Newcastle United
16 March 2025: Won Carabao Cup, beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley, their first trophy in 56 years
Dad’s view: As a baby boomer, it seemed to me that Cup success was a God-given right. We’d triumphed in 1951, 52 and 55. Wembley was our second home. But it took nearly two decades to return for the FA Cup – in 1974 – for a loss to Liverpool, compounded by the crowing Emlyn Hughes. We lost the 1976 League Cup final against Man City and more than 20 years later experienced yet more Wembley anguish at the hands of Arsenal (1998) and Manchester United (1999). At least the black and white jester’s hat got a couple of outings … 2023’s Carabao Cup final was the first I attended with my son, Richard. Maybe that was the omen that our Wembley bogey would end? Nope … but at least I could share the misery with him. Fast forward to 2025 and victory over Liverpool. Euphoric? You bet we were! To paraphrase the famous anthem: “Seventy years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming.” David Holmes
Son’s view: Born in the late 70s, I’d seen my share of false dawns. Both Keegan and Sir Bobby’s thrilling sides were good enough to have at least won a cup, but they’d fallen short. By the time of Mike Ashley’s hope-sapping regime, dreams of glory had turned to dust, and been trodden into the floor of a Sports Direct warehouse. I’d given up on the idea of hugging my dad as we celebrated on the final whistle at Wembley, of seeing a Newcastle captain lifting a trophy, of knowing what victory felt like. We were perennial underachievers. The 2021 takeover – and Eddie Howe’s appointment – changed the script. We finally had ambition, plus the talent to match. And in March we had our moment in the Wembley sun. To be there in the stands with my dad, savouring that victory over Liverpool, meant the world to me. I’ll never forget it. Richard Holmes
Rory McIlroy
13 April 2025: Won Masters, beating Justin Rose in a playoff, 16 years after his Augusta debut
I don’t know how Rory felt on that final day, how he managed to handle it. It shows you how mentally strong he is, to handle that sort of pressure for that long, constantly thinking about it and what he’s about to achieve.
At Holywood Golf Club, Rory’s home town club – where I’m the head professional – there were people watching who were members at the club when he was a kid and they were completely overjoyed for him, knowing what it meant to him and his family. After Rory’s victory, we’ve been inundated with junior memberships, all these kids wanting to be the next Rory and join our junior golf programmes with the hopes that someday it’ll be them.
A couple of weeks ago I had a gentleman on the phone who was looking to sign his son up. I explained to him that you can come up and fill in a form, but we’re at capacity at the minute with our junior memberships and that he’ll go on our waiting list. He went: “Oh no, it’s OK. He’s only two at the minute.”
We’ve had podcasters and influencers come up to see where he grew up, the fairways he’s walked, and they come into the pro shop and they see his parking space outside and always wonder: “Will he arrive today?” What he’s done in golf has not only helped Holywood Golf Club but the whole of Northern Ireland. It’s brought golf to another level. He’s box office. Ciarán Lavery
Crystal Palace
17 May 2025: Won FA Cup, beating Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley, the first major trophy in their 120-year history
We’ve all been here before, 1-0 up against a Manchester heavyweight, within touching distance of a first major trophy. But this time it feels different. There’s no touchline dad-dance when Eberechi Eze meets Daniel Muñoz’s cross on the volley. Ollie Glasner’s team have developed a swagger that falls just the right side of cocky, preserving what makes Palace distinctly Palace while elevating us to more than plucky underdogs. The players understand what the club means to its supporters, and the fans love them for it. Under relentless first-half pressure at Wembley, it’s that connection which drives us.
Dean Henderson’s penalty save sparks celebrations almost as wild as those which followed Eze’s goal. We later learn he probably shouldn’t be on the pitch, but no one cares. The second-half onslaught we’re all expecting never materialises. City, for all the riches emerging from their bench, have run out of ideas. Jean-Philippe Mateta, our No 9-cum-cheerleader, calls on us for one last effort as we approach the last 15. The added time is agony – 10 minutes! – but where previous Palace sides would have buckled, I feel disarmingly confident that this time we’ll pull it off. There’s desperation for the final whistle in the stands, but on the pitch the players are calm.
When it finally arrives, it’s carnage. I’ve never been surrounded by so many people in tears. Lifetime supporters who never thought they’d see the day. Kids who don’t know just how lucky they are. It’s beautiful. Walking home through Brixton in my Palace shirt and scarf at the end of the night, receiving what feels like a guard of honour from south Londoners who understand what it all means, I realise winning will never feel this good again. Jo Harman-McGowan
Tottenham Hotspur
21 May 2025: Won Europa League, beating Manchester United 1-0 at San Mamés, Bilbao, their first trophy in 17 years
As the last few seconds ebbed away, events in the San Mamés stadium seemed to unfold in cinematic slow-motion. Barring some freak mishap – and one of those is never far away when you’re a Spurs fan – I was on the verge of seeing my team lift its first trophy in 17 years, a prestigious European pot to boot. When you’ve invested more than three decades of time, effort and money – for relatively little reward in terms of silverware – it can be hard to believe that you’re about to get what you’ve dreamed of.
