In the intimacy of their dressing room, Newcastle partied euphorically after winning the Carabao Cup on Sunday.
Manager Eddie Howe was doused with champagne, goalscorer Dan Burn boogied in front of his chanting team-mates, while local boy Sean Longstaff imbibed his booze from the trophy.
The Mapgies ended a 56-year wait for silverware – 70 years for a domestic trophy – by beating Liverpool 2-1 thanks to goals from Burn and Alexander Isak at a roistering Wembley.
And typical to their Geordie roots, the squad and staff members were determined to paint the dressing room red – or rather, white and black.
The players boomed out a rendition of Gala’s 1996 hit Freed from Desire – which has become a footballing anthem in recent years – as they shot champagne into the air, waved beer bottles around, and spun flags above their heads.
Joelinton, who has been at the club since 2019, hit the middle of the dance floor while the stars gathered in a circle with their arms around each other and bounced up and down to the Eurodance tune.
Newcastle’s celebrations got wild in the dressing room after they won the Carabao Cup
In another clip, the players and staff belt out a well-known ditty from the stands as they pose for the cameras: ‘Geordie boys take the p***’.
For local lads Burn, Longstaff, Lewis Miley, and Mark Gillespie, those words would have been sung with particular emotion and meaning.
Newcastle came into the clash without the suspended Anthony Gordon and the injured Sven Botman and Lewis Hall, but were good value for their win after Howe outwitted opposite number Arne Slot.
And Howe, who celebrated wildly on the touchline even when Burn turned in the first goal, was sprayed with champagne as BBC Sport queued up for a word with him.
Captain Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton were among the gaggle of chanting and cackling players to ambush their manager before his media duties, and Howe, 47, took it all in his stride with a broad grin.
Running his hand through his hair and letting out a hearty laugh, he could only find one word to describe his newfound drenched state: ‘Wow.’
Longstaff who joined Newcastle’s youth team in 2006 before reaching the first team in 2016, filled the Carabao Cup trophy with beer before his own wild act.
The 27-year-old was roared on by team-mates as he tipped the goblet of booze into his mouth – though admittedly most of it ended up on his face and shoulders.
Eddie Howe smiled as he was drenched in champagne by Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes
Dan Burn whipped out his signature dance as his team-mates cheered him on on Sunday
Bruno Guimaraes beamed as he held up his golden medal and wrote: ‘Jesus is the owner of the place!!! He is faithful’
Newcastle ended a 56-year wait for a trophy – and a 70-year interval since their last domestic one – as they beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley
Dan Burn and Alexander Isak scored as Newcastle toppled Arne Slot’s favourites in London
Joe Willock and Alexander Isak got up close and personal in a celebratory Instagram video
Kieran Trippier posted a photo with his first trophy in English football, having been a runner-up with Newcastle in this competition two years ago
Fellow Geordie Burn, 32, might be one of the wise old heads in the dressing room, but that didn’t stop him letting his hair down in goofy fashion.
The defender, who this week received his first England call-up, celebrated with his signature dance, holding his knees together and flailing his arms in a brief, gangly dance worthy of winning Britain’s Got Talent.
Burn has a particularly touching story. Released by Newcastle on Christmas Eve aged 11, he spent time pushing trolleys around Asda as a teenager before working his way up with local clubs.
It’s hard to put into words what this means to Newcastle. Take it from Bruno, who told Sky Sports on the pitch: ‘This is one of the best days of my life. For them [the fans] it’s like the World Cup.’
Taking to Instagram later, the 27-year-old posted a photo with his wife Ana Lidia Martins and wrote in Brazilian Portuguese: ‘My best victory in my life! Thank you for always being by my side in our good times and bad. You are everything I ever wanted.’
He beamed as he held up his gold winners’ medal and wrote: ‘Jesus is the owner of the place!!! He is faithful.’
Indeed, this was a spiritual occasion for some. Mail Sport’s Oliver Holt describes in his match story seeing one fan pray for a full half-hour before the final whistle went, as Newcastle survived Liverpool’s late onslaught, including Federico Chiesa’s 94th-minute nail-shredding strike.
Meanwhile, midfielder Joe Willock posted a video with talismanic striker Isak as they held up their medals and cried ‘come on!’
Bruno also paid tribute to his wife Ana Lidia Martins, saying she is ‘everything I ever wanted’
TV duo And and Dec were euphoric in the stands as they put the day on a rung just below getting married and having kids
Sandro Tonali sprayed champagne everywhere as photographers captured his jubilation
Jacob Murphy had an intimate moment with his twin brother and fellow footballer Josh Murphy
Elsewhere, Jacob Murphy leaned in for a hug with his twin brother and Portsmouth player Josh Murphy, sharing no words but just enjoying the moment with a peaceful smile as his medal hung around his neck.
