Contrasting 50-year paths lead Liverpool and Newcastle to Wembley reunion

Newcastle and Liverpool will meet in a major final for the first time in 51 years on Sunday having embarked upon very different trajectories since then.

On May 4th, 1974, the teams went head to head in the shadow of the famous Twin Towers with the FA Cup at stake, and it was the Reds – inspired by Kevin Keegan, who would later establish himself as a hero on Tyneside too – who prevailed.

The trophy held aloft by skipper Emlyn Hughes that day was the 11th piece of major silverware in his club’s history, following eight league titles, a previous FA Cup and a UEFA Cup.

By coincidence, they drew level with Newcastle, whose four league titles, six FA Cups and the 1969 Inter Cities Fairs Cup represented their total haul up to that point.

The sides will reconvene at English football’s headquarters in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with their fortunes having taken starkly contrasting paths during the intervening period.

Liverpool’s trophy cabinet has since been unlocked on no fewer than 40 occasions to accept major prizes, including 11 English titles and six European Cups, the most recent two in its current guise of the Champions League.

Newcastle’s has remained undisturbed.

Not since Bob Moncur was handed the Fairs Cup have they claimed a major trophy, and their most recent domestic success came in the 1955 FA Cup final.

That yawning chasm has extended to very nearly 70 years and the hunger to end the wait is almost tangible in a city which lives and breathes football but has had to learn to live without success.

Where Liverpool have managed to remain relevant as Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City have dominated for significant periods on the pitch, Newcastle have spent 12 seasons since 1974 outside the top flight and