On 16 March 2025, Dan Burn headed in at Wembley, Alexander Isak added a second, and Newcastle beat Liverpool 2-1 to win the League Cup. Before that, the last major domestic trophy was the 1955 FA Cup. Seventy years.
Which Newcastle your person grew up with depends on when they started going. The older lot will talk about Supermac, or Keegan's side and the 4-3 at Anfield in April 1996, which they'll bring up whether you ask or not. The younger ones have Burn's header and a cup final, and a summer since that most of them would rather skip.
Under £20
Newcastle Brown Ale and a proper glass. It was on the Entertainers shirt, so there's a joke in it for anyone who grew up in the 90s. Stocking filler. Wrap it with something else.
An old programme. This is the one I'd actually buy. Find out the date of their first game, from their mum, their brother, whoever took them, and then look second-hand. Programmes from most seasons go for a few quid, which means you can get the exact match and not something from roughly that time. If they're older, the 1969 Fairs Cup final is worth hunting for. So is the 1974 FA Cup final, although they lost that one 3-0 to Liverpool and might not thank you for the reminder. Ask the seller for a photo of the actual copy before you pay, because "good for age" can mean almost anything.
A book. Sir Bobby Robson's Farewell but Not Goodbye came out in 2005. He was born in County Durham, managed the club from 1999 to 2004 and got them into the Champions League, and plenty of fans still haven't forgiven the way he was let go.
Kevin Keegan's My Life in Football (2018) covers both his spells as manager. He doesn't hold back about the second.
Then there's Alan Shearer's My Story So Far. I've always thought it was an odd buy. It came out in 1998, so it stops before most of his Newcastle goals, and you're paying for the bit before the good bit. I'd only get it for someone who already collects Shearer stuff.
£20 to £100
A retro shirt from their era. The Adidas grandad collar with Brown Ale on the front is the Entertainers shirt, 1995 to 1997. Northern Rock on the front means the 2000s, from Shearer's last seasons onwards. Remakes are easy to find. Originals in decent nick cost more, and check the size label, because 90s shirts come up big.
A St James' Park stadium tour. You go round the dressing rooms and out through the tunnel, and the Shearer and Robson statues are right outside. Book a non-matchday.
A donation to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation in their name. It raises money for cancer research and care in the North East. Put it in a card with the Robson book.
Bigger presents
A signed shirt or photo. I'm wary of the whole signed-shirt market, if I'm honest. Buy from a seller you can trace, insist on a certificate, and if a signed Shearer shirt looks cheap, it's cheap for a reason. A signed picture of Burn's header is the one I'd look for right now.
Matchday tickets. St James' sells out, so this is harder than it sounds. A club membership gets them into the ballot, which is a decent present on its own if you explain in the card what it's for.
Their first shirt, framed. If the shirt they wore as a kid is still in a drawer somewhere, sneak it out and get it box framed. It costs more than you'd expect and takes a few weeks.
The XI on the wall
We've got two ready-made Newcastle prints in our Newcastle United prints collection, from £69. One is the 2025 Carabao Cup winning side. The other is Keegan's 1995-96 team, for anyone who still hasn't got over that season.
Or give them an all-time side and let them pull it apart. This is the one from our Newcastle all-time XI:
Given; Trippier, Moncur, Albert, Clark; Lee, Bruno Guimarães, Speed; Beardsley; Milburn, Shearer.
Bruno's in, even after Arsenal. Swap him for Batty if you can't look at him yet. Trippier's gone as well, out of contract this summer, but he played in the final and I'm keeping him.
Milburn and Shearer up front together is the bit nobody argues with. They're the only two players to score 200 goals for the club. The rest is up for grabs. Older fans will want Hughie Gallacher in, because he captained the 1927 side and that's still the last league title. Keegan fans will ask where Ginola is. Frank Clark at left back over John Beresford will annoy someone. Change whatever you like before it's printed.
You could also go personal. Their favourite eleven from the years they had a season ticket, maybe, or the five-a-side lot they play with on a Wednesday, in black and white stripes, with the name of the pub underneath.
Build theirs
The YourXI builder takes any Newcastle players from any era, or their own Sunday league side. You choose the kit, the pitch, the title and a message, and we email you a proof before anything gets printed, so give yourself a bit of time before Christmas or a birthday. A 12x16 in print is £99 and 18x24 in is £149, in a black or white frame, with free UK delivery. If you've left it too late for that, the stadium tour or the Robson donation will both go in a card.