A Geordie In Girona

It’s been 70 years – yes that’s right 70 years! – since Newcastle United last won a domestic trophy. The Magpies did famously win the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969 – the forerunner to the Europa League – but if we want to witness the last time a Newcastle team held aloft a domestic trophy (as depicted in the main photo above), we have to go back to 1955. It was the third time the Magpies had lifted the FA Cup in the space of five years – an amazing run of victories at Wembley, especially considering what has happened since that time. We’ve returned to the famous stadium on seven occasions, yet every time we have left emptyhanded, dejected and without a single victory to shout about. Out of these games; three were FA Cup finals, two were League Cup finals, one was a Charity Shield and the other was an FA Cup semi-final. I was at four of those games, all of which took place during a pulsating yet fruitless five year period between 1996 and 2000, a period which would also see us finish 2^nd in the Premier League two years running. Our eighth appearance at Wembley since that 1955 triumph – this time in the League Cup final with top of the table Liverpool as our opponents – is fast approaching. It begs the question: will Newcastle finally end their Wembley hoodoo? In the following, I will give my take on whether we will or not but, before that, let’s take a look back at those seven matches at Wembley where buffoonery, self-doubt and failure played the leading role time and time again.

FA Cup Final 1974 – Liverpool 3 Newcastle United 0

I was born in 1974 so it was actually a fairly decent year. However, it could have been a phenomenal year had Newcastle United lifted the FA Cup, a full 19 years after the last time the black and whites had proudly hoisted it in the air. Our road to Wembley hadn’t been an altogether smooth one. Indeed, the home quarter-final tie against Nottingham Forest of the Second Division ended in controversy. Newcastle won the match 4-3 after trailing 3-1 but the FA ordered a replay at a neutral ground as Newcastle supporters had rioted and invaded the pitch in the second half when the team were losing. The replay, at Goodison Park, ended 0-0 after extra-time, and Newcastle finally won the tie 1-0 in a second replay at the same venue. We had some big players with flair and personality in our team at the time, particularly Malcolm McDonald. Supermac – as he was affectionately known – had chipped in with two wonderful goals in the 2-0 semi-final victory over Burnley at Hillsborough. Just two years previously, in 1972, non-league Hereford, with the help of a famous Ronnie Radford piledriver, knocked us out of the FA Cup in a third round replay, which is still one of the biggest upsets in cup history. Now Newcastle, fielding many of the same players from that fateful day, could redeem themselves by lifting the Cup. To add a little magic to proceedings, Joe Harvey, who had captained the club during those back-to-back FA Cup successes of 1951 and 1952 (see photo at the end of this article), was our manager. He had masterminded our success in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969 and now wanted to emulate what he’d achieved as a player in black and white by lifting the FA Cup once again for his beloved Newcastle. The stage was set for something special.

However, it wasn’t to be as a Kevin Keegan inspired Liverpool – he scored twice – barely had to break a sweat to beat us by three goals to nil in a very one-sided cup final. Steve Heighway pitched in with their other goal. Supermac had been letting his mouth go in the build-up to the final, saying what he was going to do to Liverpool in the Wembley clash. Needless to say, none of it came to fruition and United were sent home with their tail firmly tucked between their legs. It was a predictable outcome in all fairness: Liverpool had finished the season strongly to clinch second place whilst our form was poor at best. Since securing victory in the semi-final, Newcastle had played eight games and only won once, scoring a measly four goals. There were also allegations of boozy nights in the West End of London during the week leading up to the game. I didn’t get to the match – what with me being only three months in the womb at the time – but the general consensus from the Geordie faithful was that the performance was a huge disappointment, a painful anti-climax to an unremarkable season. The precedent had been set: Newcastle’s Wembley hoodoo had begun.

