Eddie Howe: 

"It was hot, we should have just been ahead in the first half but Chelsea came into it and I was pleased to get a draw in the end.

"We're disappointed with the second half performance but I don't want to criticise the players for what they've given me this season - the message is thank you, but next season is going to be even harder.

"The away support we've had this year has been incredible. A lot has been made of St James' Park, but the numbers we've taken wherever we've gone and the noise they create is phenomenal. It was great to perform in front of them today.

"A real unity has been hugely important. We'll get going again and rise to the challenge after a little break."

On transfer plans:

"We had discussions last night (with the owners), they took place. We know where we stand. The budget? When you're sat in my shoes it's never as big as you'd want it to be! Without Champions League football it would have been difficult for us to do much, but that's given us a lift.

"The most important people at the club are the players we already have. It's not just the transfer fees, the wages. That makes it hard to attract the very best players on the market.

"Financial fair play will impact on what we do. We’re not huge payers of wages. The big clubs will always dwarf us on that. We go into a lot of competitions next year, so we need the depth. Certainly with three games in a week we're going to be stretched.

"The players we currently have need to be fit and ready to go at start of next season. We start from zero. And if we can add one or two in the transfer market that would be good news."

On debutant Lewis Miley:

"Lewy's a really exciting talent, he should be pleased with how he did when he came on.
"It’s a tough environment to come into for your first Premier League game, but he could have nicked it. He’s a very good finisher, so it wouldn’t have surprised me to see that go in."

On Allan Saint-Maximin's future:

"That will be dictated by Maxi himself. He has so much ability, and he’s such an important player for us when he’s at his very best, fitness-wise. He’s unique, there’s no one like him in the Premier League.

"You saw he’s a huge transitional threat today, his end product was there, so really pleased. We just hope he comes back really fit, and ready to do well in what is a massive season for him personally."

They Said

The departing Frank Lampard:

"I don't want to get caught on the appointment until it comes. I'm a big fan of (Mauricio) Pochettino as a manager, I think he's a very good manager. But it's not about which individual it might be it's about getting the right high level of manager. 

"Pochettino's history tells you he works at clubs of this sort of level and then letting him get to work with the players he creates a solid identity in a team that can win more games. Those things aren't always overnight things, so we have to be careful with expectations a little bit.

"There's a lot of work to be done. That's my synopsis after six weeks, the basics that I keep talking about - standards are so relevant to this club at the minute. Standards collectively have dropped - I can be honest about that as it's my last game and I might not see some of them that much anyway! 

"Standards as a collective for a club like Chelsea have to be at the maximum or you won't be physically competitive enough, or you won't be able to play at a high level, high speed the Premier League demands.

"If you're not together in the dressing room and vocal in the dressing room, and driving each other and competitive because I want your place and you want mine. Every top team has to have that. 

"At the minute, when I came in very quickly I could see that wasn't there enough. Of course a very good manager can help that but everyone has to take responsibility.

"We played like a Chelsea team should at home. We had more threat, more confident than we've been and we created chances. They did too but they are a good team; nothing to play for gave them freedom. You have to be careful not to get into a transitional game with Newcastle because they are a running team.

"It was nice (to say goodbye to the fans), I really appreciate them. Chelsea fans understand the tough position we were in when I came here. Although we haven't got the results we want this season, it is what it is. I'm not too nostalgic. I've got a great bond with the club and I'll be back many times."

"Today felt like another staging post on the way to somewhere positive, 
a welcome reminder that this is all meant to be an entertainment 
rather than the joyless commitment that it became for so long."

We'll begin at the end, with our sign-off line from the opening weekend victory over Nottingham Forest way back in August. The usual early season optimism is evident - not least because we'd recorded a win at the first time of asking, rather than game number 15 as was the case in 2022.

Little did we know then though just how miraculous and enjoyable the following ten months would turn out to be; a resurgence in fortunes, a team worth watching, a sleeping giant awakes etc. Insert your own cliche, it's all been bloody marvellous (except Wembley if we're being honest....)

Which brings us to today and a semi-serious end of season affair that petered out as a depleted Magpies side running on fumes failed to improve on the fourth place they occupied at kick off.

There was a 20 minute flirtation with third spot after our opener was followed by Fulham going ahead at Old Trafford. However Aleksander Mitrovic's botched penalty triggered Manchester United into action and an equaliser soon followed before the Red Devils won it, rending our result meaningless.

Gloriously irrelevant might have been a better description though, the outcome at Stamford Bridge of no consequence to a loud and proud away support. They backed their side superbly before, during and after the game; rounding things off by serenading a clearly delighted Eddie Howe, as his players threw their shirts into the crowd.

Repeated chants in support of Anthony Gordon before kick off were quickly repaid when he struck from close range to open the scoring with his first goal for the Magpies in the ninth minute.

Kieran Trippier inadvertently diverted Raheem Sterling's effort past Martin Dubravka to level things up and there were further chances at both ends in the first period, Miggy Almiron in particular guilty of wasting a couple of great opportunities.

Left back Matt Targett was having an uncomfortable afternoon after a rare start - one of four changes to the side that had drawn with Leicester City to seal Champions League football.

Allan Saint-Maximin also came into the side along with Martin Dubravka and goalscorer Gordon with Elliot Anderson keeping his place in midfield. Callum Wilson and Dan Burn started on the bench as Alexander Isak spearheaded the attack.

A tame second half came to life in the final ten minutes; debutant Lewis Miley unlucky to see an effort skim the top of the bar and Chelsea making and missing a clutch of opportunities, underlining the lack of a scoring threat that contributed to their worst league season in quarter of a century. 

Defeat for Newcastle would have been a slightly disappointing end however to what has been an incredible season home and away, but a combination of good fortune and some face-saving tackles halted a depressing sequence of results here with the relative riches of a goal and a point.

While basking in the West London sun and the warm glow of a first Champions League campaign in two decades, the next challenge is never far away. 

A predictable summer of fevered transfer speculation will follow, but the composition of the squad will be even more pivotal next season: the additional challenge of Europe balanced with increased domestic competition as teams like Chelsea and Spurs drag themselves out of the doldrums. 

Elsewhere, Leeds United and Leicester City joined Southampton in the Championship; Everton's home win over Bournemouth enough to keep them up and ensure one more visit to Goodison next season.

The Foxes who were high-fiving themselves after a goalless draw at SJP ultimately paid the price for that policy; their victory today rendered totally irrelevant by events elsewhere. 

As for Sam Allardyce & Co. who also thought a point against us was worth celebrating, he now has a second top flight relegation to add to his self-proclaimed fantastic CV. What a damn shame.

We've often signed off a season with something of the "glad it's all over" ilk - but not this time. 

One win in the final five games indicates that the team ultimately struggled over the line, but from the stands it's been an absolute joy to witness. 

At one point in the season we spoke of turning the clock back, be it Shearer and Sir Bobby or Keegan's entertainers. In the event though, it's gone beyond that: this is new stuff not a revival; an evolving and as yet-unwritten history where we might not actually end up as gallant losers.

The usual gratitude is expressed at this point for transport, accommodations, pints, praise and everything in between that got us through another season. Onwards and for once, upwards.     

Biffa