Under-21s preview | Neave reflects on first-team debut ahead of National League Cup opener | OneFootball

The young Magpies kick off the 2025/26 season with a clash against the Heed, who finished in eighth place of the National League last season, in their opening Group D fixture at the Gateshead International Stadium.

It has been a bright start to the season for Neave, who made his first-team bow in the Magpies' pre-season fixture against Celtic last month before featuring in friendlies against Arsenal, RCD Espanyol and Atlético Madrid and the 18-year-old expressed his delight in making his first outing for his boyhood club at senior level.

The Winlaton-born forward, who joined United's youth set-up as a 13-year-old, told newcastleunited.com: "It was such a proud moment, especially growing up as a Newcastle fan and supporting the club from a young age. Coming on at Celtic Park in front of 55,000 fans was unreal. I couldn't believe it but I enjoyed every minute of it.

"I was warming up and the gaffer called me in, telling me I'd be coming on as a striker. We'd just conceded before I came on so I took the kick-off straightaway. Standing in the middle of the pitch and hearing the noise from the crowd was unreal.

"I was a little bit nervous but, once I took the kick-off and started playing, I was getting into the game and I felt alright. Scoring at the end on my debut would have been amazing!"

Neave, a representative of England at under-18 level, was a handful of Academy youngsters named in Eddie Howe's squad for this summer's tour of Asia, travelling to Singapore and South Korea.

The young striker, who was named on the bench for United's Carabao Cup final victory against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium, is keen to gain further experience at first-team level after a beneficial trip to the Far East.

"The tour of Asia, as a whole, was brilliant," he added. "You learn so much when you're in and around the senior players and they were making the young lads feel very welcome.

"The training and games were good and getting the chance to play against Arsenal, another big club, was a great experience.

"Now I've had a taste of it, I really want to try and be there a lot more and get some more game time with the first-team this season. It's a big thing for me."

Newcastle's youngsters will be hopeful of a positive run in this season's National League Cup after reaching the quarter-finals last term, exiting via penalties at the hands of Altrincham.

United's second-string qualified for the last-eight stage as Group C winners, which included a 4-2 win against Gateshead in January, and Neave is keen for the young Magpies to replicate a similar group stage this time round.

"I feel like we've done a lot of work in pre-season as a team," he said. "I haven't been there as much after being with the first-team but I think we want to get off to a good start of what will hopefully be a really good season.

"Gateshead will be a tough challenge for us. We played in the National League Cup last season and really enjoyed the test of playing against senior teams as we know it will help us get better as a team.

"We know we can win the game but we can't get too over-confident and underestimate the team at the same time. We will need to be on our top game in order to beat them."

Tickets for Wednesday's National League Cup clash are available to purchase here.

Prices:

16 & Over - £5

Under 16: £2

Capacity is limited to 1,000, so supporters are advised to purchase online rather than on the gate.