"With such a long wait for a trophy, I'm sure everyone will never forget it. 

"The first time we got to Wembley was very emotional. You could sense that in the players and the crowd. I don't think it helped our performance. This time we tried to take away distractions and make it similar to a Premier League build-up.

"There are different ways to win trophies. Today we won it in the best way. We played a brilliant opponent who have been the best in the Premier League all season by a long way. And for me, we were the better team.

"Both teams were quite direct and we dealt with that really well. Nobody wanted to make a mistake, there wasn’t much pretty football played but we were effective in both boxes.

"I want to enjoy this first. I am always about tomorrow, but I’ll put the coaching books away for a few days.”

On disguising his tactics when playing at Anfield last month (and omitting Isak):

"I can say it now, yeah we did. We didn't want to show our hand, we didn't want Liverpool to get a glimpse of us. So we changed everything. I didn't tell the players that and obviously we still wanted to win the game but we tried to do it in a different way.”

On the opening goal:

"We worked consistently for two weeks on set-plays just for this game and if you'd seen us in practice you would have said we had no chance. We couldn't believe Dan Burn scored - he hasn't been training like that!

"What a few days for Dan: his performance today was colossal at the back. He's delivered one from long range. Incredible header. So fitting it's him. All of the players were magnificent but particularly him. He was a colossus for us.".

Dan Burn:

"I never ever wanted to say it, but 70 years felt like a bit of a burden. That pressure on having to be that team to break that ceiling.

“We know that we can do it. Hopefully, that is the first of many. Since the owners have come in and the manager came in, we have made a big thing about winning trophies and I think that gives us confidence now to want to do more.

"I've had worse weeks. I don't want to go to sleep because I feel like I'm dreaming and it's all going to be a lie. I don't get many (goals) so I saved it for a big occasion.  

"I feel really strange – I feel numb, I don’t have any emotion. It is strange because I am wanting to feel something, it just won’t sink in. Hopefully, it will.

"I am just very, very proud to be from Newcastle and be part of this team. I have said it before, it would have been a real shame not to have won something with this team.

"To do it we had to put on a perfect performance against Liverpool. The good thing was we had that experience of playing in these big games and being able to handle the pressure. I thought we saw the game out so well. 

"It would not be a Newcastle performance without making it nervous. We had to do our bit there.

"I'll be first there tomorrow (at the England training camp) at 8 o'clock."

Alexander Isak:

"First half I probably wasn't too involved. We had spoken about the details at half-time. It was all about the game plan the manager put together. I executed it in a good way. I knew my moment would come. The feeling was incredible.

"It was his (Dan Burn’s) game. He is brilliant. If he can score goals then great, but it’s the way he defends. That sets the foundation for us.

"This is really just the start. We will see more from the fans and what it means for the people when we get back to Newcastle. We are all aware of how long it’s been for the fans without a trophy.

"This game is about moments, and it’s not about being really good as a striker, but it’s about being there to score when needed.

"The first half was a bit frustrating for me, but I kept telling myself my moment would come. When you’ve been without a trophy for so long, it can be in the back of your head, but hopefully now we have won this, it is bright days ahead of us.”

Bruno Guimaraes:

"It's a lot for these fans. They deserve everything. 

"When I first came here I said I want to put my name in the club's history. And that's this after 70 years We can now say we are the champions again.

"The fans deserve everything one of the best days of my life. I don't have any words.  one of the best days of my life. They deserve it.

"I said or them this is like the World Cup. People died people have grown up and they have not seen Newcastle champions and now they see. We are there to make history I'm so happy

"My first year as captain of this club and it's one of the best days. The team, the fans, the owners. 
we deserve this man, we deserve this, look at this - this is unbelievable.

"Some day when I leave this club I want the fans to sing my name the way they do for Alan Shearer. He texted me before the game. I'm so emotional today."

Kieran Trippier:

"We had to be brave, we knew what their attackers were about. If Tino (Livramento) pushed forward, we had to put (Dan) Burn on (Mo) Salah at times. 

Sometimes it's about the small margins - Salah is one of the best in the world so you have to try and stop him together and that was a big part of the game plan.

"I feel like myself, the leadership group, will keep everybody level-headed. 

"We’ll enjoy the occasion now because it’s an international break, but the most important thing is we’ve got ten games left and we want to finish in the top four.

"We’ll enjoy it, and we go into the international break now, but we’ve got a big run-in ahead because we want to finish in the top four.

"It’s been a rollercoaster couple of years since the takeover happened, and as I said when I first signed, it’s about building, taking your time, step by step. We’ve bounced back from the hurt of two years ago.

"The club has come so far in a short period of time. As I’ve said many times, people will talk about the Premier League, the Champions League, but it’s all about building.