Buffoonery 9/10

Performance 3/10

League Cup Final 1976 – Manchester City 2 Newcastle United 1

After that 19 year hiatus from a Wembley final, Newcastle would only have to wait another two years before appearing in another cup final at the ‘Home of Football’. This time it was in England’s other knock-out cup competition, the League Cup. Although not as prestigious as the FA Cup, it was still important and, unlike the FA Cup which we’d lifted on six previous occasions, it was a competition we’d never won. Indeed, this was the first time we’d ever got to a League Cup final so the excitement for it was huge. In the semi-final against Spurs, we had lost the first leg 1-0 at White Hart Lane but in the second leg we managed to turn things around by winning 3-1. Our opposition in the final was Manchester City – a team that, just like Newcastle, would end the season floating around in the middle of the table, albeit a few places higher than us – so there was hope we could go on and beat them. Newcastle had a new manager in place by now. Joe Harvey had been kicked upstairs and replaced by the unpopular Gordon Lee. He had once said, “People keep on about stars and flair. As far as I’m concerned you find stars in the sky and flair at the bottom of your trousers.” With this kind of sentiment, it’s not hard to picture the style of football he wanted his team to play. The following season he would commit an act never to be forgiven by the Geordie public: he sold our goal machine Supermac with his flairs and all. Lee didn’t last much longer at Newcastle after that.

The long-suffering black and white hordes who had travelled down full of hope and excitement, did see Newcastle put up more of a fight than they had done two years previously, but the game still ended in defeat. The final will always be remembered by one moment of brilliance, a stunning bicycle kick from Dennis Tueart who ironically was born in Newcastle and had supported the Magpies as a boy. ‘Na na na na, na na na na, heeeeey Alan Gowling’ had equalised for Newcastle – teed up by Supermac – after a Peter Barnes opener for Man City, so it was all to play for when the players went off at half-time. Then in the opening stages of the second half, Tueart went and scored what he described as ‘the greatest goal of his career’. In 1973 he had helped Newcastle’s local and fiercest rivals Sunderland – then of the Second Division – win the FA Cup against runners-up of the top flight, Leeds United, so he already knew how to twist the knife when it came to upsetting his fellow Geordies – not that you can blame him really: he had been rejected by his boyhood club at the age of 15 so had to ply his trade somewhere. Newcastle huffed and puffed, trying desperately to find a breakthrough, but they just couldn’t put the ball in the net for a second time and the Toon Army left broken hearted once again. There would be a lot more huffing and puffing still to come from Newcastle at Wembley but we’d have to wait another 20 years to witness it.

Buffoonery 4/10

Performance 6/10

Charity Shield 1996 – Manchester United 4 Newcastle United 0

The curtain raiser for a new season – the Charity Shield – is traditionally contested between the winner of the Premier League and the winner of the FA Cup. Manchester United had won both in the 1995-96 season, so the team who finished second in the league, that was us, was brought in to make the numbers up. It was particularly galling for us to make an appearance as league runners-up when, for much of that season – we were a huge 12 points clear at Christmas – it looked as though we were going to win our first league title since 1927. To add salt to our wounds, we now had to face the very same team that had taken the title from right under our noses just a few short months earlier. Agonisingly for us, the form we had shown in the second half of the season just didn’t match that of an incredible first half: the goals dried up, the pressure became too much and Man United were able to overtake us in the final games of a season that I and most other Newcastle fans of a certain age still haven’t recovered from on a psychological level. Now in the preamble to the new season, we had the chance to restore some pride and at least lift a trophy at Wembley, even if it was just the poxy Charity Shield.

Regretably for every Newcastle fan, it didn’t happen. Not only did we lose to Man United, but they completely humiliated us. We handed them our black and white arses on a plate and they took full advantage, winning 4–0 with goals from Cantona, Butt, Beckham and Keane. In all fairness, Newcastle had returned from a pre-season Far East tour, just two days previously and were still exhausted after the long flight home. It was hardly the ideal preparation for such a big game and you wonder what was going through the minds of the United top brass who had organised it – money I imagine. Newcastle had just signed Alan Shearer – the most expensive footballer in the world at the time – and he made his competitive debut for us in the game. During the summer, he had famously and rather hilariously turned down Alex Ferguson and Manchester United for the chance to play for Kevin Keegan and the club he supported as a boy. However, his presence did nothing to improve our performance at Wembley in what was a dismal day for everyone connected with the club. To add insult to injury, after the game the heavens opened and some of the most torrential rain ever witnessed at Wembley soaked the thousands of dejected black and white fans as they left the stadium. It wasn’t enough that Man U had pissed on our parade: God had to do it as well. It was my first time at Wembley and, even after all these years, I can still feel the acute disappointment in my bones.

