Winners 2025 was conceived in my spirit decades ago. May 4th 1974 was a sunny day. I was 12 years old. I went to my friend’s house to watch what was probably the first Newcastle match to be televised live on British television. His parents had a colour tv. Expectations were high, there was plenty of hype, Supermac was going to get a hat rick and Newcastle were going to win another FA Cup final. I’d watched a couple of finals before but as a neutral, not really caring who would win. This was different, I really wanted Newcastle to win.
The match started but Newcastle were poor. Liverpool scored, and again, and again. The Newcastle fans kept singing their support and despite the scoreline, they out sang the Liverpool fans right to the end. I didn’t understand it. How could they keep singing when the players had played so badly? As I fought back the tears of disappointment, I was hoping for a miracle, right to the final whistle, but it was not to be.
When it ended, my friends and I went to the play area behind our house for a game of football and tried to create a different result, but the score stayed the same. When the players returned to Newcastle empty handed in an open top bus, my dad asked me if I wanted to go and see them. I declined, “I would have if they’d won”. Now I wish I had.
My first game at St Jame’s Park was seven years later, an FA Cup 3rd round tie against Sheffield Wednesday. We won 2 – 1 with Chris Waddle scoring his first goals for Newcastle. I was hooked, going to most home games throughout the 1980’s and 90’s. I had a season ticket for many years at a time when Newcastle were not that good and would always sell their best players.
It was my regular visits to home games that inspired me to paint the Toon Army watercolour that has become a successful limited edition print. I published it in 1997, selling the original before it was even finished.
As Newcastle began to field a much better side in the 90’s I started to dream of either a Premier league title or cup win. I began to plan a painting of an open top bus with the team parading the cup around the city. I also planned a painting of an historic cup win at Wembley. Opportunities came in 1998 against Arsenal and in 1999 against Manchester United. I went to both finals, but once again the players failed to deliver.
I thought it might happen with the Carabao Cup Final in 2023 but it was another defeat. When the Carabao Cup Final came on the 16th March 2025 against Liverpool, I watched the game with a hope and expectation that this time it was going to be different. We’d beaten Nottingham Forrest, Chelsea and Arsenal to get there. We were fielding the best Newcastle side I’d seen wearing a black and white shirt.
My first Newcastle cup win finally came. I could hardly believe it. Now I began to plan the long awaited painting of the celebrations. As soon as I found out the team bus was going to leave from St Jame’s Park, I knew what the view was going to be. I took a trip into Newcastle a few days beforehand and worked out where I needed to stand on the day.
March 29th was the big day. I arrived at 3pm and claimed my spot. I did a quick sketch but knew that I’d have to rely on photographs, knowing that the moment the buses would be in the right position was going to last less than a minute. The team buses left St James Park at 4:30pm and passed by me 9 minutes later! However I got what I needed.
Winners 2025 is probably the most emotional painting I’ve produced. There are so many memories that are triggered through the celebrations. Like many Newcastle fans, I’m reminded of loved ones who didn’t get to see the win. I think of my dad Ken Reed who passed away on Christmas Eve last year. We went to so many memorable games together including Kevin Keegan’s first game for Newcastle and the FA Cup Final in 1998. My dad would have loved the win, the celebrations and as an artist would have wanted to paint his own version of the victory parade. I miss the conversations we would have had about the win and the painting “Winners 2025”.
When the city turns out in huge numbers to celebrate, you realise that supporting a football team is more than just a game of football. It’s a community gathering together, sharing collective joy and celebrating, just for a moment, in the midst of all the suffering and pain and loss that we all experience.
Winners 2025 is my way of capturing the long awaited win, celebrations, joy and emotions. Some of my family members have been painted into the scene, including myself! It will released as a limited edition print with 225 copies in the edition plus 25 Artist Proofs.