'Chelsea and Man City aren't in the final' - Newcastle ready to conquer England and the world

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 23 Feb 2023 11:33 GMT
• 5 min read

Newcastle in a cup final. Sounds strange, doesn't it?

Well, it will do for a lot of the younger fans. Most under the age of 35 have not experienced anything like it. The anticipation, the nerves, the spectacle. Perhaps, most comparably, the games in which Newcastle needed to win to survive relegation induced similar feelings. But it’s not quite the same.

Whatever you may think of the way the Magpies have found their feet and made their way to the cusp of a title challenge, you can’t ignore the quite astounding turnaround that’s been made.

Whether it is the Newcastle backline costing £60 million or the transformation of Sean Longstaff, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron from mere fodder ready to be moved on to key players. The Newcastle story is a fascinating one.

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A win on Sunday will be a huge landmark for Newcastle. Make no mistake, this is the club’s biggest match for nearly 24 years; the last being when they competed against Manchester United in the FA Cup final, at the old Wembley, and faltered.

The 1990s were a series of near-misses, the early 2000s showed some promise and delivered historic nights, but it hasn’t been close to this. It will be an opportunity for Eddie Howe to earn his first major trophy as well. He will be just as nervous in the dugout as those in the seats.

Fans who demanded a decent cup run and a competitive season have already got just that.

Olly Hawkins, editor of NUFCBlog, said to FootballTransfers: "We're hoping this sort of game will be the done-thing for years to come, but for me personally, this will be the first time I've ever gone to Wembley to watch Newcastle. I'm not used to this. There will be nerves. Newcastle haven't won a domestic trophy in my lifetime or my dad's lifetime. I think this group of players and this manager deserve a trophy for everything they have done.

"We haven't bought our way there. Of course, we have spent, but the main reason we look so much better is that Howe has made those pre-takeover players look so much better. Take Fabian Schar - wasn't playing under Steve Bruce and was expected to leave. But now, he's part of the best centre-back pairing in the Premier League. Just look at Joelinton, Longstaff and Almiron, too. Where we are today is down to good team spirit, good coaching, and yes, a sprinkle of added quality in the window, but it's fundamentally down to the work Howe has done.

"We are knocking on the door for a top-four spot and a showing in a major final. Even if we do lose, we can look back and think 'look at how far we have come.' It's been 24 years since we have been in a major final. It's just been one full year under new ownership - and that speaks volumes of our trajectory. Don't get me wrong, I will be disappointed, but Sunday won't define our season if we lose."

Jacob Pigg, a lifelong Newcastle fan, said to FootballTransfers: “If we don’t win the final, the season won’t be tarnished. It’s Howe’s first full season. We are challenging for the top-four, and despite a poor month or so, we can turn it around. It’s a sign of things to come. It’s amazing we have done it. He’s only been there a short while in the grand scheme of things and already we’re in a final.

“We have got there on merit. We have spent money over the past two transfer windows but it’s not like others haven’t either. Look at Chelsea and Man City - how much have they spent? They are not in the final and we are. The only way this season can be viewed as a failure at this point is if we don’t get European football.

"Conference League, I would be a bit disappointed, but if we get Europa League or Champions League then I think it’s been a phenomenal season. It’s not like we’ve been losing loads of games, just have not scored for a little while. But things will come good, regardless of whether we win at Wembley or not.”

The fallout of the win will no doubt lead to gushing and admiration from most. Of course, other sections will scrutinise the club for their state ownership, the fact the ‘sport-washing’ enterprise would have finally got its hand on a major trophy, winning over the support still further. Such questions must be asked by the press, even if there is a degree of haughtiness in their words, but we must also allow the supporters to have their day should they emerge victorious, and not forget the 67 years without domestic silverware.

For better or worse, a win for Newcastle would cement their new era. For a club whose support so fondly clings to the halcyon days of old, it would allow them to now start looking ahead to the new.