Halfway there, living on a prayer | OneFootball

Newcastle United are ready to host Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final second leg.

Hopefully completing the job that was so brilliantly started last month.

It got me thinking of the other times my beloved Newcastle United have reached the semi-final of major tournaments, since I began the rollercoaster of being a Toon fanatic from the mid-nineties.

We have had some good, some bad, plus a few downright ugly semi-finals over the past thirty years.

So let’s take a trip down memory lane and reminisce about the occasions when Newcastle United came so close to lifting a major trophy:

Newcastle v Sheffield United

FA Cup semi-final, Old Trafford

Sunday 5th April 1998

Newcastle reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time in twenty four years, by beating Everton, Stevenage, Tranmere and Barnsley in the previous rounds.

This was an incredibly nervy occasion, with future Magpie Wayne Quinn missing glaring opportunities to open the scoring for the Blades. The Toon also came close when Andreas Andersson was played through on goal and fell over the ball, inadvertently bundling it past the ‘keeper before it was cleared off the line. When Gary Speed thumped a header off the post, it looked like a replay may be needed to settle the tie.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man however, on sixty minutes Alan Shearer powered a header towards goal that the ‘keeper could only parry. Shearer wasn’t to be denied and was first to react, he drove the ball in from close range to send the black and white fans wild! This 1-0 win set up a Cup final at Wembley against Arsene Wenger’s double-chasing Gunners in a repeat of the 1952 showpiece.

Final score: Newcastle 1-0 Sheffield United

Newcastle v Tottenham

FA Cup semi-final, Old Trafford

Sunday 11th April 1999

Fast forward twelve months and United were once again dreaming of FA Cup glory. This year we’d seen off Crystal Palace, Bradford, Blackburn Rovers and Everton to reach the semi-final.

This match would prove to be a tale of two handballs in the box, thankfully only one of them was spotted by the referee. In the second half, a Tottenham set-piece was ludicrously palmed away by Toon defender Nicos Dabizas. In these pre-VAR days, a referee couldn’t give a penalty that he wasn’t completely sure of and thankfully Tottenham’s protests were waved away.

The match entered extra-time with very little attacking threat from the Toon until the second period. Duncan Ferguson attempted a one-two in the area with Gary Speed that was handled by Sol Campbell and this time the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Alan Shearer had spent the previous summer practicing penalties against Ian Walker at the France 98 World Cup so decided to mix things up. Rather than going top left, Shearer switched sides and sent Walker the wrong way to put the Toon 1-0 up.

A few minutes later and things got even better for the travelling Toon Army when Silvio Maric rolled the ball to Shearer twenty yards out and our number nine smashed a glorious, swerving effort that hit the bar on its way in. This was undoubtedly the highlight of the season and hopes were high that a return to Wembley would see the Toon put things right, after a dismal showing in last season’s final.

Final Score: Newcastle 2-0 Tottenham (AET)

IMAGO/Pro Sports Images

Newcastle v Chelsea

FA Cup semi-final, Wembley

9th April 2000

Forget the previous two years and the Wembley misery they held for Newcastle United, this was the one that really hurt.

Sir Bobby’s Toon side had beaten Tottenham, Sheffield United, Blackburn and Tranmere to get to the semi-final stage, that was played at Wembley in honour of the famous venue being pulled down at the end of the season to make way for a shiny new national stadium.

Newcastle United took the game to a Chelsea side that had just beaten Barcelona in the Champions League and were desperately unlucky to trail 1-0 at the break. The start of the second half saw a redoubling of efforts both on and off the pitch as forty thousand fans roared on their heroes, as we began absolutely battering Chelsea and it felt just a matter of time before an equaliser would be scored. This proved to be the case when Alan Shearer skinned his man down the right and put in a cross that Robert Lee blasted into the top corner with one of the best headed goals I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing live. The noise from behind the goal was phenomenal as Newcastle United celebrated their first goal at Wembley since 1976.

We had six minutes of utter delirium when it really looked like we’d finally cracked it. With Aston Villa waiting in the final and the Toon hammering Chelsea, surely this was the year that Sir Bobby and Shearer would lift a major trophy together for NUFC. Unfortunately not, Poyet scored again for Chelsea a few minutes later and the Toon couldn’t force home another equaliser.

This goes down as perhaps the most painful defeat in my time supporting NUFC and a few tears were shed at full-time due to the sheer injustice of a heartbreaking result.

Final score Newcastle 1-2 Chelsea

Newcastle v Marseille

UEFA Cup Semi-Final (two legs)

Thurs 22nd April and 6th May 2004

Missing out on the Champions League at the start of the 2003/04 season was a huge disappointment. The only crumb of comfort came in the consolation prize of a place in the UEFA Cup.

Newcastle United achieved aggregate wins in two-legged ties against Breda, Basel, Valerenga, Majorca and PSV Eindhoven, to set up a mouthwatering clash with French giants Marseille.

The first leg was held at St James’ Park and Newcastle were grateful to the woodwork when future Chelsea striker Didier Drogba smashed an effort off the post. The closest the Toon came to scoring was when Michael Bridges smacked an effort across goal that flew wide near the end, when he looked a certain scorer. A 0-0 draw made the tie anyone’s. Marseille could consider themselves favourites as the home side but the Toon were safe in the knowledge that an away goal would leave their opponents needing to score twice.

Unfortunately, the second leg belonged to one talismanic striker and it wasn’t Alan Shearer. Drogba scored in each half to give the French side a 2-0 win and a place in the final as United’s season disintegrated on a night that promised so much but delivered very little.

Final Scores:

Newcastle 0-0 Marseille

Marseille 2-0 Newcastle

(Marseille win 2-0 on aggregate)

Newcastle v Man U

FA Cup semi-final,

Cardiff Millennium stadium

Sunday 17th April 2005

The less said about this one the better!

Newcastle had just returned from a draining 4-1 beating by Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup and were well off the pace throughout.

We’d made it through to this stage of the competition by beating Yeading, Coventry, Chelsea and Tottenham, but any romantic notions that our name was on the cup, were dispelled in a first half that saw us lucky to be only 2-0 down at half-time.

With Nicky Butt having a stinker and the rest of the team having a collective off-day, it was soon game over at 3-0. The Toon Army did have something to shout about when Ameobi reduced the arrears, but a further goal for Man U made it a long and miserable journey home for the black and whites.

Final Score: Newcastle 1-4 Man U

Newcastle v Southampton

League Cup semi-final (two legs)

Tuesday 24th and 31st Jan 2023

Newcastle made the semi-final of the League Cup for the first time in forty seven years by overcoming Tranmere, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Leicester City. A two legged semi-final with Southampton would provide a perfect opportunity to reach our first final of any competition since 1999.

We played away in the first leg and won the match 1-0, due to a late goal from Joelinton. Both teams had a goal disallowed and Southampton received a red card during a dramatic night but this result made the Toon favourites to make a first ever final at the new Wembley.

The second leg was an ultimately glorious occasion for Newcastle United. Two early goals from Sean Longstaff had us three goals to the good on aggregate. Southampton did pull one back but the Toon were comfortable for the rest of the match and never looked like relinquishing their lead.

The final whistle was greeted with ‘Que Sera’ blasting over the tannoy. Newcastle United were back and once again heading to Wembley.

Southampton 0-1 Newcastle

Newcastle 2-1 Southampton

(Newcastle win 3-1 on aggregate)

It’s safe to say that the above matches have provided something of a mixed bag for fans of NUFC.

Here’s hoping the second leg of our semi-final with Arsenal will provide some more golden memories for the Toon Army, as we look to once again travel in numbers to the most famous stadium of all.