The Home Coming

A moment of bliss with the home crowd as Newcastle United return to St James Park with the FA Cup – for the second successive year.

Skipper Joe Harvey and team parade the FA Cup for a euphoric crowd of football fans at St James Park after Newcastle United clock up their second consecutive Wembley win in 1952. With 50,000 supporters cheering, the jubilant captain addresses the crowd from the packed grandstands as cine cameras roll. The Magpies beat Arsenal 1-0, the winning goal scored by Chilean-born striker Jorge Robledo.

In 1952 Newcastle United set a record for consecutive FA Cup wins in the 20th century, a feat not seen since Blackburn’s achievement 60 years earlier. The triumphant Toon team on both occasions included shy football hero Jackie Milburn (known locally as Wor Jackie). By the time he left Newcastle in 1957, this former Ashington Colliery fitter had become the highest scorer in the team’s history, a record held until 2006. When he died, Milburn’s ashes were scattered over the Gallowgate end of St James Park.