Top flight clubs without title: EFL Cup winners Newcastle United break the spell

Football trips and tickets Carabao Cup are available with us – and that's a good thing. Because the thrilling League Cup season 2024/2025 in England was inaccessible to TV viewers in Germany and Austria. No broadcaster was able to purchase the TV rights for this competition, meaning that the final between FC Liverpool and Newcastle United 1:2 on March 16, 2025, went unnoticed. And that's a shame, as it was Newcastle United's first national title in 70 years. 

It wasn’t an underdog story playing out at Wembley Stadium in London, but one that we will all likely remember for the next 70 years.

Newcastle United had waited that long for a national title! The last time the northern English club claimed “silverware” in a domestic competition was in 1955.

The end of a seemingly endless drought

Afterward, Newcastle United only won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the predecessor competition to the UEFA Cup, in 1969. 

Before that, Birmingham City (1960 and 1961) and Leeds United (1968) had also won this cup from England. 

The team led by captain Bobby Moncur (who scored 3 goals in both finals) defeated Ujpest Budapest 3:0 and 3:2 in the final matches. Pop Robson surpassed Jupp Heynckes of Hannover 96 with 6 goals in the competition… 

In 1955, Newcastle United won the FA Cup at Wembley with a 3:1 victory over Manchester City before 100,000 fans in the English football temple. 

The last triumph for a long, long time. 

After that, it became: „You‘ll never wait alone!” Newcastle United traveled to Wembley for finals nine more times – and lost 5 finals, most recently in the League Cup final 2023 against Manchester United (0:2 / event-breaks.com reported). 

In the first peak phase of the Premier League, the “Magpies” threw away the title

Even the arguably best Newcastle team, featuring Faustino Asprilla, Dave Batty, Peter Beardsley, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer, and with HSV- and Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan as coach, couldn’t secure any trophies.

It was the time when the Premier League in the mid-1990s attracted international stars. “The Magpies” were at the top of the Premier League table until late November in the 1996/97 season, but then a 1:2 defeat against Arsenal in a direct clash with the second-placed team and 4 games without a win cost them the title. Even the runner-up spot was lost in an epic 3:4 defeat at FC Liverpool on the 37th matchday.

It’s an irony of history that FC Liverpool was again the opponent this time.

“The Reds” never got into the game against United. Their exit in the Champions League round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain (1:4 / 0:1 extra time / first leg: 1:0) had hit them harder than initially expected on Merseyside. England legend Keir Radnedge described it as a “tired and inexplicably lethargic performance” from the Premier League leaders.

The team from Anfield, still leading the Premier League by 12 points, could not win their second consecutive final-character game in this calendar year.

It was 2:1 for Newcastle United, thanks to a player who had flown under the radar at the Bundesliga club BVB.

A player who had several stops before finding his big striker fortune at Newcastle United: Alexander Isak from Sweden.

The new Newcastle owners from Saudi Arabia paid 70 million euros for his services to Real Sociedad San Sebastián – never before had the club from northern England bought a more expensive player.

He struck Liverpool at the heart with a 2:0 goal (52nd minute). Federico Chiesa’s 1:2 (90+4) was not enough for Liverpool to turn the game around despite their fighting qualities.

Thus, it was clear: 56 and 70 years without a title were over.

“We wanted the trophy after all those years of pain”

“We knew what was at stake for the people here and in Newcastle,” said Newcastle’s English manager Eddie Howe after the historic triumph, “we really wanted to win the trophy after all these years of pain. I think we deserve it.”

The first scorer was also Newcastle’s first Wembley final scorer since 1976 (1:2 against Manchester United / League Cup): Dan Burn.

The 32-year-old veteran was later nominated for the “Three Lions” by England's German national coach Thomas Tuchel via SMS. “I had to send a few SMSs to make sure it was really him,” Burn commented on the contact.

Yes, it really was him, and yes, Newcastle United really won a title. Even though none of it was shown on TV. In the words of Mr. Scruff: Keep it unreal.