Newcastle’s near misses: The chances that slipped by during 70 years of hurt
By Damian Spellman, PA
Newcastle moved a step closer to ending a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy when they saw off Arsenal to reach a second Carabao Cup final in three seasons.
The Magpies completed a 4-0 aggregate victory over the Gunners at St James’ Park on Wednesday and will now face either Liverpool or Tottenham at Wembley on Sunday, March 16.
Here, we look at Newcastle’s near misses on home soil since winning the FA Cup in 1955.
Nineteen years after their sixth and last FA Cup triumph, the Magpies, who had Malcolm Macdonald spearheading their armoury, headed back to Wembley with high hopes.
But they were undone by a man who would later play a significant role on Tyneside as Kevin Keegan scored twice, either side of Steve Heighway’s strike, to send the trophy to Merseyside.
The Magpies’ bid for a first League Cup success ended in disappointment despite Alan Gowling cancelling out Peter Barnes’ early opener.
A minute into the second half, Dennis Tueart dashed their hopes with a spectacular overhead kick after Tommy Booth had headed Willie Donachie’s cross back across goal.
Keegan’s Newcastle were in pole position to claim a first league title since 1927 and a fifth in total when they went 12 points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table in January 1996.
However, they won only seven of their last 15 games as United took 40 points from a possible 45 – three of them from an Eric Cantona-inspired 1-0 win at St James’ on March 4 – to claim the title by four.
A cup run which included a hard-fought victory over non-league Stevenage in the fourth – a tie which went to a replay as Alan Shearer returned to the starting line-up after a lengthy injury lay-off – eventually resulted in another trip to Wembley for Kenny Dalglish’s men.
However, goals from Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka either side of half-time saw Arsenal complete the league and cup double.
Having led Chelsea to FA Cup glory in 1997, Ruud Gullit took the Magpies back to Wembley two years later, intent on a repeat.
This time, it was their misfortune to come across a Treble-chasing Manchester United side, with goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes doing the damage.
Newcastle’s first trip to Wembley in 24 years was delivered by Eddie Howe as his Saudi-backed resurgence promised to pay dividends much sooner than expected.
However, once again they could not reproduce the form which had got them there as Casemiro and Marcus Rashford both struck within six first-half minutes to extend the wait.