NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, England -- Former Newcastle defender Steve Howey can vividly recall the day he was on the open-top bus that was welcomed back to the city by 250,000 supporters, the day after the 1998 FA Cup Final against Arsenal. As it snaked towards St James's Park, there was a sea of black-and-white shirts, all the way from the banks of the River Tyne, ready to greet the players.
"It was kind of embarrassing really," Howey told ESPN. "We had just lost the Cup final [2-0, via goals from Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka], so had nothing to show off to the fans, but the turnout just rammed home how the club had been, and still is, starved of success.