"The first time was too emotional. I think it’s right to say that for the players, the club. This time around we learned from the mistakes we made in terms of hotels, tickets….there were so many factors and it saps it out of you.

"We were calmer before this final, more relaxed. Everything was well organised, and that can play a big part in the result.”

This train is bound for glory

Arne Slot - who saw Liverpool fall two goals behind for the first time as their boss - said:

"Newcastle were taller, stronger in the duels, and both goals came from that. We have to be better with the ball, which is not so easy. The moment you do have the ball we have to create more. We were waiting for a moment.

"Normally in a game like this it opens up a bit more, but we gave them the positive mindset of being 1-0 up before half-time. That means they're going to fight even harder for every second ball.

"Altogether Newcastle deserved the win. It wasn't about energy. They played over our press, very smart, a good idea. I keep repeating myself, they deserve this win. The game went the way they wanted. It was a game of football as they wanted it to be.

"I don't think anyone who is a Liverpool fan was happy with what they saw but sometimes that happens. It's not the first time we have difficulties with Newcastle. That's a compliment to them because we didn't get into our rhythm.

"Very difficult teams to face, because we already knew from the game at St. James’ Park how difficult it is to beat them....and if we play 10 times a game of football through the air against them, they win it probably nine times because they are a stronger team through the air than us, which led to the first goal and the second goal because the second goal was also a header that they won at the second post that fell for Isak and led to the 2-0.

"It was a game that went the way they wanted it to go. And they got just before half-time some extra energy with the goal, which they probably deserved after the first 45 minutes because they were threatening us more than we were threatening them. I don’t think there was more hunger for them; the game went the way they wanted it to go and they are stronger in that part of football than us and that’s why they beat us.

"But I agree with you if you say that they deserved to win because the game went in the way they wanted it to go. Yes, they deserved to win, but it wasn’t like we were only running after them. We had to defend a lot of long balls, second balls and that’s their strength.

"It’s part of football if you face strong teams that you can lose as well. Ideally you go through the whole season only winning, winning, winning. But it can happen that after eight months of football you lose twice in a row if you face Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle."

On Alexis Mac Allister marking Burn from a corner for the opening goal:

"Credit to Newcastle, But I can explain. We play zonal so we have five players zonally close to our goal, so if the ball falls there it is always one of the five stronger players that are going to attack that ball. And we have three players that man-mark and Macca is one of them. 

"Normally a player like Dan Burn or another one runs to the zone because normally… I think he’s an exception to that because I have never seen in my life a player from that far away heading a ball with so much force into the far corner. 

"That is part of logic, that they either have to go far away from our zone, which 99 out of 100 times that will never lead to a goal, or they have to arrive in our zone and then it’s an equal battle, if you want to call it like this. So credit to him, I think he’s one of the few players that can score a goal from that distance with his head."

It's Wor Cup

The headline we've waited a lifetime to write on this website finally became appropriate on Sunday night, as Newcastle United ended their seemingly interminable wait for domestic silverware. 

70 years and 25,516 days since Manchester City were defeated here 3-1 in the 1955 FA Cup Final, The Magpies finally rewarded their long-suffering fanbase with a trophy that was payback for every failure, be it an Exeter exit, a Hereford humiliation or any of our other misadventures.

In the wake of the 2023 loss it was important for manager, players and fans to return as quickly as possible and compete, not just turn up and experience the occasion. It's a cup final not "Bullseye" - we may well had a great day, Jim, but without winning the speedboat it's all a load of bully....

We concluded our post-match post-mortem that day by stating that:

"Great times may lie ahead but old habits die hard and we remain wedded to tales of past days. New heroes are still required and for all of the expectation and effort, no new chapter was written today under the arch that replaced the twin towers."

Two years on, it's happened.

For Bob Moncur, the unwanted distinction of being the last captain to lift a trophy in 1969 is now banished; Robert Lee's label as our last Wembley scorer has been deposited in the dustbin of Toon history and Sunday's birthday boy Alan Gowling is no longer our last cup final net finder. 

To the list of successful Wembley captains consisting of Frank Hudspeth, Jimmy Nelson, Joe Harvey and Jimmy Scoular is added the names Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier and Jamaal Lascelles - our current armband wearer summoning his two predecessors for the all-important trophy lift.

Other clubs end up facing the likes of Bradford City or Southampton in final, but our reward is invariably a team in hot pursuit of doubles or trebles, sweeping all before them in the process.

This season looked like being no exception to that, defeating three of the top four clubs in the Premier League to reach Wembley, only to come up against the side with one hand on the title. 