Buffoonery 10/10

Performance 2/10

FA Cup Final 1998 – Arsenal 2 Newcastle United 0

Newcastle did finally manage to exact some revenge on Man United in the 1996-97 season, beating them 5-0 in the league, but once again it was all in vain: in a repeat of the previous season, Man United finished as champions and Newcastle as runners-up. We also had a new manager: Kenny Dalglish had sadly replaced Kevin Keegan and he would soon begin to rip the very essence out of a Keegan team that had once been branded ‘the Entertainers’ by Sky Sports. We slipped right down the league, finally finishing in 13^th place but, even though our league form had dipped, we somehow made it back to Wembley at the end of the season – just two years since our last appearance – to contest our first FA Cup final since the Liverpool fiasco of 1974. It could be argued that we only got there because the draw was favourable to us, which it was – we had narrowly beaten Sheffield United of the second-tier in the semi-final – but you can only beat what you have in front of you. In the final, it was Arsenal we had in front of us: hardly ideal considering they had clinched the Premier League with weeks to spare and were now going for a historic double. By contrast, Newcastle’s league form leading up to the final wasn’t convincing at all so the omens didn’t look good. Still this was a cup final and anything can happen in cup finals, right?

Wrong! We failed to turn up and Arsenal – just like Liverpool in 1974 – hardly had to get out of third gear as they cleverly unlocked our frail defence. The game finished 2-0 with their goals coming from Anelka and Overmars. It had been all too effortless for them and they would easily have scored more if they could have been arsed to go full throttle on us. Our fans – me included – had come with so much hope that the Wembley hoodoo may finally be put to bed, but in the end we were only fooling ourselves. It was nothing but wishful thinking to think our black and white buffoons with ‘King’ Kenny Dalglish at the helm would be able to overcome the beautiful football of this great double winning Arsenal side. Perhaps if Dalglish hadn’t destroyed Keegan’s title chasing team by selling such majestic players as ‘Sir Les’ Ferdinand, Tino Asprilla and David Ginola, and bringing in complete garbage to replace them with such as an ancient Ian Rush, a geriatric not to mention fat-titted John Barnes, and his own son Paul ‘I’m not actually very good’ Dalglish, his time on Tyneside might have been more successful – nice one Kenny, you absolute raging clown!

Buffoonery 8/10

Performance 4/10

FA Cup Final 1999 – Manchester United 2 Newcastle United 0

A year on from our FA Cup final heartbreak, we incredibly found ourselves in another FA Cup final, this time against our old pals Manchester United. Since challenging for titles, just a few short years earlier, we had entered a period of mid-table obscurity whilst Man U had continued to kick on and were lifting trophies left, right and centre. Ruud Gullit was now in charge at Newcastle. Dalglish had been a disaster. Would Gullit be any different with his promise of ‘sexy football’? The simple answer is no. I think the Dutch twat must have forgotten to pack his Viagra when he moved up North, as there was nothing remotely sexual about our 13^th place finish in the league, exactly where we’d ended up the previous season. We may have got a bit of a ‘semi-on’ after beating Spurs 2-0 in the semi-final at Old Trafford (I know I did), but that’s about as sexy as things got. And if you thought our task against Arsenal in the previous year’s final was a tricky one, this time at Wembley we had an even bigger mountain to climb. Just like in the 1998 Final, we were facing the league champions, but this time they weren’t simply pursuing a league and cup double: this Manchester United team were looking to go one step further by completing a historic treble that would include Premier League, FA Cup and the highly coveted Champions League. They were due to play the mighty Bayern Munich in the Champions League final four days after the FA Cup final but, of course, they would need to see off Newcastle United first – the perpetual trophy dodgers – at good old Wembley before they could start to dream about that historic treble.

“I would love it if we beat them, love it!” Kevin Keegan had said in that famous TV interview when the pressure was at an all time high and he could feel the title slowly slipping through his fingers, much to Alex ‘beetroot face’ Ferguson’s delight. And we all would have loved it with him if we had beaten them but we didn’t in 1996 and we didn’t in the 1999 FA Cup Final either. If only it was Keegan who had taken us to a Wembley final rather than the gormless Gullit, or the equally gormless Dalglish before him. We might have actually shown some passion and fight rather than, essentially, laying on our backs like Yorkshire terriers, waiting to have our bellies rubbed, and allowing Man United to effortlessly pick us apart. They might not have gone balls deep like they had done against us in the Charity Shield – in all fairness, we did play a bit better than in the previous year’s final – but it was still a relatively easy walk in the park for them with Sheringham and Scholes scoring in a 2-0 win to clinch their 10^th FA Cup. Four days later, Manchester United lifted the Champions League trophy as well which was nice for them. I was getting a bit sick of Wembley by this stage. In fact, you could say it was getting right on my tits – I’d been here three times now and I hadn’t even seen us score a goal yet.

