How Your Local Team Can Take Inspiration From Newcastle
Many small local clubs will wear their team kits with pride every year, despite not being notably successful. Come the end of the season, they will watch on as other teams regularly pick up the cups and league titles. This is as true at junior and non-league level as it is at the top of the game.
That is why the sight of the rather more famous black and white shirts of Newcastle United celebrating on the pitch and in the stands after winning the Carabao Cup may be a story your team can take inspiration from.
For 56 years, since winning the now-defunct Fairs Cup of 1969, Newcastle has been a trophy-free zone, with 30 different English and Welsh clubs winning at least one trophy in that time. This includes the likes of Oxford United, Luton Town, Stoke City, Coventry City and Swansea City, not to mention north-east rivals Sunderland and Middlesbrough.
The wait for a domestic trophy had stretched back even further, to the 1955 FA Cup, which made the 2-1 win over Liverpool at Wembley even more satisfying for the ‘Toon Army’.
During the last 56 years, Newcastle have lost five domestic cup finals and were twice runners-up in the Premier League, most famously when they – and an over-emotional Kevin Keegan – melted down under the relentless pressure of Manchester United’s late run in 1996.
A big question for local teams playing in minor leagues, such as their local Sunday league or junior league, is whether they can take inspiration from Newcastle’s feat and bring an end to many barren years.
Your team may not play in front of crowds of 50,000 and won’t be owned by Saudi billionaires, but if you can be inspired by what Newcastle have just managed to do and grab some silverware, you will – like Kevin Keegan – just “love it”.