Eddie Howe threw himself into the arms of his three sons the last time Newcastle played at Wembley. Not in celebration, but distraction.
‘I remember the night of the final, I was not in a great place, not too happy,’ he says. It was two years ago that his team were beaten 2-0 by Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final.
‘I spent the night with my kids, I think they take you away. You can live in that space of rethinking the game, rethinking everything that you’ve done. The kids take you to a much healthier place. Hopefully, I’m not in that mindset again this weekend.’
It feels different on Tyneside this time, even if talk of a curse lingers. Howe hates that word and refuses to use it. There was much hilarity on social media when, replying to my report of Newcastle’s FA Cup defeat by Brighton this month – in which Anthony Gordon was sent off and suspended for today’s final – Newcastle fan Les Cash posted: ‘My Grandad used to tell me the club were cursed in late 1955 after throwing gypsies off their Benwell training ground. Talk was it is 100 years. I used to laugh, but I genuinely believe it now.’
His post went viral but the laughter soon made way for trepidation, when within 48 hours we revealed news of Lewis Hall and Sven Botman needing surgery that would rule them out of the final. The curse was no longer fantasy, it was fact!
‘I don’t subscribe to that way of thinking,’ says Howe. ‘There isn’t always a negative outcome. I understand the finals record isn’t great (five defeats since 1955’s FA Cup win) but I take us qualifying for the Champions League, when we had to go deep into the season, as an example of us being really successful.
Eddie Howe has refused to accept that Newcastle have a trophy ‘curse’ placed on them
The Magpies face Liverpool in Sunday’s EFL Cup final, seeking their first trophy in 70 years
This is Newcastle’s second trip to the EFL Cup final in three years, their last coming in 2023
‘Our destiny is in our own hands. I’m not even going to use the word (curse). It is not in our mindset. It’s about us delivering a great performance. Talking about the other outcome (winning), that is exciting.’
Newcastle last scored at Wembley 25 years ago when Rob Lee netted in a 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea.
‘We spoke with him and I touched his feet,’ says captain Bruno Guimaraes. ‘To give me a little bit of luck. Hopefully I can do the same.’
We inform Guimaraes that Lee scored with his head. Maybe the gypsies were at work during that meeting.
But Howe is right when he says there will be no talk or thought of what has gone before come Sunday’s kick-off. In a perverse way, events of the past fortnight have stoked belief. The adversity has lit a fire under a group whose season was starting to flicker.
A 1-0 win at West Ham on Monday was hard work and a hard watch, but it eased that sense of impending doom. Suddenly, chiselled from victory, was a granite resolve and collective will. Howe has felt that this week.
‘You have to come together stronger (in adversity),’ says the head coach. ‘The week that we had certainly didn’t go as planned – and losing big players as well as important players is never easy – but you have to come back stronger in a more unified way. It’s how you respond. We try to double down on our core strengths.
‘That’s why West Ham was so important – and it wasn’t lost on any of us after the game. That increased our feeling, our unity, our belief internally. We needed that win.’
Newcastle suffered a 2-0 defeat by Manchester United in their last trip to the EFL Cup final
To that end, preparations for Wembley will mirror that of West Ham. The only suits will be tracksuits. There will be no emotional, pre-match speeches, as delivered by Dan Burn in 2023. He is an England player now, don’t forget. Howe wants his players to feel like they belong in cup finals, to behave like internationals. A cup final is a football match, not a day out.
So, will the manager wear a suit for the walk from the tunnel, at least?
‘My attire will be very consistent with what you normally see,’ says Howe. ‘I am very respectful of traditions and what it means to be in that position as Newcastle manager, but I think I’m better off focusing on the game rather than my attire.
‘But leading the team out will mean everything to me. I am so proud to represent the city and I want to do it in the right way, to try and make everyone proud and happy. That is the challenge we have this weekend. My desire to win could not be greater. You can talk a good game, but it’s how you act every day, it’s how you push the team to new levels. I feel as motivated as I’ve ever been.”
Newcastle do not have to beat gypsies today. They should not have to beat themselves, either. They have to beat Liverpool. Do that and they will have beaten 70 years of hurt. Do that and Howe’s boys will see a very happy dad.
