Today marks one year since the greatest day in living memory for a sizeable majority of Newcastle United fans. Three hundred and sixty-five days have passed since that magical afternoon in the capital.
Newcastle ended one of the longest major trophy droughts in English football, beating Liverpool 2-1 in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley on March 16th, 2025.
The fact that it took a club of the Magpies’ size 70 years to lift a major domestic trophy is nothing short of bewildering. Prior to last year’s Wembley heroics, their last major domestic honour came on May 7th, 1955, when they defeated Manchester City in that season’s FA Cup final.
For a team that has played in black and white for so many years, their last major domestic success was in black and white. 1955 was before Elvis, before The Beatles, before Muhammad Ali. Queen Elizabeth II had only reigned for three years. Seventy years. A lifetime, really.
It wasn’t for the lack of trying, either. Since 1955, the Tyneside giants have appeared in two League Cup finals and three FA Cup finals, smashed the world transfer record, and come agonisingly close to lifting the Premier League title in 1996.
But one year ago today, after multiple generations’ worth of oh-so-nears, it was finally their time.
Newcastle’s journey to glory
Newcastle had to work hard for their second Carabao Cup final appearance in three years, with that season’s cup draw throwing up multiple banana skins in their path.
The Magpies narrowly defeated Nottingham Forest in the second round thanks to a nail-biting penalty shootout at the City Ground.
They then faced AFC Wimbledon, before coming up against a trilogy of tricky Premier League opposition in Brentford, Chelsea, and Arsenal – the latter of which they beat 4-0 over two legs in the semi-finals to advance to Wembley, where Liverpool lay in wait.
By this point, Newcastle hadn’t beaten The Reds in any competition for almost ten years, with their last victory against Liverpool coming in a Premier League clash in December 2015. They also hadn’t scored in a Wembley final since Alan Gowling’s goal against Manchester City in the 1976 League Cup final. Quite the omen.
Two years previously, Newcastle had faced Manchester United in the 2023 Carabao Cup final in a game many fans and pundits had fancied them to win. Unfortunately for The Magpies, the game fell slap-bang in the middle of a poor patch of form during an otherwise stellar 2022/23 season.
With first-choice keeper Nick Pope suspended, and Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak offering little threat in front of goal, The Toon slumped to a 2-0 defeat, a devastating day, but the experience of a Wembley final would prove vital two years later against Liverpool.
A magical day at Wembley
One of the beautiful things about the beautiful game is that it can so often be used as a vehicle to realise one’s dreams. So when Dan Burn, a lifelong Newcastle United fan, rose highest to meet Kieran Trippier’s floated corner just before half-time in the 2025 Carabao Cup final, powering a magnificent header into the net that Alan Shearer would have been proud of, there was a sense that thousands of black and white dreams were about to be realised. It had to be him, didn’t it?
“The boy from Blyth”, Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury screamed into the microphone. He clued those in who weren’t aware of the significance that a Geordie just scored Newcastle’s first Wembley final goal in almost 50 years.
After the interval, the Toon Army went from dreaming to dreamland. Just two minutes after his first effort was marginally ruled out for offside, Alexander Isak met Jacob Murphy’s knockdown with a beautiful half volley to put Newcastle 2-0 up in the 53rd minute.
Isak’s legacy at St James’ Park will forever be tarnished by his departure from Tyneside. But in that moment at Wembley, as he raced towards tens of thousands of euphoric Newcastle fans, balancing perfectly on the pitchside advertising hoardings, arms aloft, he was nothing short of a god.
Despite the pre-match nerves of facing an inform Liverpool side, Newcastle never really looked like surrendering their 2-0 lead.
There was late drama (there always is against the Merseysiders) as Federico Chiesa’s close-range finish was eventually ruled to be onside following an excruciating VAR check in the 95th minute, but fortunately, it was too little too late for The Reds, as Newcastle hung on to win the game 2-1.
What it meant to the Toon
For Newcastle fans who were fortunate enough to have watched that game, be it at Wembley, in Newcastle, some far-flung bar halfway around the world, alone, or with friends or family, today will forever be a special day.
For those of a black and white persuasion, March 16th, 2025, is probably the best day of your life outside of weddings and kids being born (and even then, it’s close).
Immediately after full-time, there’d have been phone calls from one emotionally exhausted black-and-white die-hard to another; “a cannit beleive it man!” and words to that effect.
As a fanbase, it’s important to remember not to take that day for granted, too. Carabao Cup finals and Champions League qualifications have been commonplace under Howe. It’s almost impossible to forget that it wasn’t always this way.
This season has been somewhat stop-start for Newcastle fans. The highs of last season were replaced by frustration over inconsistent performances and domestic cup eliminations.
But one year ago today, Howe gave you probably the best day of your life. No matter what happens to him at the end of the season, he has cemented himself as a Newcastle legend.
