Dan Burn opened the scoring as he headed home Kieran Trippier’s first-half corner, before Alexander Isak swept home Newcastle’s second goal shortly after the interval.
Federico Chiesa’s stoppage-time strike set nerves jangling, but the Magpies held on to claim their first piece of major silverware since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
What might you have missed from a historic day at Wembley?
EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION
Newcastle’s win in the final didn’t just end one of English football’s longest waits for a trophy, it also ensured the Magpies will be back in Europe next season.
The winners of the Carabao Cup automatically qualify for the play-off rounds of the UEFA Conference League, which is the tournament in which Chelsea are currently competing. Chelsea beat Swiss side Servette in a two-legged play-off in late August, and England’s Conference League representative will enter next season’s competition at around the same time.
There is still a chance that Newcastle could qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League via their league position, and if they do, they will move into either of those competitions, freeing up the Conference League place for a team that finishes lower down the table.
As things stand, England will get four Champions League places, although the national coefficient means there will almost certainly be five spots for English clubs in the Champions League next season. As things stand, Newcastle currently sit in sixth position in the table, but with a game in hand on all of the teams above them.
THE TROPHY LIFT
Bruno Guimaraes has been wearing Newcastle’s captain’s armband, and the Brazilian was the Magpies’ skipper for Sunday’s final.
Kieran Trippier captained the side last season, but was made vice-captain at the start of the current campaign, largely because his place in the side was no longer guaranteed thanks to the development of Tino Livramento.
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The pair were always going to lift the trophy together if Newcastle won on Sunday afternoon, and they were side by side on the front row in the royal box as the presentation ceremony took place.
However, they were joined by a third player behind them. Jamaal Lascelles remains Newcastle’s club captain despite not having kicked a ball this season following cruciate-ligament surgery last spring.
The 31-year-old was first appointed Newcastle captain by Rafael Benitez in 2016, and remains a hugely-influential figure within the dressing room despite his lack of playing time. Both Guimaraes and Lascelles were keen to include Lascelles in the trophy presentation, and he also had his hand on the Carabao Cup as it was hoisted into the air.
GEORDIE GREATS
The ITV cameras kept panning to Ant and Dec and Alan Shearer in the Wembley stands, and the big screens in the stadium also showed the trio on a regular basis, generating huge cheers from the east side of the stadium. Shearer turned down a series of punditry offers to ensure he was able to watch the game as a fan, and he was stood alongside his son, Will.
Shearer was then joined by his daughter, Chloe, at a post-match party at Boxpark on Wembley Way, with members of the Newcastle squad also turning up for a brief spell on Sunday evening. Bruno Guimaraes was filmed singing and dancing to ‘Hey Jude’ with his winner’s medal still around his neck.
Prior to kick-off, the same Boxpark venue had hosted a special Newcastle pre-match event that saw former players including Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez and Ryan Taylor interviewed on stage.
Sam Fender, another Geordie icon, was not at the game, but he was present in spirit, with his name printed on the back of the matchday shirts worn by the Newcastle squad.
Newcastle have worn shirts promoting Fender’s latest album in two previous rounds of the Carabao Cup, and in December, it was announced that the special-edition shirts from the win over Brentford would be auctioned in aid of community projects supported by Fender. The ongoing collaboration also helps to promote North Shields-born Fender’s return to St James’ Park for two huge concerts in June.
OPEN-TOP BUS TOUR
Had the calendar panned out differently, there is every chance Newcastle would have been announcing plans for an open-topped bus tour of the city sometime this week.
Instead, that has proved impossible to arrange because of the international break, which means that seven of the players that started Sunday’s game are away with their respective national teams.
With so many absentees, it was deemed inappropriate to stage a homecoming celebration, and instead Eddie Howe is taking Newcastle’s non-international players to Dubai for a warm-weather training break.
There is a chance that some form of celebration could be arranged before the Magpies return to action in just over as fortnight’s time. Having exited the FA Cup when the lost to Brighton on penalties, Newcastle have a free weekend immediately after the international break (March 29-30), and it is conceivable that an event could be staged on either of those days.
The alternative is that Newcastle wait until the end of the season before staging a major celebration. The club’s final game of the campaign sees them host Everton on Sunday, May 25, and an event could be planned around that fixture or in the next few days immediately following the end of the Premier League programme.
