Newcastle United open-top bus victory parade. Celebration of the end of a 70-years old trophy drought. Image credit: SABC NEWS.
Newcastle United took to the streets to celebrate their trophy with their fans. It is estimated that over 300,000 supporters watched Eddie Howe and his players parade the Carabao Cup through the town center on Saturday in an open-top bus.
This marks the club’s first domestic trophy in 70 years. Supporters welcomed the Wembley heroes, turning the streets black and white for the open-top bus parade. The team lifted the cup on March 16 in a 2-1 win over Liverpool.
Proud manager Eddie Howe was honored with a banner outside St James’ Park. Howe said, “I can’t thank everyone enough, from Newcastle, for the way they’ve embraced me and my family. I’m glad to have given them some joy.”
A bus route from St James’ Park, past Gallowgate, up Percy Street, and towards the Town Moor created a sea of black and white across Newcastle upon Tyne. The parade was followed by a celebratory event at Town Moor to continue the festivities of the day.
The celebration event included special guests, such as Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer, and the Geordie duo Ant and Dec, “arguably Newcastle’s most famous fans.” The duo Ant and Dec took to the stage to reflect on their journey growing up as football fans and their love for the team.
Ant said to supporters at the Town Moor event, “I have to say, that open-top bus parade… I knew you would make Newcastle proud. That just proves that you are the best fans in the entire world.”
“We met on Byker Grove back when we were 13. We used to go and watch Newcastle. We bonded over Newcastle in the Gallowgate End. The real reason everybody is here today is to celebrate that fantastic team that we all saw win 12 days ago at Wembley.”
Dec added, “It was absolutely incredible. You had kids in every tree and people hanging from every lamp post. It was absolutely amazing, and a dream come tre to be on that bus today.”
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