Wipe Howay those tears
Our voice of the North
THE last time Newcastle won a domestic cup competition in 1955, the heroes got a £25 bonus.
A few years ago, the last surviving member of that team Vic Keeble – now sadly passed away – told me how it was spent.
The team pooled their bonus kitty. “On a horse,” Keeble recalled. “We had inside info on a four-horse race at Newmarket…. But it came third! So we all ended up with nothing but our £3-a-week wages.”
And don’t forget legendary status, of course, after a 3-1 win over Man City in front of 100,000, their third FA Cup win in five seasons.
Eddie Howe will tell his players to take the heightened emotion out of the day – to play the game, not the occasion – against Man United this afternoon. But heroes are made on days like today and tears are never far away. History and stories that never grow old are created, along with precious family memories for players and fans.
Keeble said as the team coach crawled up a packed Wembley Way before the game, his mum, dad and sister tapped on the window and waved to him. “It brought a tear to the eye,” he told me. “Still does.”
That came to mind this week when Sean Longstaff (above) detailed a moment during Newcastle’s semi-final win against Southampton.
He’d scored twice and as the battle concluded Longstaff said: “I locked eyes with Dan Burn and I thought we were going to shed a little tear together, to be honest.”
Outwardly, players project themselves as super-fit, well-drilled football machines.
But inside there is still an emotional human battling to stay cool in the moment as the dream they had as a kid plays out.
Newcastle’s lack of a modern-day trophy looms heavily over the club. But a mix of determined, steely eyed resilience, plus controlled, emotional desperation to win can see them over the line. Then the real tears can flow.
The last word...
SACKING a decent boss with no replacement lined up, mid-season with crucial games ahead, is never a good look.
Leeds have found that out after axing Jesse Marsch. Carlos Corberan signed a new contract at West Brom, Andoni Iraola – the Rayo Vallecano boss – Arne Slot at Feyenoord and Marcelo Gallardo all refused to move mid-campaign.
Does that make Javi Gracia fifth choice? It looks messy.