beat Manchester United in the 1994 final."
Burn is enjoying a golden autumn in England colours but it is only the spring of their Three Lions careers for Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento who will inevitably be rejoined by Lewis Hall once he is fit again.
Gordon will be bursting his britches to play against Albania after missing out on Wembley's last big occasion because of suspension while Livramento will be desperate to prove that snuffing out Mo Salah so completely when operating on his wrong flank was only a sign of his potential.
The World Cup finals are on all their horizons after the capture of the Carabao Cup with Europe squeezed in between. These really are exciting times.
May long days of wall to wall sunshine greet every Geordie each morning upon waking up.