NEWCASTLE fans have been absolutely starved of success in recent years… well, decades, actually.
The long-suffering Toon faithful will be hoping to have something to celebrate this Sunday when they face Manchester United in the final of the Carabao Cup.
Eddie Howe is working wonders at St James’ Park and looks likely to be the man to finally end the silverware drought and bring back the glory days to the North East.
In fact, Newcastle haven’t won a trophy since 2006.
And even then, they were only awarded a plaque for “winning” the Intertoto Cup.
Incredibly, 11 TEAMS were crowned champions – with their victory in Europe’s old third tier competition seeing them promoted to the Uefa Cup.
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Newcastle were eventually named outright winners after progressing further than their 10 rivals in what’s now known as the Europa League.
But Glenn Roeder’s squad weren’t given a traditional trophy for their achievement.
Instead, then-captain Scott Parker was given a plaque.
Still, for a team absolutely itching for a title, it’s silverware, so who cares?
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After all, it was Newcastle’s first “trophy” for 37 years, since their Inter-Cities Fairs Cup win of 1968-69. Ouch.
The Toon beat Lillestrom 4-1 on aggregate – winning 3-0 in Norway following a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.
Here’s how Roeder set up his team that day…
SHAY GIVEN
The Ireland legend played 462 times for the Toon – including their 3-0 win at Lillestrom.
Given left to join Manchester City in 2009 and also turned out for Stoke, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa before retiring.
Since hanging up his gloves, the 134-cap former international has turned to coaching – working under Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney at Derby following a spell as No2 at Villa under Paul Lambert while still a player.
STEPHEN CARR
Another former Irish international, Carr spent five years at St James’ Park following 13 seasons at Totteham.
The right-back moved to Birmingham in 2009 before retiring four years later.
The club had hoped he’d stay on as coach, but Carr instead headed to Spain to open a string of bars – with Eva Longoria and Katie Price among the punters.
TITUS BRAMBLE
A £6million buy under Sir Bobby Robson, Bramble became famous for a string of blunders and was even voted the Premier League’s Worst Player of the Year in 2004 by The Fiver.
But his volleyed goal against Chelsea secured Newcastle’s place in the Intertoto Cup en route to their victory.
The cult icon also played for Ipswich, Wigan and Sunderland in his career, before retiring in 2013.
Bramble briefly served as player-coach at non-league Stowmarket Town in 2017 following a spell as Under-11s coach at Ipswich in 2014.
He is now an ambassador and lead coach for Future Stars 15 – helping youngsters in Togo and Ghana.
STEVEN TAYLOR
The New Zealand defender spent a staggering 21 years at Newcastle – and saw them yo-yo between the Premier League and Championship as well as their Intertoto Cup success.
The centre-back still only managed 268 appearances in the first-team in that time before embarking a late journeyman career.
Taylor played for Portland Timbers, Ipswich, Peterborough, Wellington Phoenix (twice) and Odisha before retiring in 2021.
Last year, Taylor was named coach of Gulf United in the UAE and helped the team achieve promotion to the Second Division.
CELESTINE BABAYARO
The left-back joined the Toon from Chelsea in 2005 and would play 47 times before rekindling his relationship with old Blues boss Ruud Gullit at LA Galaxy.
But after a fall-out regarding his attitude, he was axed after just 45 minutes of pre-season action.
Babayaro trained with Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth, but he retired after they failed to offer the Nigerian a contract.
Since retiring, Babayaro has a number of reported business interests, including football agent and brand ambassador for Nigerian National League side Kaduna United.
NOLBERTO SOLANO
The Toon legend starred at St James’ Park across two spells – between 1998-2004 and 2005-2007 – with a stint at Aston Villa sandwiched between.
“Nobby” racked up over 300 appearances in all, including the Intertoto Cup success, before winding down his career with West Ham, Larissa, Universitario, Leicester, Hull and Hartlepool.
Solano moved into coaching, first with non-league Newcastle Benfield, before spells in Peru and Canada.
He most-recently worked as Peru’s assistant manager – leaving his post in June 2022.
EMRE
The Turkey legend spent three seasons at Newcastle – including the Intertoto Cup-winning year.
He scored the third in the 3-0 win at Lillestrom.
Emre played 82 times for the club, before turning out for Fenerbahce across three spells, as well as Atletico Madrid and Istanbul Basaksehir.
The midfielder retired in 2020 before taking over as Fenerbahce interim boss in 2021.
He later took charge of Istanbul Basaksehir – where he still manages to this day.
SCOTT PARKER
The ex-Toon captain has hit the headlines recently with Club Brugge fans already turning on their recently-appointed boss.
Before all that though, Parker enjoyed a stellar career with Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham and Fulham.
The 18-cap England international retired in 2017 before moving into management.
Parker took charge of Fulham between 2019 and 2021, before his time at Bournemouth.
He was sacked by the Cherries just days after a 9-0 thumping against Liverpool in August 2022.
Parker is now in charge of Club Brugge in Belgium, but fans were quick to vent their frustration after just seven weeks amid a torrid run of form.
CHARLES N’ZOGBIA
The two-cap former France star kicked off his senior career at Newcastle, playing 155 times between 2004 and 2009.
He spent three years at Wigan and four at Aston Villa before a proposed move to Nantes was cancelled after the discovery of a heart issue.
N’Zogbia never officially announced his retirement and lives a low-profile life in France.
JAMES MILNER
Just a youngster during the Intertoto Cup campaign, Milner spent two years in the Leeds first team before moving to St James’.
The then-winger-turned-full-back-turned-central-midfielder moved to Villa in 2008 before five seasons with newly-rich Man City, helping them to their first Premier League title.
Milner moved on a free to Liverpool in 2015 and would go on to help them also win their first Prem crown in 2019-20, as well as the Champions League in 2018-19.
He was also a key member of the squad to win the FA Cup and Carabao Cup last season, as well as reach the Champions League final.
Still playing at Liverpool at the age of 37, the 61-cap England international is trusted by boss Jurgen Klopp to be an experienced leader in big matches.
The super-fit, age-defying midfielder is almost certain to move into coaching after retiring from playing.
SHOLA AMEOBI
The forward spent 19 years at Newcastle, working his way through the youth ranks and playing 397 times for the first-team, scoring 79 goals.
He scored the first two goals in the Lillestrom win, en route to Intertoto Cup glory.
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Wound down his career with Gaziantep, Crystal Palace, Bolton, Fleetwood and Notts County before retiring in 2018.
A year later he returned to Newcastle to become the club’s first ever loan manager.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
