Howe, however, must take most of credit for another super piece of management and strategy. He succeeded Steve Bruce in November 2021 with Newcastle 19th in the Premier League, five points from safety after 11 matches. Howe guided Newcastle into the Champions League last season but this is the crowning glory. There have been 31 managers of at least one game for Newcastle since that last success. He has crossed the barrier that has proved insurmountable for so many. The fierce defensive discipline of Howe's side saw Liverpool danger man Mohamed Salah reduced to a peripheral figure. He failed to record a shot or create a chance for Liverpool in a game he started for only the third time, after a League Cup tie against Arsenal when he played for 61 minutes, and the first leg of the Champions League last-16 game with Paris St-Germain, when he was substituted with four minutes left. Newcastle could, and should, have added more as they simply over-powered a Liverpool team who looked like they were running in quicksand, this loss compounding the midweek Champions League exit against PSG on penalties. Howe, the leader and hero of this triumph and usually ice cool, admitted even he had been sucked into what this occasion meant, not just to a football club but a city. He said: "I am very, very emotional and have been all day, which is very unlike me. We knew what was at stake for all over our fans. We wanted to do them proud and win the trophy. "I am so, so pleased with the result and performance. We deserved to win but it was tough when Liverpool scored. I was thinking about extra time. We always make it difficult for ourselves. It was never going to be 2-0." Howe added: "We were well aware of history. We wanted to do the club proud. We wanted to score. We wanted to perform, we wanted to win. We are breaking new ground. I thought we were magnificent." Even Howe admitted surprise at Burn the goalscorer, adding: "We worked consistently for two weeks on set-plays just for this game and if you'd seen us in practice you would have said we had no chance. "We couldn't believe Dan Burn scored. He hasn't been training like that." This was not simply a victory for a football club and its fanbase. It was victory for a city that has waited 56 years to enjoy such an occasion. And the long-overdue party was making its way all the way from Tyneside to Wembley after a day that will live in Geordie memories forever.