Football 2024-25. Pep’s last season?

Up the fu***n Toon, been waiting nearly 40 years to see that!!!! Glad I had the sense to put a holiday in at work 2moro

Lovely to see, doesn't everyone have a soft spot for Newcastle? Except Sunderland supporters, obvs.

I think the soft spot for quite a few went when the Saudis bought them. And a soft spot is usually reserved for teams that are a bit shit. 

My soft spot had a bit of a boost because I had money on Newcastle to win with Isak to score at 5/1

And now I’ve just watched something rarer than hens teeth… Rasmus Hojland just scored. For the first time in 20 games.

Not been able to write anything last night.

As i kid I had two obsessions - football and cowboys. There's an old photo of me somewhere in the family archives in a football shirt and a cowboy hat.

It was the first team I ever saw. My Grandad took me when I was single digit years old; it was my Mum's hometown as a Walker lass and we spent a lot of time up there as kids. I don't remember much of the game but the sounds, and the smells and the noise are ingrained. And the shouting, grown men all shouting in unison. Every weekend I would pester him to take me, if the team was away I'd pester him to take me to see the reserves. He would say that me and half the city would turn up to watch 11 tailor's dummies if they had black and white shirts on. In those days we had to drive or my Auntie would drop us off, and the walk from the car to the ground was intoxicating. The shirt in the photo above was black and white.

Later on as a student in Durham, it was under my own steam I could get up there to watch them almost every other week, grant permitting. Tube to St James's if I was late, or more likely a walk from the station. And even though they were fallow years, the team never lacked support. It might have been the kind of support that was euphemistically 'honest and unflinching', as a banner said 'We don't demand a team that wins, we demand a team that tries'. A team stacked full of players whose names I can't even remember now, and then some little gems. My Uni career overlapped by a year with a precocious barrel chested lad from Dunston who stood out, I still can't believe he didn't go on to be a superstar of the game.

My Mum wasn't really a football fan - she'd watch the games on TV and knew the big names but that was as far as it went, but she was immensely proud of her city and upbringing, even though she moved away while still in her teens. She was 13 when they last won a domestic trophy, 26 when they last won anything. Of course my Grandad is long gone, and Mum died a year and a half ago, so they can't see what yesterday meant to their city, or to the son and grandson of a family from Walker and Wallsend.

And thanks Amanda, even if the PIF sticks in the craw, for saving us from Cashley and believing in a manager that does things right. If you fancy getting back into club ownership, there's another sleeping giant (!) with easy access links to the M4 and Heathrow I can point you at.

Still some happy tears here 😉

I remember going into toon for the players bus parade after losing the league cup to Man City. What will the parade be like after winning?

Unbelievable. Absolutely marvellous stuff 

That was a long wait to see something like that. After a lifetime of dreaming about what it would be like to finally win something now we know. I know it's just the Carabao cup and fans of other clubs used to winning stuff will sneer, but it's far more than that for us. A lifetime of disappointment, frustration and pessimism gone in 90 short minutes, and it's almost certainly just the start. 

A win's a win. Reading won the Simod cup in 1988 against a then well fancied Luton. 

Hopefully with the weight of this off their shoulders they’ll kick on and secure a champions league place too. That’d be quite a season - and could mean Isak etc stay. 

I’ve never been much of a football fan, watched world up games but in more recent years I’ve watched a fair bit of football. My youngest daughter is big into sport, particularly cricket, so I have caught the bug too. Yesterday I wandered out with a few friends, we had a table booked in the pub to watch the game. The Toon were all over Liverpool, they wanted to win and win they did. Liverpool never really had a look in hardly any attempts at goal or only a few on target. The pub went absolutely wild when the final whilst blew, there was a buzz right through the pub and all through town. It was tremendous to see a tear achieve what they’ve wanted to do for 70 years. 

and could mean Isak etc stay. 

I think Isak will be here for one more season. He's young still and there's no rush to move to the likes of PSG or Barca. They'll have to massively boost his salary though and give him assurances that when he wants to go they won't stand in his way. Plus there's the rumoured 140M fee which will put off a lot of clubs (Arsenal can forget it!). Before yesterday I thought Bruno was a better bet to be off in the summer, but not now. He bleeds black and white and I doubt he wants to go anywhere. 

I won't be surprised to see some changes in the summer though. Trippier*, Wilson, Longstaff and Schar will probably be going along with some of the other fringe players. Wouldn't be surprised if Gordon goes to Liverpool too. If we can hold on to the midfield and Isak and add some quality on the wings and defence we'll be very well setup to push on.

*Not so sure on Trippier after yesterday as he was back to his best. Doubt he'll want to play second fiddle to Tino though. 

Wow. still coming to terms with that win.
I started supporting Newcastle when my Spurs supporting dad took me to Keegans first game as a player in 1982.
I'm 50 now, and have seen so much supporting this club. I Watched Gazza, Waddle, Beardsley play and leave. Stood on the Gallowgate with my mates, 50 p entry in the 80s. I Was at Keegans first game as manager, and saw some amazing away days all round the UK in the 90s. Season tickets, proetsts against owners, watched in disbelief as Tino scored 3 against Barca.

I've never seen us lift a cup... until yesterday, and i watched it with my lads. Unfortunately not my dad, who left us a few years after my first game.

I'm still in a state of shock.

My first visit to St James Park, I was 7 and went to watch the 1976 League Cup loser's take a lap of honour around the pitch.

When that Liverpool goal went in, I just thought "here we go again".

The Dan Burn story is brilliant, Jack Charlton was 30 when he got his England call up, look what he did!

I've been a newcastle fan for about 35 years now, i watched it on the sofa with my lad who's also a fan. From Essex originally, but chose newcastle as my team. My mums boyfriend at the time was a fan. I've only Bben to sjp once, but have watched them more in the away stands at spurs and the like.

I'm not really a crying guy, but will admit there were watery eye's yesterday after the whistle. I was shaking from bdb scored until the final whistle!

Still can't believe it!