Buffoonery 7/10

Performance 5/10

FA Cup Semi-Final 2000 – Chelsea 2 Newcastle United 1

When I think of all the disappointment and regret my club has faced at Wembley, I would say that this game against Chelsea at the turn of the century was probably the most heartbreaking and gut wrenching of all of them. Granted, it wasn’t the FA Cup final, it was the semi-final – indeed it was the first year the Football Association had decided that both semi-finals would be played at Wembley rather than neutral club venues – but if we had won it, the opposition wouldn’t have been double or treble winning Arsenal or Man United, like it had been in the previous two finals, it would have been Aston Villa. They were still a decent side but they would finish the season with only six more points than us, so it would have presented us with a much better chance of success, on paper at least. Not only that, but now, unlike in those last two Wembley defeats, we had an exceptional manager in charge of us. Bobby Robson had taken over from the utterly shambolic Ruud Gullit (‘floppy’ football) the previous September and immediately began to sprinkle his magic over a United team that was in complete disarray. In his first home game, we beat Sheffield Wednesday 8-0 and now in April we were at Wembley for a third season in a row, one step away from another visit in the final. But first we had to get past a very good Chelsea side who would end the season in 5^th place.

Unfortunately for Bobby and for everyone connected with the club, it wasn’t to be for Newcastle. We may not have won, but the performance was there and it was one of the few times the Toon Army could leave this famous old football stadium with their heads held high since 1955. Gus Poyet had scored first for Chelsea, but then, midway through the second half, Robert Lee equalised with his head to make it 1-1. The moment was too much for me and I burst into tears as I allowed the emotions of previous Wembley heartache – not to mention the beer – get the better of me. Sadly, less than 10 minutes later, Poyet scored again and it turned out to be the winner for Chelsea. We tried in vain to get back into it but it just wasn’t to be. It was incredibly disappointing because, for once, we didn’t play like utter buffoons. We actually played really well and on another day it would have been us stepping out at Wembley in what would have been a third consecutive FA Cup final appearance. Instead it was Chelsea who took our place and, all the more galling for us, they were able to beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the final. Oh well, that’s football – it’s all about ifs and buts. At least I finally saw us score a goal. This was the last year the FA Cup would be contested at the old Wembley Stadium. Today, the new Wembley stands in its place – the old iconic twin towers have been replaced by the new stadium with its iconic arch. I’ve never been to the new venue. I’ve still got the mental scars from past Wembley encounters so I’m not sure how I would feel if I ever set foot in the place again. I live in Spain now anyway so I doubt I’d ever get a cup final ticket.

Buffoonery 0/10

Performance 8/10

League Cup Final 2023 – Manchester United 2 Newcastle United 0

Incredibly, it would be over two decades before Newcastle United would once again grace Wembley with their presence. They had made it to another FA Cup semi-final in 2005. It was a game that would have been played at Wembley and would have featured in this article had it not been for the fact the stadium was still being rebuilt at the time and all semi-finals were being played at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff instead. Newcastle faced Manchester United that day who, predictably, went in on us balls deep again, comfortably winning 4-1. Mike Ashley took over ownership of the club in 2007 and this marked the beginning of the wilderness years, only ending in 2021 when a Saudi-backed consortium bought him out. If there is one word I would use to best describe Newcastle’s previous owner of 13 years, it would have to be ‘bellend’. His short-sighted approach and total lack of ambition when it came to running Newcastle United goes a long way to explaining why the club would have to wait so long to get back to Wembley. By contrast, the ambition, stability and long-term vision shown by the new owners meant they would only have to wait two years into their stewardship before we were finally back at Wembley again.

