League Cup offers Newcastle chance to end trophy drought

Newcastle United's run to the League Cup quarterfinals in which they host Brentford on Wednesday has the team and supporters dreaming again of ending one of the longest trophy-droughts of any of England's big clubs.

"I think the willingness has been there from previous teams but we want to be the team that can get over the line and achieve something special," manager Eddie Howe said on Tuesday.

Any Newcastle fan born after 1955 will never have experienced the joy of the club winning a major domestic trophy -- that being the year they won the FA Cup by beating Manchester City.

Since then the club has alternated between periods in the doldrums and exciting eras that fell just short of delivering anything tangible for the long-suffering Toon Army.

Three times since then they have reached the FA Cup final -- 1974, 1998 and 1999 -- while they have also twice finished runners-up in the League Cup, most recently in 2022-23.

Newcastle also famously crumbled in a Premier League title race in the 1995-96 season, having led by 12 points at one stage.

Howe is the latest manager to try and restock the Newcastle trophy cabinet and has impressed since turning the club from relegation candidates to Champions League qualifiers.

This season the Saudi-owned club have again been struggling with injuries and are 12th in the Premier League, although they are only five points off the top four.

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