On Toon’s official Instagram page stands a picture of Sandro Tonali captured as he unleashes a sea of bubbling liquid while photographers, black and white scarves draped around their necks, snap him in a dazzle of lights to immortalise the moment.
On his own account, a photo of the Italian sat on the Wembley turf with his legs spread around the trophy, and some simple words: ‘HISTORY MAKERS! Came to Wembley. Owned the moment. Took the trophy home.’
This is what it meant to a club, a city, a culture.
In the stands, TV duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly jumped for joy as the final whistle went and gave them a first trophy to celebrate in their 49-year lifetimes.
‘We did ittttt!,’ they cried out in an emotional Instagram Stories selfie-style video, before bursting into laughs.
‘I’ve lost my voice. Oh my God, this is amazing,’ said Ant, while Dec added: ‘I cannot believe it! This is the best day of my life.
‘Apart from the wedding and the kids and all that… it’s the best day of my life!’
Howe paid an emotional tribute to his late mum after Newcastle’s Carabao Cup triumph
‘I don’t have any words,’ Bruno said in a post-game interview. ‘It’s the best day of my life.’
Alan Shearer pictured celebrating after Newcastle’s second goal against Liverpool on Sunday
Ant and Dec jubilantly celebrated Newcastle’s 2-1 win over Liverpool in the EFL Cup final
Newcastle supporters are known as some of the most passionate in Europe and showed it again at the national stadium
Jubilation: Fans erupted as Newcastle United celebrated their victory at Wembley
A fan thrusts his scarf into the air and cheers as the stadium erupted following the win
Tears of joy: One fan becomes emotional as the final whistle blows in the Carabao Cup Final
One fan painted his face black and white as he witnessed today’s victory from the stands
In London, it was not a safe place to be a lamppost as jubilant supporters made the most of the roadside facilities.
Meanwhile, at a fanzone in Newcastle, the shirts were whipped off, the bucket hats were on full show, and the scarves were helicoptered above heads.
One fan, captured on Beanyman Sports’ YouTube channel, held aloft a scarf which read: ‘Bring it home for Bobby lads,’ emblazoned with legendary manager Bobby Robson’s face.
‘Bring it home for Bobby,’ he said. ‘I’m absolutely buzzin’, mate. Absolutely. I’ve waited so long for this to happen. Oh my God. Oh my God, I’m buzzin’, honestly.’
Pointing to Sir Bobby’s face, he added: ‘Best manager in the world, ever. Brilliant.’ Perhaps Howe would not be close behind now.
Out in Newcastle, the party spilled onto the streets as hordes of supporters gathered around St James’ Park.
One fan mounted the £250,000 brass statue of Alan Shearer and sat on its head. Another, shirtless and replete with a flourishing beard, puffed on a vape and stared into the distance.
Others set off flares while one held up beer bottles in one hand and his phone with the other to speak to a loved one.
Back home, fans in the Strawberry pub in Newcastle erupt into cheers after the cup win
One supporter mounted the £250,000 brass statue of Alan Shearer outside St James’ Park
Another fan held aloft two beer bottles in one hand and his phone in the other to take a call
Others turned to the vapes to held regulate the emotional intensity of the grand occasion
One chap donned a hat in the form of a Carlsberg container, a well-informed fashion choice
At Wembley, fans wiped away the tears as they enjoyed the special occasion with loved ones
One supporter made an impromptu hat from a cardboard Carlsberg container.
Howe, who had stormed the pitch with staff and players at full time, summed up the occasion like this: ‘Naturally, you end up thinking of the players, the staff, but also the people that aren’t with you.
‘Like for me, my mum and family members. You just think of all the hard sacrifices, hard work that they gave you as a child, to give you the opportunity to have a good life.
‘You think that you get help from above and you get support, and I’ve just always had the thought that I want to try and make my family proud. Now, of course, I have three boys, and I want to try and make them proud, too.’
Of his players, Howe said: ‘They’ve all had different journeys to get to this point, but we’ve come together as a squad. I love working with them every day. I am honoured to be their leader.
‘And for the supporters, who came in there thousands today, who supported us back home. Since I’ve been at the football club, the support we’ve had home and away has been incredible. So I’m just so pleased they have this trophy to end the long wait. And hopefully we can get some more in the future.’