Those apparently overwhelming odds against it happening then lengthened further when three of the side whose efforts secured a second in three seasons - Anthony Gordon, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall were all rendered unavailable due to a mixture of misfortune and stupidity.

To remain optimistic required a level of underdoggedness (is that even a word?) that prompted comparisons with the mackems defeating Leeds in 1973, but lessons from 2023 were learned on and off the pitch and a Europe-free season turned to our advantage this time.
 
Be it waffle about a 1950s gypsy curse - cast on a training ground we didn't occupy until 1972 - or the all-encompassing Anfield media love-in, the noise was deafening if you succumbed to it. 

This time, the team cut through that and the fans pumped up the volume in response to the sort of performance they'd dreamed of unfolding. A jubilant Toon support saw United take the game to the reigning Carabao Cup holders from the off and gain their reward near the end of the first half.  

That's when Dan Burn rose highest to head in Kieran Trippier's corner and put his side ahead amid total mayhem at one end of the national stadium.  

Hogging the headlines and causing a calendar reset (St Patricks Day now follows Burns Night), Blyth's favourite son epitomised the effort evident from everyone here in a black and white shirt.

Burn may now be two years older, but he looks fitter than 2023; progressing from a daft dance and a suit sound bite to jigging around with trophies in each hand (man of the match and Carabao Cup), having stated his chest size to the England national team tailor.

United's first victory over the Reds in 18 attempts since 2015 then moved a step closer seven minutes after the restart, Jacob Murphy and Tino Livramento combining for Alexander Isak to fire home. 

It wouldn't be Newcastle without some added peril and after failing to net a third goal despite several chances, Arne Slot's side pulled a goal back in added time following an agonising VAR offside check. 

It doesn't bear thinking about an equaliser would have done for the health of those watching: we may never have recovered from getting so close, only to blow it at the death.

That's as a good as it got though for a Liverpool side as jaded as their support and after taking the ball to the corner flags in a manner the watching Shearer would have approved of, the final whistle sounded to send several generations of Magpie watchers into uncharted territory. 

Victory confirms European qualification for Newcastle; although they'll hope to improve on the Europa Conference League playoff this success brought them in their final ten league fixtures.

For Howe, it was a personal vindication after he vowed to learn the lessons of 2023 final defeat here. His preparation led to a calmer, less desperate mood than two years before as we finally played the game rather than the occasion. 

Organisation and preparation were as important as mindset though, be it the ploy of slanting corner kicks deep or a half time talk to highlight and combat the second half drop off evident recently. 

Howe's desire to retain Trippier was also repaid by an epic display from the full back, who visibly struggled at times with injury but showed the level of competitiveness that made him such an integral part of our renaissance when persuaded to swap Madrid for Tyneside in 2022. 

Outstanding performance were to fore across the field, be it Livramento shackling Mo Salah or the midfield giants that were Joelinton and Sandro Tonali. The efforts of his colleagues meant that Nick Pope had relatively little to do, but getting a hand to a Curtis Jones strike was absolutely pivotal.

And so, a cup run halted by a landslide in Wimbledon last September concluded with sizeable tremors in Wembley as the fans played a full part, leaving with raw throats, sore hands and red eyes.   

On Jimmy Nail's birthday, a big river of support flowed from the West end and the boost that gave to Bruno & Co. inspired 32,000 Geordie dancers at full time. The Toon Army became Joy Division on a scale that we've never seen before; tears of regret turned once more to tears of happiness.

We don't know what the future looks like yet for this club, but if nothing else the current St.James' Park and those within it finally has a trophy to serenade; lifetimes full of devotion and empty-handed globetrotting at least partially offset by one glorious day. A Home Newcastle rewrite beckons....

The danger signs of commercial excess were there at the other end of the ground though; too many day trippers and onlookers, too little genuine conviction or devotion. And among the proper punters clad in stripes, similar elements are starting to creep in. 

So-called influencers were evident, including several recording continually on their phones and another giving pre-game thoughts to some overseas audience. They cannot become the silent majority, no matter how big their bank balances are: that's what's knacking Spurs in their plush home.

The last word on this day of all days must go to Howe, who succeeds Joe Harvey as the last man to bring silverware up Barrack Road after so many illustrious figures tried and failed. Had we not already worn it out through previous usage, we'd use that "bloke who took Bournemouth down" line again...

Whether this tangible achievement is a staging post to somewhere - or someone - else remains to be seen, but having raised the standards he deserves the opportunity to work for a club that's able to operate properly in the transfer market with a squad to match.

Enjoy the game? too right we did....we've been waiting for it since 1978*. When you're ready.

Biffa

* Biffa's first game (Aston Villa home, drew 1-1) for those who asked. Instantly addicted.....