Newcastle Qualify For Champions League For First Time In 20 Years

Newcastle United’s teammates celebrate at the end of the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Leicester at St James’ Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on May 22, 2023. – Newcastle qualified for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years after a 0-0 draw against relegation-haunted Leicester on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP)

 

Newcastle qualified for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years after a 0-0 draw against relegation-haunted Leicester on Monday.

Fifth placed Liverpool’s draw with Aston Villa on Saturday meant Newcastle needed just one point from their last two games to be assured of a Champions League place.

Eddie Howe’s third placed side achieved their target at the first attempt at a jubilant St James’ Park.

Newcastle United’s teammates celebrate at the end of the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Leicester at St James’ Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP)

 

Howe and his players embarked on a lengthy lap of honour after the final whistle as they soaked up the acclaim from the Toon Army.

Newcastle’s remarkable rise from relegation candidates to a top four finish in the Premier League in just 18 months is a tribute to Howe’s management and financial might of the club’s Saudi-backed ownership group.

Although they were defeated by Manchester United in the League Cup, the Magpies also made it to their first domestic final since 1999 this year.

The Magpies will hope they can maintain their transition into trophy contenders now that they are back among Europe’s heavyweights after spending the previous 20 years in Premier League purgatory when Bobby Robson last led Newcastle into the Champions League.

Leicester is in danger of losing their top-flight status for the 12th time in their history, just seven years after their legendary Premier League title victory.

Newcastle United’s English head coach Eddie Howe celebrates at the end of the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Leicester at St James’ Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP)

 

That would equal the English record held by Birmingham, sending them back to the Championship for the first time since 2014.

The third-from-bottom team under Dean Smith has won just one of its last 15 league contests.

No matter what happens in Leicester’s final game against West Ham, they are two points behind fourth-place Everton and will be eliminated if the Toffees win against Bournemouth.

Since winning the FA Cup for the first time in 2021, a season in which they were fifth in the Premier League for a second straight year, Leicester’s decline has been abrupt.

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