HERE TO COMPETE

Almost two years since their controversial takeover, Newcastle are going where no Magpie's flown for 20 years: the Champions League. Ahead of the curve their new owners plotted, they feel they have a man, a plan and the fans to sustain it - plus a sovereign wealth fund

- Matthew Ketchell

“YEEEESSSS!” screamed Eddie Howe, thrusting a clenched right hand high into the air, on a late May afternoon at Stamford Bridge. A sweaty, sunburnt, occasionally topless Newcastle United away end responded in kind. On the final day of the 2022-23 campaign, Howe was punching a full stop to a remarkable journey in which the Magpies’ boss and the club’s new owners had transformed them from winless relegation fodder to a League Cup final and fourth in the Premier League.

Howe & Co had unlocked the door to the Champions League in just 18 months. He had spent most of that time straight-batting tough questions about the club’s investment from Saudi Arabia, staying balanced through the highs and lows. As he walked across the pitch to applaud the supporters after the full-time whistle at Chelsea, he exploded for just a moment, the emotion at the achievement briefly visible.

The first stage of the Magpies’ journey was complete, but there’s more to come. This is the inside story of Newcastle post-takeover metamorphosis under Howe, and how the club’s owners intend to sustain that success.

VOLCANIC ERUPTION

Newcastle are a club well acquainted with nadirs. One of the most pronounced and recent came at a moist Molineux in October 2021. Two blasts of Wolves’ Eurodance goal music sandwiched a rare Jeff Hendrick strike for the Magpies, as ‘We want Brucey out’ chants greeted another lacklustre defeat.