This time it was the League Cup final (or Carabao Cup as it is ridiculously known these days), not as important as the FA Cup, but still significant, especially for a club that has to go back several decades for the last time they won a domestic trophy. Our opponents were once again Manchester United. Although, they were a team that had severely hampered our chances of success over the years, their crown as the dominant force in the land had now been taken by their city rivals, Manchester City. Now they were an even match for Newcastle – at the end of the season, Manchester United would finish 3^rd in the Premier League and Newcastle directly behind them in 4^th – so there was every hope we’d finally put our Wembley hoodoo to bed. Unfortunately for the black and whites, the game would end in yet another disappointing defeat. Casemiro and Rashford scored in quick succession towards the end of the first half for Man U. It seemed to kill the game off and we never really got going. It wasn’t so much buffoonery as a lack of self-belief. The occasion seemed to get to the players in a way that it didn’t for Man United who, let’s face it aren’t shy when it comes to lifting trophies, even after the Fergie years. It was bitterly disappointing but, considering our luck at Wembley, all too predictable. However, it didn’t feel as though it was our last chance to win some silverware as it had done previously – it felt like it was just the start of something.

Buffoonery 6/10

Performance 5/10

League Cup Final 16^th March 2025 – Newcastle United ? Liverpool ?

Before taking a look at who might win this year’s League Cup, here are some facts to make every Newcastle fan’s stomach churn. When we last met our League Cup final opponents in a final at Wembley – the FA Cup Final of 1974 – Liverpool had won 10 major trophies (8 League titles, 1 FA Cup and 1 UEFA Cup) whilst Newcastle had won 11 (4 League titles, 6 FA Cups and 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup). Ahead of our next cup final meeting, 51 years later, Liverpool have now amassed an immense 51 major trophies, whilst Newcastle still have 11. Put it another way, since 1974, Liverpool have won 41 major trophies, whilst we haven’t lifted a bastard thing. For a club of Newcastle’s stature and heritage, it’s incredibly sad and frustrating that we have stagnated and suffered such a long trophy drought, whilst other clubs have flourished in our absense. All we can do is hope and pray that this time, things will be different for us at Wembley. The task won’t be easy. Just like in the FA Cup finals of 1998 and 1999, we will be playing the league champions (unless Liverpool somehow surrender their huge points advantage that they currently have) and, just like in the 1974 FA Cup Final, we will be coming up against a Liverpool side as the underdogs. Our form has been very up and down all season: when we’ve been good we’ve been incredible, but when we’ve been poor, we’ve been terrible. Liverpool, on the other hand, have looked unstoppable and their form has never really wavered under new manager Arne Slot.

However, Newcastle have shown that they are capable of turning it on and when it clicks for us, it really does click. This was particularly true during an impressive run of games over the festive period, not to mention both legs of the semi-final against title chasing Arsenal. We brushed them aside with ease, winning 4-0 on aggregate and you couldn’t have really asked for a better performance over the two legs. The fact that our players have already experienced what it is like to play in a huge Wembley final should also serve us well. Last time out, the players looked daunted and overwhelmed by the occasion. This time, Eddie Howe will have them ready mentally and they will hopefully be able to cope better with the situation. Losing Anthony Gordon is a huge blow for us, but we still have Harvey Barnes who can be effective on the left side of the forward line. Lewis Hall, who misses out on the final through injury, is arguably an even bigger blow when you consider how good he has been for us this season. We’re definitely cursed when it comes to injuries and suspensions in the build-up to big finals and, just like the final two years ago, our form has taken a nosedive but, ultimately, our chance of success all hinges on which United turns up on the day. If it’s the lacklustre version we have seen on numerous occasions this season, we might as well forget about it. But if, and only if, it’s the high press, high intensity ‘rip them a new one’ Eddie Howe Newcastle that we all know and love, and they get right into them from the first whistle to the last, we have a chance of beating Liverpool. The belief and positive energy need to be there and big players like Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton and Isak need to really turn up and make an impact as well. If they do, and if our defence holds tight against Mo Salah and Co, it might just be Newcastle’s day.

I won’t be there at Wembley. As mentioned earlier, I live in Spain now so I would never be able to get a ticket. But I will be in Newcastle to watch it. I wanted to be in my city if we did do the unthinkable and end our trophy drought. I won’t be in a pub or in one of the fan zones in the city centre to watch it on the big screens though. Instead, I’ll be in a care home, watching it on a small TV with my 96 year old father. He was born in 1929, two years after Newcastle were last league champions. He was there to witness our back-to-back triumphs in 1951 and 1952, and he was also there that day in 1955 when Newcastle last lifted a trophy at Wembley. Wouldn’t it be amazing if, after 70 painful years, he and everyone else with black and white coursing through their veins, could see us finally lift another domestic trophy and end our Wembley hoodoo once and for all.

HOWAY THE LADS!