Newcastle United have another shot at silverware at the Carabao Cup final in March.
The Magpies have not won a major trophy since 1969 when Joe Harvey won the Fairs Cup with the likes of Bob Moncur, Bryan Robson and Wyn Davies in his side.
Since then, Newcastle United have played in five cup finals, most recently the 2023 Carabao Cup final where they lost to Manchester United.
Fans will be hoping that it’s sixth time lucky in 2025 but by no means will it be easy. Newcastle must beat Premier League leaders Liverpool in the final, a team who have already beaten them this season. Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in February was a preview of what the cup final could turn out to be, but Eddie Howe will be keen to bring silverware back to Tyneside for the first time in 56 years.
Newcastle were without Alexander Isak for the game after he missed out through injury but will have the Swede available to him on Sunday.
One person who could be in attendance for the final is Kenny Dalglish, who has managed both Newcastle and Liverpool, although his time at the latter was much more memorable. Dalglish did still create some fond memories at Newcastle, however, managing the Magpies during their first season in the Champions League, recording a memorable win against Barcelona at St James’ Park.
Unfortunately, things went sour for Dalglish who left Newcastle at the beginning of the 1998/99 season after drawing the opening two games.
In 2020, Dalglish opened up on his time at the club and revealed why his time there left him bitterly disappointed.
Kenny Dalglish still likes Newcastle United
There is no confirmation of who Dalglish would prefer to win the Carabao Cup, but it is likely to be Liverpool, who he spent 20 years at as a player and manager.
Dalglish succeeded Kevin Keegan, who is considered one of the most important figures in the club’s history. Despite playing for both teams, Keegan wants Newcastle to win the Carabao Cup, but would still like Liverpool to win the Premier League.
In an interview with the Athletic in 2020, Dalglish spoke to Newcastle’s record goalscorer Alan Shearer about his 20-month stint on Tyneside.
“I was lucky to be brought up through Celtic and developed at Liverpool,” he said
“Then I managed some iconic clubs. Newcastle was the most disappointing one for me, but it didn’t take away the enjoyment I got up there and I still have a soft spot for them. Blackburn was an absolute fairytale and Liverpool was just beyond any of my expectations and wildest dreams. So I’ve not done too badly.”
On his time at Newcastle, Dalglish said: “There aren’t many occasions when you get a job and the team are sitting fourth in the Premier League. For me, it was a great opportunity. The boys loved Kevin, and rightly so. He’d been hugely successful, they’d enjoyed playing football for him and I came in and I was different. Kevin’s philosophy was about letting people play, but I wanted everybody to contribute.
“Sometimes some of the players were a wee bit difficult. It’s not the players’ fault, it’s my fault, but sometimes it was difficult for me to understand why a player couldn’t help their team-mate on the pitch. We finished second that season and then qualified for the Champions League proper after a play-off.
“I loved working at Newcastle, loved working for the board. It was fantastic, but the money just wasn’t there. I’m not using that as an excuse, it’s just a fact.
“At the same time, Kevin had abolished the reserve team, so there was no pathway for kids to get to the first team and I needed to get that up and running for the benefit of the club — Sir John Hall’s dream was to have a team of 11 Geordie players — as well as bring in first-team players.
“John Barnes came in on a free, Ian Rush, Stuart Pearce. That wasn’t Newcastle’s style. In the second year, we finished 13th, but we were in the Champions League and had that memorable night against Barcelona, when we won 3-2, and got to the FA Cup final, but you’d had that terrible ankle ligament injury in pre-season when Les Ferdinand was in the process of moving to Tottenham Hotspur. There was a lot of change.”
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Newcastle suffered for another year after Kenny Dalglish left
After getting Newcastle to the Champions League the season before, Dalglish sold several important players, including Les Ferdinand and David Ginola and signed older players he had managed previously like Ian Rush and John Barnes to replace them.
It didn’t out and Newcastle fell to 13th in the Premier League, although they did reach the FA Cup final that season.
After Dalglish was sacked, Newcastle appointed Ruud Gullit where things got much worse. They reached another FA Cup final but stayed 13th in the league. Gullit was then sacked following defeat to arch-rivals Sunderland at St James’ Park – a game where fans fumed as Shearer was only named on the bench.
Things ended up positive for Newcastle, however, Sir Bobby Robson was appointed and they were back in the Champions League the very next season.
Sir Bobby’s influence is still felt at Newcastle to this day, but it could’ve been much different. Robson wanted to sign Shearer while he was Barcelona’s manager in 1996, it worked out well for both parties though, with Robson eventually managing Shearer for five years at Newcastle.
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