Newcastle United triumph finally accepted as a ‘Major Trophy’ | OneFootball

As you are aware, Newcastle United won silverware this last season.

What a brilliant moment that was.

Indeed, what a brilliant season.

The highlight though of course was Sunday 16 March 2025, Liverpool 1 Newcastle 2.

For those of us lucky enough to be inside Wembley, it was mind blowing.

United dominating the entire game and the scousers incredibly lucky to not lose by the three or four goal margin that Newcastle’s performance deserved.

When the final whistle was blown, silverware was ours. Unforgettable.

The days and weeks that followed were an incredible and very enjoyable blur. The parade day was obviously another massive highlight.

Only one thing has been a negative.

Obviously not a negative that comes anywhere close in scale to the beyond huge positive of winning the League Cup…but still a negative nonetheless.

It has done my head in how many times in the media they talk about the first ‘Major Trophy’ for Newcastle United in 790 years.

This is not true.

As we all know as Newcastle United fans, it is (WAS!) 70 years since the last domestic trophy and 56 years since the last Major Trophy!

That was the Fairs Cup of course.

Conveniently ignored by much of the media and others who want to put United down, to dilute our achievements, the club’s history.

This has been going on for some time of course, people wanting to make out that the Fairs Cup was no big deal, wasn’t a ‘Major Trophy’, wanting to put forward the idea that Newcastle United hadn’t won a trophy as ‘recently’ as 1969.

Well, the media have turned, they have now accepted that ‘Major Trophy’ is the proper Fairs Cup description, as seen here on Thursday by The Athletic for example…

Yes, it only took Chelsea winning the Conference League for the Fairs Cup to be accepted!

Well, the Conference League is such a feeble competition in overall European terms/history, the media couldn’t exactly claim Chelsea winning it was such a great occasion, without now acknowledging the Fairs Cup for Newcastle United!

The thing is, the way Newcastle United qualified for the Fairs Cup in 1968 was bizarre, finishing tenth in the First Division and getting into the Fairs Cup due to three teams finishing higher BUT coming from the same city as another qualifier. Only one club per city allowed to qualify.

If it was a fluke in terms of qualifying, it was no fluke when it came to winning the Fairs Cup in 1969.

Whilst this daft Conference League is primarily aimed at the chance of lower rated domestic leagues and the chance for their clubs to play in Europe, the Fairs Cup was massively difficult to win.

Only the top team in the First Division qualified for the European Cup back then by league position, which was Man City at the end of the 1967/68 season. Whilst Man U also were in the 1968/69 European Cup due to winning it in 1967/68.

So for starters, Newcastle United in the 1968/69 season also had Liverpool, Leeds and Chelsea in the Fairs Cup as competitors, as they finished third, fourth and sixth in the 1967/68 First Division. Everton finished fifth but fell foul of the one city one club rule as Liverpool had ended up third.

Football was a lot fairer in those days in terms of not just a small group of European clubs buying all the best players from everybody else.

Hungary had great domestic teams and players, including Ujpest Dozsa, Rangers were a massive force in Europe. Likewise with many of their other opponents as United got past Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Real Zaragoza and Vitoria Setubal.

At the time it was hailed as an incredible achievement for Newcastle United to have won the Fairs Cup against the quality of opposition they’d had to face.

Indeed, you could draw parallels with 2024/25 and United beating the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal (twice!) and Liverpool to lift the League Cup.

Two stellar achievements, two ‘Major Trophies’.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that the Fairs Cup was anything other than a Major Trophy and is a very proud part of Newcastle United history.