A sense of the unreal descended, making it impossible to fully grasp the moment. I put in my noise-cancelling headphones, in the hope that drowning out the crowd would somehow help me process the moment. It didn’t. When the ref finally blew, of course there was wild screaming, hugging of strangers, singing, the sheer joy of watching the players charging about madly in random directions. Yes still, none of it felt real. Perhaps I had squeegeed every last drop of serotonin out of my brain already and there was simply nothing left to create emotions.
It was only the next day, after a sleepless night, that it began to sink in, as I watched the fan reaction videos and the replays, of Johnson’s goal, of Van de Ven’s miracle clearance, of the bench when the final whistle went. It was then that the tears came, great sobs of happiness welling up periodically, at breakfast, at the airport, when I saw my kids and my toddler began singing: “We won it in Bilbao.” Things aren’t going too well right now at Spurs but I turn to those moments whenever I need to put a smile on my face. And I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life. Rob Davies
Paris Saint-Germain
31 May 2025: Won Champions League, beating Inter 5-0 at Allianz Arena, Munich, their first European Cup win 39 years after their competition debut
PSG are a club that are 55 years old and have won more than 50 trophies. But the long wait for us was around the Champions League; since the Qatari takeover in 2011 that had been the goal, the objective. When we finally won it against Inter, there was a sense of relief.
We’ve had some crazy scenarios over the last 10 years in Europe, with everybody laughing at us, like that game at Barcelona when we lost 6-1. Knowing us, I had doubts until the fourth goal in Munich. It is completely irrational when you think about it because we were so dominant and Inter had almost no chances, but we also had in mind what had happened with Inter and their comeback against Barcelona in the semi-finals.
In terms of the emotion among fans in the stands, it seemed to peak around the second and third goals. That’s when people started to realise two things: first, that we’re going to win the game, and secondly, that we were doing something historical in how we were destroying a team in the final. When you look back at it, thank God we lost the final against Bayern Munich in 2020, when there were no supporters there because of Covid. To win our first Champions League title in a great stadium with everybody watching on a sunny day made things perfect. Renan Lesaffre
Bath
14 June 2025: Won Premiership final, beating Leicester 23-21 at Allianz Stadium, their first league title in 29 years
I’ve been with Bath since back in the 1960s. My grandfather took me to my first game when I was 14, so I was there long before the halcyon years in the 80s and 90s and now I’ve been there long after them, too. We lost to Saints in the final in 2024, when we were down to 14 men, but they’d played better rugby than us all year. This year was different, we’d been top of the league all season. Leicester still ran us close. I think all the commentators assumed Bath were going to walk it, but it was such a nervous occasion. Tigers played really smart rugby and it ended up being one of those games you say “never in doubt” but you don’t really mean it. It was a bit like we’d saved our worst performance till last. My son’s a Tigers fan, and even he agreed we deserved to win it.
Next day we had an open-top bus parade and I know some of the people at the club were worried no one would turn up. In the end it felt like the whole city came out for it. Being a Bath fan at the Rec is not always the best experience, I sit in the open stands, and when it’s raining you get wet through, and the rugby’s not always been the best, but the place is still sold out every week. I feel like the title was a reward for all that loyalty the fans have shown over the years. The people I sit with have already booked their tickets for this season’s Champions Cup final in Bilbao next summer, but I’ve not done it yet, I’m too worried I’m going to jinx it. Mike Elliott (Bath Rugby Supporters Club chair)
India Women
2 November 2025: Won Women’s Cricket World Cup, beating South Africa by 52 runs at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai, 47 years after their tournament debut
We’d probably never played a match of greater stakes than this World Cup final: home ground, high expectations, an incredible run to the final. So I was on edge, not 100% confident, although I knew we had the ability to perform well. I was also hoping that we’d get a 50-over match in because it was raining quite a bit.
I was watching the match with a lot of my friends; we’re part of a group called the Bucket Hat Cult. We’re a loud and proud supporters group of Indian women’s cricket, and all of us had been travelling for the group games, made it for the virtual quarter-final, the semi-final, and we had already bought tickets for the final, even before India made it. And it was 10 hours of singing, dancing, chanting, and eventually crying and celebrating that win.
The winning moment was incredible. It was just surreal and fitting that Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain, took that last catch. It’s really hard to describe what this is going to do for women’s cricket in India. That’s a question that everyone is asking. I just hope that the women’s team is not an afterthought anymore. I hope tickets are released on time. That it’s accessible and affordable for fans to go and watch. That the game is promoted well and players are paid well, too. That’s going to be a win for us. Radha Lath Gupta
