The curse is broken, the famine is at an end – All the lads and lasses there, all with smiling faces | OneFootball

The 2024/25 season will love long in the memory if you are a fan of Newcastle United.

Our first domestic trophy in 70 years, our first major piece of silverware since 1969.

However you cut it, defeating champions elect Liverpool in the League Cup Final on 16 March 2025 was a momentus occasion. There were joyous tears and a sense of unbridled pride in those who wore the black and white that day, not to mention our commander in chief, Sir Edward Howe.

Add to that a fifth place Premier League finish, which means another foray into the UEFA Champions League next season, and it isn’t hard to appreciate why this campaign was so special.

And yet, there’s been times when the outcome that was achieved looked far from possible.

Cast your mind back to 30 June 2024, when the unedifying spectacle surrounding the sale of Yakubuh Minteh and Elliot Anderson unfolded, necessary to balance the books and avoid a points deduction weeks before a ball had even been kicked.

After weathering the PSR storm, our season began on 17 August when we entertained newly promoted Southampton at St James Park, a game which we narrowly won, Joelinton’s effort on half-time proving sufficient, although the story of the game was Fabian Schar’s sending off following disgraceful play acting from Ben Brereton Diaz.

After that narrow win came a hard earned point at Bournemouth after United trailed at half-time, together with wins at home to Spurs and away at Wolves, with victory in a penalty shoot out in the League Cup at the City Ground sandwiched in between.

Little did we know it at the time, but winning at Forest set us up for our first trophy in years, and I still can’t get over the fact that we were at one stage 3-1 down in the shootout.

On the evening of 15 September 2024, United sat third in the table with 10 points from a possible 12, but admittedly, the performances hadn’t been great and our next match at Craven Cottage saw those early season deficiencies ruthlessly exposed as we suffered our first defeat, losing by three goals to one.

A spirited draw at home to champions Manchester City when we came from behind, Anthony Gordon coolly despatching his penalty at the Leazes End, papered over the cracks somewhat. Gordon then conspired to fail from 12 yards at Goodison Park in our next match before defeats at home to Brighton and away at Chelsea saw us languishing in twelfth; three wins and a draw had turned into three wins, three draws and three defeats.

At the same time, we were making steady progress in the League Cup. AFC Wimbledon were overcome before Chelsea came to St James’ Park just three days after beating us at Stamford Bridge in the league, with this time United running out deserved 2-0 winners.

Progression to the League Cup quarter-finals was followed with back to back wins against Arsenal when Alexander Isak powered a wonderful header past David Raya at the Gallowgate End after a brilliant cross from Anthony Gordon, then Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, when United came from behind to win 3-1.

After the highs of those back to back wins, our indifferent league form continued. We lost on Monday night at home to West Ham, before draws at Palace and home to Liverpool, when last gasp equalisers deprived us of all three points at Selhurst Park, then earned us a well deserved point at home to Liverpool. Next came a chastening 4-2 reverse at Brentford on 7 December 2024 and Newcastle were back in twelfth with a rather uninspiring Premier League record of five wins, five draws and five defeats.

With the Christmas campaign and the League Cup quarter-final against Brentford looming, United needed a tonic and what followed was an exquisite run of form, inspired in part by Anthony Gordon, who either scored or assisted in a nine game sequence where Newcastle United won every time.

That sequence of results propelled us to fifth in the table, six of those nine wins coming in the league, including wins at Ipswich, Man Utd and Spurs. But it was another win in North London that stole the show, Gordon adding to Isak’s first half strike in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal, United bossing proceedings and winning 2-0 as another Wembley final beckoned.

Talk of a tenth straight win was premature, with Bournemouth’s accomplished 4-1 win at St James’ Park in the Saturday lunchtime fixture on 18 January 2025 bringing United back to earth with a bump.

Whilst United got back to winning ways on the road at basement club Southampton, Fulham repeated Bournemouth’s antics by winning at St James 2-1, as our form faltered ahead of the second leg against Arsenal.

