Finally!

I have to confess to being a wee bit emotional about this one…

I might not be the football obsessive I used to be, but I’m almost 49 years old, and despite leaving Newcastle when I was only 4 the football team has been part of my life that whole time. From getting ‘free’ Panini swaps of Newcastle players from school friends (basically because I was weird and didn’t support Aberdeen or Rangers, which seemed the only choices in Aberdeenshire - and no, I don’t understand the Rangers side of things either), to watching the ‘almost’ Keegan teams in the 90s at the house of the dad of a friend of the family as he had Sky TV, which we couldn’t afford; watching us beat Man Utd 5-0 in a pub in Lyon (“…. That’s Phillippe Albeeeeeeert!”); and finding disappointment in every final performance….

First (proper) trophy since 1969; first domestic trophy since 1955. I managed to terrify Jasper when Dan Burn headed in the first (he’s fine now). I wish they’d done this sooner. I wish they’d done it when I was a fanatic. But I’m still going to reserve the right to be over the moon.

(And it adds a dimension to a trip to Newcastle in three weeks for An Audience with Les Ferdinand - a Christmas present for my dad, but most certainly also for me).