This is the moment to put the Newcastle United League Cup record straight | OneFootball

Until very recently, the Newcastle United record in the League Cup has been nothing short of abysmal.

It’s a competition we’ve never won, although it’s also one where we have never lost a semi-final. More of that later.

In its inaugural season, the 1960/61 campaign, Newcastle United bowed out of the League Cup at the first hurdle, following a chastening 4-1 defeat at third tier Colchester United, a result that set the tone as far as our participation in this competition was concerned.

It wasn’t until the 1974/75 competition that we progressed as far as the quarter finals of the League Cup.

Whilst the League Cup kicked off at the start of the 1960s before I was born, it was nevertheless an inauspicious start by Newcastle United to a competition introduced by the Football League as a response to the increasing popularity of European football, and to also exert power over the Football Association. The competition also took advantage of the roll-out of floodlights, allowing the fixtures to be played as midweek evening games. Getting this newly fangled competition off the ground wasn’t straightforward, sixteen clubs had initially opposed its creation.

The need to make the League Cup more appealing prompted the final to be held at Wembley and as a further sweetener, the Football League negotiated with UEFA that the winners would qualify for a European competition, providing they were in the domestic first division (this is still the case of course, although in the modern era, France is the only other UEFA member that offers a European place for the winners of their second cup competition). In the absence of Newcastle United going all the way, it was Aston Villa who won that first final, back in 1961.

I can only vaguely recall the 1976 final when we lost to Manchester City.

It being played out on a Saturday afternoon, alongside a full programme of league fixtures and not being live on TV didn’t help. I knew we’d lost by the time ‘Shoot’ beamed extended highlights into our living room the following day. I remember Alan Gowling’s equaliser and of course that overhead kick.

One of my more vivid memories of the 1976 campaign was being in possession of the official match programme, something my dad had acquired from a mate of his who made the trek south. One of the things I loved poring over was where it showed both teams’ route to the final – wins over Southport, Bristol Rovers, QPR and Notts County got us to the semi-final, whilst Manchester City had beaten city rivals Manchester United enroute to their semi-final with the Boro.

What intrigued me most of all were the still shots of our semi-final win over Spurs. The contrast between the grainy black and white versions of the return leg at St James’ Park, with those from White Hart Lane which were in full technicolour, seeming to reinforce the North-South divide, even back then. Those coloured photos did of course, showcase Newcastle United’s tremendous strip that was full on Brazil, an outfit that we would also sport at the Hawthorns and Baseball Ground in the latter stages of the FA Cup that season. Imagine Bruno and big Joe donning that strip?

By the time I was attending St James’ Park on a regular basis and travelling away to watch Newcastle United on the road in the early to mid-1980s, we had reverted to type as far as the League Cup was concerned. The first League Cup tie I attended at St James’ Park was the 4-1 defeat at home to Leeds United in the second round in the autumn of 1982. After winning the first leg at Elland Road by a solitary goal, Newcastle United couldn’t press home the advantage and Leeds turned things round in the second leg, putting the tie beyond doubt thanks to Frank Worthington in extra time.

What followed in the next few years were equally painful defeats to lower league outfits such as Oxford United (twice), Sheffield United and Bradford City (where we lost the first leg at the Odsal Speedway Stadium following the disaster at Valley Parade a few months earlier).

Even King Kev’s entertainers couldn’t buck that awful trend and although we flirted with glory by reaching the quarter finals on six occasions from the mid-1990s until Mike Ashley’s tenure came to an end, it wasn’t until Eddie Howe grabbed the competition by the throat in the 2022/23 campaign, did we get back to Wembley.

Whilst I’ll not dwell on what was a terribly disappointing afternoon, we got thorough the semi-final and as I said earlier, we haven’t yet succumbed at that stage of the competition.

I was watching a bit of the Arsenal match at Brentford last night and I’m glad they won. Not because I particularly like them, or dislike Brentford, but because that win moved the Gunners up to second place in the Premier League. They are the best placed of all the teams lined up behind Liverpool and after narrowly losing out on the title in each of the past two seasons, it is the Premier League that is undoubtedly Mikel Arteta’s priority. In addition, Arsenal’s Champions League campaign has been pretty good so far and they’re handily placed in the 36 team league, but with two games to go, it’s imperative that they finish strongly because only three points separates them in 3rd place from 19th placed Club Bruges.

We visit North London on Saturday, before doing it again on Tuesday.

Here’s the thing, in an ideal world we win both those games, but given the choice, I’d rather win at the Emirates.

Meanwhile, Arsenal travel to the Amex in the tea-time kick off on Saturday. I bet given the choice, Arsenal fans would rather win there than in the first leg of the semi-final. Collecting all three points at Brighton will keep them in the hunt for the title.

The second leg at St James promises to be a raucous affair. If we have a foothold in the game following Tuesday night’s clash, we can beat Arsenal at home. We’ve demonstrated that on three occasions in our last four league meetings at Gallowgate.

There is a considerable gap between the first and second legs. Four weeks. That’s unusual, but there are a lot of fixtures between the 7th January and the 5th February to get through.

Arsenal play seven times during that period. We play five times. They have the small matter of a North London derby to contend with. They also play Aston Villa and Man City. In the Champions League, they must negotiate their way past Dinamo Zagreb and Girona. Whilst both clubs are playing minnows in the FA Cup (we of course face off against Bromley whilst Arsenal entertain Man U), Newcastle United’s fixtures look far less onerous between the two legs. After Bromley, it is Wolves, Bournemouth Southampton and Fulham for us, and only one of those is on the road.

I’m not trying to kind myself.

If you get to the semi-final stage of the League Cup, you’ll take it seriously. My point, however, is that Arsenal will not be prioritising the League Cup. They no doubt see it as a competition that is secondary to the ambition they harbour in regards the Premier League title and the Champions League.

Eddie has suffered the devastation of a Wembley defeat.

Despite what I’ve just said about Arsenal’s priorities, landing the League Cup is a big deal for Newcastle United and if he manages it, it will propel Eddie Howe to stardom. He knows this and what’s more, he’s got Newcastle United hitting form at the perfect time.