Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
This is my love letter, of sorts, to Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes - the man who led the Magpies to the promised land.
We didn't know we needed you. Now we can't live without you. The dreamer with a smile as wide as the Tyne, the magician with a football brain to unlock the Enigma code, a heart that beats in tune with ours, and veins that course black and white.
Fate brought Newcastle United and you, Bruno Guimaraes, together - and now, because of Sunday - your names will forever be entwined. No love affair, this is football's version of a marriage made in heaven. When you walked through the door, you were like an alien, beamed down into Newcastle United's midfield to add some samba flair to a unit sleepwalking its way to the second tier. Your performances were otherworldly. You brought skill, flair, vision not seen since Yohan Cabaye, goals not seen since Rob Lee and a football brain rarely, if ever, seen before.
Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes with the Carabao Cup, after the Magpies beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday, March 16.Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes with the Carabao Cup, after the Magpies beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday, March 16.
Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes with the Carabao Cup, after the Magpies beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday, March 16. | NationalWorld
When you talked of taking the team to the Champions League, with the club sitting 19th, there was some considerable disbelief. No one had heard 'the champions' round these parts since 2003. When you then talked of winning a trophy and writing history, more incredulity ensued. And, in fairness, it was OK to feel like that. Newcastle had, until you arrived, become a place where success came to die, where hope burned bright until it left NE1 and hit HA9 0WS. Success was framed in derby dominance, largely - the last one was fun, mind - the odd European odyssey or under-the-lights St James' Park blitzkrieg. Before PSG, it was Barca. Or it came in the form of black and white images of men lifting trophies, fewer and fewer were old enough to have witnessed.
You knew all of that, though. You knew it when you signed. You knew it when you made those promises. Back then you maybe sounded like a poet, now you look more like a prophet. You are the man who carried the weight of 70 years of hopes and dreams, defeats and disappointment on your shoulders, and came back with silver. It must have been five magpies you spotted on the way - about 250,000 people - who you will meet them on the 29th - were just looking for two last weekend. So now, I use these words to speak to you, Bruno. Everyone has their own story. This is mine.
Bruno Guimaraes - this is my story
Twenty five years after walking Wembley Way together, we did it again. This is me, Liam Kennedy, with my Dad, John, before the Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool.Twenty five years after walking Wembley Way together, we did it again. This is me, Liam Kennedy, with my Dad, John, before the Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool.
Twenty five years after walking Wembley Way together, we did it again. This is me, Liam Kennedy, with my Dad, John, before the Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool. | Liam Kennedy
You are my favourite player. I love your spirit, your heart and your skills. To me, only Alan Shearer compares. You are my son William's favourite player - he has your name on his bedroom walls. He's 11, he wants to be just like you. You are my eight-year-old daughter Freya's favourite. She asked me once: "Are you friends with Bruno Guimaraes, Daddy?". I obviously said 'no, I know him but not like that, beautiful'. You signed her matchday programme once and gave me your phone to spell out her name so you could write her a message. Suppose there aren't too many Freyas growing up in Rio de Janiero. I want you to know, she cherishes it, years on. It meant so much. You are my Dad's favourite player. He was there in '74, '76, '96, '98, '99. He took me, as a 12-year-old in 2000, Cardiff in '05 and then missed the last one in 2023 after a heart attack weeks before your own heart ache. I just knew it couldn't happen without him. We walked Wembley Way together for the first time in 25 years on Sunday. It was just meant to be this time.
When you spoke of people who'd died and never seen Newcastle win a trophy, and others who've grown up the same, it struck a chord with everyone. Every one of the Newcastle fans there could relate to that. It had been so, so long. I know friends who have lost loved ones - Newcastle daft - who'd lived their whole lives and not seen black, white and silver combine, or even if they had, the memories were faded. I lost a Grandma, Brenda, my Dad's Mam, just before Christmas. She would talk of days when Newcastle actually won things. She loved NUFC, and coincidentally had a real dislike - putting it kindly, of Liverpool, too, so Sunday would have been a special party up in heaven for Kennedys in absentia.
My story is just one, everyone could tell their own. That's why our tears were your tears on Sunday. It all came spilling out. Joy supressed for years, a volcano of emotion on 45', 52' and 101'. Our history, our heritage, the pride in our city, our language and customs, everything.
This is my son and daughter, William and Freya. They, like me, are Newcastle United daft. And, like me, are also massive fans of you, Bruno Guimaraes.This is my son and daughter, William and Freya. They, like me, are Newcastle United daft. And, like me, are also massive fans of you, Bruno Guimaraes.
This is my son and daughter, William and Freya. They, like me, are Newcastle United daft. And, like me, are also massive fans of you, Bruno Guimaraes. | Liam Kennedy
You’re just like us - and we love you for it
We get you and you get us, because you're just like us. You're the daft lad with a bucket hat, dancing, smiling. You could be from Byker or Benwell, Walker or Westerhope. You could be any of us. You act like a Geordie. In the heat of battle you play with your head and your heart. At Wembley the 32,000 in the stands would have given their right arm to be leading out the Geordie nation, you had the privilege - and we know that is not lost on you. We trust you.
Too often, Newcastle United surrender at Wembley, they never leave their mark. You could tell the way you orchestrated the celebrations at West Ham with brother-in-arms Joelinton that you meant business. Your words when baited by Jamie Carragher in the post-match Sky interview, whether you realised it or not, showed you were not overawed by the task ahead. You knew how to set the tone - and set it right, in such a crucial week.
And the words were not hollow. You believed we would win, we could win. You believed the seemingly impossible could become possible. You made it possible. You brought every one of those players with you, you taught the Geordie people how to believe again, how to win again.
Tell us our next Newcastle United chapter
I love you, Bruno. We all love you. We know you love us, too. You are one of us now, you always were just you never knew it, nor did we. From the days of Vila Isabel and begging for autographs on napkins at the Maracana, this was always meant to be. You were always destined to be the man who ended it all, who delivered joy to a city, a people, so starved of it for far, far too long.
You are our saviour, our leader, our hero, our legend. You are part of the club's story. You are its history - its future for, hopefully, a very long time. And so too are every one of the players - and manager and coaches - who gave their blood, sweat, tears, life and soul for the badge, the shirt and the people, on that little patch of green in North London.
One for sorrow, two for joy - 2023 & 2025, three for a girl, Ana, four for a boy - make that two, Geordie's Matteo and Pietro. Five for Carabao silver, six for Olympic gold, seven for a secret never to be told. It's no secret anymore, the story of Bruno Guimaraes, this trophy, the No.39 and March 16, will be told on Tyneside long, long after we're both dust in the ground. Geordies not even born will sing your name one day. Now to write the next chapter. Can't wait for what you've got in store - I’m sure it won’t be long before you tell us.
YOUR NEXT READ: Yasir Al-Rumayyan makes huge £150m power play for Newcastle United - supporters take note.