Whatever fears the Gallowgate faithful might have had ahead of that fixture, they were soon dispelled, Jacob Murphy scoring midway through the first half, before Gordon made it 4-0 on aggregate in the 52nd minute, as another rendition of ‘tell me ma’ echoed around the ground.

At that point, Anthony Gordon was on fire, but his sending off in the FA Cup fifth round loss at home to Brighton meant he missed the League Cup Final and with it, his place in the side, as Jacob Murphy continued to impress and Harvey Barnes grabbed his opportunity.

The Brighton defeat followed a 4-0 hammering at the Etihad and a loss against our Wembley opponents Liverpool, although truth be told, Eddie had more than one eye on the final and his formation and tactics at Anfield that night meant United succumbed by two goals to nil.

In the run up to Wembley, United avenged that Monday night defeat in November against struggling West Ham with their own Monday night victory at the London Stadium, Bruno Guimaraes scoring the only goal.

That win provided a much needed boost and came the night before our cup final opponents lost a penalty shoot out to eventual Champions League winners, Paris Saint-Germain.

At Wembley, Liverpool were outplayed and Eddie’s tactics outdid Arnie Slot. Big Dan Burn’s thunderous header put us ahead on the stroke of half-time, before Alex Isak made it two early in the second half and although Frederico Chiesa reduced the arrears in added on time, Newcastle United dug deep. It has to be said that whilst those final minutes were excruciating to watch, the truth of the matter is Liverpool never got the ball into the final third after they scored.

When the final whistle blew, the Geordie nation celebrated long into the night. As our captain was to say, those who started went onto the field just as players, but left it as legends.

Any fears of a post Wembley hangover were put to rest with a Sandro Tonali thunderbolt late in the match at home to Brentford, the first of four consecutive league wins, with Leicester, Man Utd and Crystal Palace also swept aside (12-1 on aggregate), lifting us to to the lofty heights of third with just six games to go.

By this point, it was evident that the Premier League would secure five places in the 2025/26 Champions League. With Liverpool bearing down on the title and Arsenal seemingly assured of finishing runners up, five teams, including United were chasing the remaining three places.

Six games out, no one would have predicted that only seven points would be sufficient but that’s how it transpired, Newcastle only managing two more wins, but the one at home to Chelsea on 11 May 2025 proved decisive, goals from Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes securing all three points and with it, the realisation that one win from our remaining two fixtures would guarantee a place in the top five.

In fact, two wins would even secure runners up spot, because our next game was away to Araenal.

What’s perhaps instructive as United went to the Emirates in our penultimate game is that a lack of strength in depth, coupled with what had been a long, hard season, prevented a fourth win of the season against Mikel Arteta’s charges. We had our chances mind, we just didn’t take them.

If finishing second was a bridge too far, the 1-0 surrender at home to Everton in our final game meant we nearly blew Champions League qualification, but results elsewhere went our way, meaning the party got underway once the stadium announcer had relayed how events had unfolded at Old Trafford where Aston Villa had also lost.

I was recently asked whether failing to qualify for the Champions League would have meant the season hadn’t been a success.

Disappointing as that would have been, winning that elusive trophy was immense and signalled the best season in my lifetime following Newcastle United. Europa League qualification would have been something to look forward to as well, but in the age of profit and sustainability, it’s the Champions League that matters, especially if we can use the extra income our participation brings to bolster a squad that hasn’t been improved in each of the last three windows.

The weekend me and my son spent in London when we won the League Cup has left an indelible mark. Like many others of a certain genre, I’d watched in envy as fans of Oxford, Coventry, Norwich, Middlesbrough, Leicester, Swansea, Birmingham and Portsmouth to name but a few, had all seen their team lift silverware, and it seemed like the club I’ve supported all my life were fated never to do it.

As Peter Drury said when John Brooks blew for time at Wembley, “The curse is broken. The famine is at an end. All the lads and lasses there, all with smiling faces.”