Two weeks have passed since that historic and sensational night in North West London when Newcastle United turned the page on a five-and-a-half-decade-long chapter to begin a fresh new one, and yet it still feels scarcely believable—like a dream I am both living and sleeping through, waiting to wake up from.

Having watched from afar as many opportunities to win silverware came and went, felt the despair of finishing empty-handed, endured the negativity of the dark times, and observed the shifting landscape of top-level football in the UK for three of those five-and-a-half decades, I became conditioned to accepting that mountaintops would always be out of reach—that moments of exhilarating highs, like the 5-0 win over Manchester United in 1996 or the 4-1 humiliation of Paris St. Germain in the UEFA Champions League, would be as good as it got in my lifetime.

While those moments were joyous and never taken for granted, it should be noted that for many other football clubs in the UK and around the world, those exhilarating highs are what supporters continue to live and breathe for. In a perfect footballing world, everything would be equal, and no club would have a divine right to win anything. However, with the ever-increasing gap between elite-level clubs and those lower down the footballing pyramid across the continent—mirroring the changes taking place in society—those mountaintops are drifting further and further out of reach for many clubs and fans.

Which is why, regardless of the reality and outside opinions on the majority owners, Newcastle United’s triumph at Wembley over the mighty Liverpool feels like a fairytale moment for a football club—and a group of supporters—starved of success. As part of Sky Sports’ pre-match coverage, there was a focus on the historical achievements of both clubs up to the present day. Before their previous meeting on English football’s grandest stage in 1974, the roll call of major honours for Newcastle United and Liverpool was practically even, with twelve and thirteen titles, respectively. Since then, Liverpool have gone on to win fifty-three major honours, while Newcastle endured fifty-six years without one.

The weight of that long drought, the sense of occasion, and the stature of the opponents all contributed to the excitement, nervousness, and emotional highs and lows I felt throughout the day—from the train journey down on Sunday morning from my home in the Midlands, to warm-up pints at Mabel’s Tavern and The Mad Dog & Mags in King’s Cross, to watching the near one hundred minutes of action from the stands at Wembley Stadium.

As a young boy in my early teens, sitting on my living room floor watching our FA Cup final and semi-final appearances in the late 1990s—at times peering through fingers covering my face—it was an absolute thrill and privilege to be in attendance at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, March 16, 2025, to watch my team in a major cup final. I was fortunate to acquire a ticket in the Club Wembley seats through my employer, albeit overlooking the Liverpool supporters at their end of the ground, but none of that mattered—especially when I took my seat and looked directly across to see a sea of black and white in the distance, like an army of soldiers marching toward me. It was a jaw-dropping sight, and a feeling began to spread through me that today was going to be very different.

Through my earliest experiences watching live football, I had learned to maintain a level of decorum and inconspicuousness when sitting among opposing supporters—not only out of respect but also for my own safety. On this occasion, as I walked to Wembley with my work associates, I understood that the restraint I had exercised during my adolescent years might once again be necessary. However, whatever my intentions were as I passed through the turnstiles and took my seat, something rather familiar happened once the ball was kicked—from roaring the lads into tackles and headers, to bemoaning the occasional incorrect decision (courtesy of our own Jacob Murphy!), to the sheer release of joy and ecstasy when ‘Big’ Dan Burn and Alexander Isak made the net ripple on either side of half-time.

The elation, the tears, and the numbness at the final whistle—when the realisation of this new reality set in—was something new entirely. The understanding that life, from the perspective of supporting my football team, had changed forever. A near life-long dream fulfilled, years of hurt and longing for success at the highest level washed away in an instant.

In my time supporting Newcastle United, there have been sixteen different managers across three eras of ownership. Many of them—including the most recent, Eddie Howe—have instilled a sense of a new beginning at St. James’ Park, fuelling hopes of impending glory in the years to come. Yet, as those eras and managers came and went, the concept of glory became increasingly skewed, with major silverware feeling like a more distant and unrealistic dream for many reasons.

Sunday, March 16, 2025—a date forever etched in my diary—marked a new dawn for the football club. It was a day when glory once again meant major silverware, when lifting a trophy became proof of concept rather than just a theory.

Whatever the future holds, with staff, managers, and players continuing to come and go, one thing is certain—the curtain has fallen on a long, unwanted narrative for Newcastle United. The mood and spirit within the club, throughout the city, and among thousands of supporters around the world have changed for the better.

Within a footballing context, and in light of the events of the past fortnight, the lives of many Newcastle supporters have been changed forever.