This weekend will see fans of Newcastle United making a pilgrimage to London in their tens of thousands ahead of the League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.
Since beating Manchester City 3-1 to win the FA Cup in 1955, the roughly 900km round trip for showpiece matches at the famous ground have gone the same way for the black and white hordes: a journey south full of hope, if not expectation, followed by a despondent trudge back north after a chastening defeat.
The humbling 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy has seen Newcastle lose five Wembley finals – three in the FA Cup, two in the League Cup – with a solitary goal celebrated.
The latest attempt to lift their first silverware since the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – considered the precursor to the Uefa Cup that would later morph into the Europa League – in 1969, has seen a build-up that suggests the club's Wembley woes will not be coming to an end any time soon.
As if taking on Premier League champions-elect Liverpool is not challenging enough, Newcastle will be without three key players. Defenders Lewis Hall and Sven Botman are out injured, while winger Anthony Gordon is suspended after being sent off in the FA Cup fifth-round defeat at home to Brighton.
It is a familiar tale for the Magpies that has sparked whispered talk of a curse on Tyneside, such has been their luck – or rather lack of it – in the three finals they have reached during the Premier League era.
The back-to-back FA Cup final losses at the old Wembley Stadium in 1998 and 1999 were unfortunate in that Newcastle came up against two of the finest teams in Premier League history.
The first saw Arsene Wenger's Arsenal seal a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka – clinching the Gunners' first league-and-cup double since 1971.
Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish called it a “bitter-sweet afternoon” for his team who twice hit the woodwork when trailing 1-0. “They are a very good side and worthy double winners,” the Scotsman said of Arsenal.
A year later, Ruud Gullit was in charge but the scoreline remained the same – a 2-0 defeat to a Manchester United side who sealed their third double in five years after goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes.
“We were punished for our mistakes,” admitted Dutch manager Gullit. “In the end, we had to be thankful they did not get three, four or five.”
Days later, Alex Ferguson's team would go on to complete a famous treble, when they defeated Bayern Munich with two last-gasp finishes from Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to win the Uefa Champions League final.
It would be 24 years before Newcastle would return to a now rebuilt Wembley for a League Cup final, but the result – and opponents – would be all too familiar.
In the first full season since the arrival of the club's new Saudi Arabian-led consortium and manager Eddie Howe, Manchester United would again stand in their way to ending the now infamous trophy drought.
But, as with this season, the build-up was fraught. Goalkeeper Nick Pope was suspended after being sent off in a league defeat against Liverpool, while second choice Martin Dubravka was cup-tied having already played in the competition while on loan at United.
It meant Newcastle were forced into handing Loris Karius the unlikeliest of debuts that saw the former Liverpool keeper beaten twice by a Casemiro header and a deflected Marcus Rashford strike.
“It hurts immensely,” said Howe, whose team would go on to finish fourth in the league and qualify for the Uefa Champions League for the first time in two decades. “It feels like you have failed. A negative sea of emotions hit you but, with defeat, sometimes you can take positives.
“The players have done incredibly well … but we are not the finished article. We are coming at this from a totally different place and it only gets harder because the competition will improve.”
And so it proved in the following campaign when Newcastle's Champions League dream was over at the group stage, while they were knocked out in the quarter-finals of both domestic cups. A seventh-place Premier League finish also saw them miss out on European football altogether.
After the FA Cup loss to Brighton a few weeks ago, trophy hopes this season now rely solely on beating Liverpool.
And Newcastle will be hoping their opponents will be feeling the effects of a draining Champions League last-16 defeat on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
That loss also saw Trent Alexander-Arnold hobble off the pitch at Anfield with an ankle injury that left manager Arne Slot admitting he “would be surprised” if the England right-back is fit for the final.
Newcastle, meanwhile, enjoyed a much-needed Premier League win at West Ham United on Monday which lifted them to sixth and to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
And captain Bruno Guimaraes, who scored the only goal of the game at the London Stadium, has called on his teammates “to make history” this weekend and secure that elusive trophy.
“I believe that we can win,” said the Brazilian, whose team defeated Arsenal 4-0 over two legs in the semi-final. “In a final everything could happen. I believe our fans can make a difference.
“For us, it is like the World Cup. We want to make history for this club. It is a long time for the fans without a trophy.
“We know we're going to play against one of the best teams. Hopefully we can go to Wembley and get the title.”
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Qader, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roaulle
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Oppenheimer
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Tour de France 2017: Stage 5
Vittel - La Planche de Belles Filles, 160.5km
It is a shorter stage, but one that will lead to a brutal uphill finish. This is the third visit in six editions since it was introduced to the race in 2012. Reigning champion Chris Froome won that race.
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Barings Bank
Barings, one of Britain’s oldest investment banks, was
founded in 1762 and operated for 233 years before it went bust after a trading
scandal.
Barings Bank collapsed in February 1995 following colossal
losses caused by rogue trader Nick Lesson.
Leeson gambled more than $1 billion in speculative trades,
wiping out the venerable merchant bank’s cash reserves.
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
