Newcastle United fans were on top of the world as they partied into the early hours of this morning after humbling Liverpool in yesterday’s League Cup final.
The Toon Army took to Covent Garden with wild celebrations to mark the end of a 56-year trophy drought and the first domestic trophy win in 70 years.
It comes after the club beat Arne Slot’s side 2-1, gaining their first major accolade since the 1955 FA Cup, with local hero Dan Burn and in-form striker Alexander Isak netting the goals inside Wembley Stadium.
Hardly able to contain their joy, iconic TV duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly jumped with glee as they celebrated the Carabao Cup win.
Their jubilation would set the tone for the night and it was not long before some fans were dancing shirtless on telephone boxes and even scaling metres-long poles on the street.
Photos of the celebrations capture hundreds of smiling supporters dressed in the Magpies’ colours, raising their arms and jumping in the air.
And the aftermath of the excitement was palpable this morning with snaps of fans leaving from King’s Cross back to Newcastle, still with big grins on their face from the buzz of celebrating all night.
The scenes at Covent Garden were particularly raucous with men balancing cake on their head and toasting joyfully to the good news.
One extraordinary video displays an individual taking to the top of a red telephone box before proudly launching the club’s flag into the air to whoops and cheers.
The die-hard fan then begins a dance amid chants from the crowd.
Equally astonishing, another man in Covent Garden scales his way to the top of a street pole and is met with loud applause.
Fans honked horns to the sound of chants and claps and supporters shouted ‘come on’ as they waved the Newcastle United flag.
In Newcastle, hundreds flocked to St James’ Park to partake in the celebrations.
It comes as Juliette Pastore, fiance of Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali, had been in high spirits as she joined the Magpies’ faithful ahead of Sunday’s final.
A regular at St James’ Park, Juliette embraced the pre-match celebrations, posing with fans and draping herself in Newcastle flags—one of which featured Sandro’s face in a Birra Moretti-style design, highlighting his move from Milan to Tyneside in 2023.
Fans at the park later climbed the statue of Alan Shearer as they chanted and cheered through the night.
The club’s fate was sealed at the match when Isak, Newcastle’s top goalscorer this season, doubled his side’s fortunes on the other end of half-time to put them two up.
In their Instagram story on Sunday, Ant and Dec cried out: ‘We did ittttt!’ in an emotional selfie-style video, before bursting into laughs.
‘I’ve lost my voice. Oh my God, this is amazing,’ said Ant, while Dec added: ‘I cannot believe it! This is the best day of my life.
‘Apart from the wedding and the kids and all that… it’s the best day of my life!’
It comes after Burn opened the scoring for Newcastle with a header from no less than 15 yards out, following Kieran Trippier’s corner.
The 6ft 5in centre back climbed high to nod the ball into the bottom left corner and sent thousands of Newcastle fans – including the presenters – into frenzy.
Burn’s goal means he has scored more non-penalty goals in cup finals than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah – the Egyptian King is yet to manage such a feat despite being one of Europe’s form players this season.
But all the Geordies were thinking about was the trophy, which Brazilian captain Bruno Guimaraes and manager Eddie Howe lifted in the final presentation.
Also in the stands was Newcastle legend Alan Shearer – the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer, who is a regular on BBC’s Match of the Day, swapped his TV duties to make the trip to north-west London to watch his former side.
After Isak’s winning goal, there were a nervy few moments when Fererico Chiesa halves the deficit with a few minutes left.
But the Toon showed strong character to see the game out, and the final whistle saw the majority of the 88,500-strong crowd celebrate wildly – with a number of fans brought to tears.
Slot, who only took over at Liverpool from legendary boss Jurgen Klopp this season, went deep into his bench to throw everything he had at Howe’s side, making five second-half substitutions.
It was substitutes Harvey Elliot and Chiesa who linked up to pull one back for Liverpool in the 94th minute, but it was too little too late for the Premier League leaders.
Footage recorded from behind their dugout by ITV showed players stood nervously around the bench, their arms around each other’s shoulders.
But after the final whistle sounded, they began to leap into the air in sheer jubilation before hugging those around them and spilling out onto the Wembley surface.
It did not take long for the emotions to burst to the surface as Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes broke down in tears during his post-match interview on the pitch, in which he said the victory was one of the best days of his life.
‘They (the club’s fans) deserve everything, when I first came here I said “I want to put name in the club’s history”,’ Guimaraes told Sky Sports. ‘After 73 years we can say we are the champions. The boys deserve everything.
‘This is one of the best days of my life. I do not have any words, this is one of the best days of my life. They deserve it, I said for them this is like the World Cup.
‘People growing up have not seen Newcastle champions. Now they are seeing we are here to make history and I we are so happy. My first year as the captain of this club.
‘This is one of the best days. The team, the fans, the owners. We deserve this. Look at this, it is unbelievable. This is my second home, since when I signed for the club, from the relegation (battle), Champions League and now champions.
‘I think we are making history. Someday when I leave this club I want the fans to sing my name in the way they do to Shearer today.
‘I know when we have seen him in the stand today… he text me before the game.’