Newcastle United<\/p>\n
16 March 2025: Won Carabao Cup, beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley<\/a>, their first trophy in 56 years<\/p>\n Dad\u2019s view: As a baby boomer, it seemed to me that Cup success was a God-given right. We\u2019d triumphed in 1951, 52 and 55. Wembley was our second home. But it took nearly two decades to return for the FA Cup \u2013 in 1974 \u2013 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\u2019s hat got a couple of outings \u2026 2023\u2019s Carabao Cup final<\/a> was the first I attended with my son, Richard. Maybe that was the omen that our Wembley bogey would end? Nope \u2026 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: \u201cSeventy years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming.\u201d David\u00a0Holmes<\/p>\n Newcastle fans Richard Holmes (left) and his father David Holmes (right) at the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley. Photograph: Richard Holmes<\/p>\n Son\u2019s view: Born in the late 70s, I\u2019d seen my share of false dawns. Both Keegan and Sir Bobby\u2019s thrilling sides were good enough to have at least won a cup, but they\u2019d fallen short. By the time of Mike Ashley\u2019s hope-sapping regime, dreams of glory had turned to dust, and been trodden into the floor of a Sports Direct warehouse. I\u2019d 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 \u2013 and Eddie Howe\u2019s\u00a0appointment<\/a> \u2013 changed the script. We finally had ambition, plus the talent to match. And in March we\u00a0had 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\u2019ll never forget it. Richard Holmes<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n 13 April 2025: Won Masters, beating Justin Rose in a playoff<\/a>, 16 years after his Augusta debut<\/p>\n I don\u2019t 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\u2019s about to achieve.<\/p>\n At Holywood Golf<\/a> Club, Rory\u2019s home town club \u2013 where I\u2019m the head professional \u2013 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\u2019s victory, we\u2019ve been inundated with junior memberships, all these kids wanting to be the next Rory and\u00a0join our junior golf programmes with the hopes that someday it\u2019ll\u00a0be\u00a0them.<\/p>\n A couple of weeks ago I had a gentleman on the phone who was looking to sign his son up. I\u00a0explained to him that you can come up and fill in a form, but we\u2019re\u00a0at capacity at the minute with\u00a0our junior memberships and that he\u2019ll go on our waiting list. He went: \u201cOh no, it\u2019s OK. He\u2019s only two at the\u00a0minute.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve had podcasters and influencers come up to see where he grew up, the fairways he\u2019s walked, and they come into the pro shop and they see his parking space outside and always wonder: \u201cWill he arrive today?\u201d What he\u2019s done in golf<\/a> has not only helped Holywood Golf Club but the whole of Northern Ireland. It\u2019s brought golf to another level. He\u2019s box office. Ciar\u00e1n Lavery<\/p>\n Crystal Palace<\/p>\n 17 May 2025: Won FA Cup, beating Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley<\/a>, the first major trophy in their 120-year history<\/p>\n Jo Harman-McGowan (right) watching Crystal Palace at the FA Cup final against Manchester City in May 2025. Photograph: Joe Dromey<\/p>\n We\u2019ve 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\u2019s no touchline dad-dance when Eberechi Eze meets Daniel Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s cross on the volley. Ollie Glasner\u2019s 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<\/a>, and the fans love them for it. Under relentless first-half pressure at Wembley, it\u2019s that connection which drives us.<\/p>\n Dean Henderson\u2019s penalty save\u00a0sparks celebrations almost as\u00a0wild as those which followed Eze\u2019s goal. We later learn he probably shouldn\u2019t be on the pitch, but no one cares. The second-half onslaught we\u2019re 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 \u2013 10 minutes! \u2013 but where previous Palace sides would have buckled, I feel disarmingly confident that this time we\u2019ll pull it\u00a0off. There\u2019s desperation for the final whistle in the stands, but on the pitch the players are calm.<\/p>\n When it finally arrives, it\u2019s carnage. I\u2019ve never been surrounded by so many people in tears. Lifetime supporters who never thought they\u2019d see the day. Kids who don\u2019t know just how lucky they are. It\u2019s 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\u00a0Harman-McGowan<\/p>\n Tottenham Hotspur<\/p>\n 21 May 2025: Won Europa League, beating Manchester United 1-0 at San Mam\u00e9s, Bilbao<\/a>, their first trophy in 17 years<\/p>\n Tottenham fan Rob Davies (pictured at half-time and full time) at the Europa League final against Manchester United in Bilbao. Photograph: Rob Davies<\/p>\n As the last few seconds ebbed away, events in the San Mam\u00e9s stadium seemed to unfold in cinematic slow-motion. Barring some freak mishap \u2013 and one of those is never far away when you\u2019re a Spurs fan \u2013 I was on the verge of seeing my team lift its first trophy in 17 years, a prestigious European pot to boot. When you\u2019ve invested more than three decades of time, effort and money \u2013 for relatively little reward in terms of silverware \u2013 it can be hard to believe that you\u2019re about to get what you\u2019ve dreamed of.<\/p>\n A sense of the unreal<\/a> 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\u2019t. 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.<\/p>\n It was only the next day, after\u00a0a\u00a0sleepless night, that it began\u00a0to sink in, as I watched the fan reaction videos and the replays, of Johnson\u2019s goal, of Van de Ven\u2019s 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: \u201cWe won it in Bilbao.\u201d Things aren\u2019t going too well right now<\/a> at Spurs but I turn to those moments whenever I need to put a smile on my face. And I\u2019ll be doing that for the rest of my life. Rob Davies<\/p>\n Paris Saint-Germain<\/p>\n 31 May 2025: Won Champions League, beating Inter 5-0 at Allianz\u00a0Arena, Munich<\/a>, their first European Cup win 39 years after their competition debut<\/p>\n PSG are a club that are 55 years old and have won more than 50\u00a0trophies. But the long wait for us was around the Champions League; since the Qatari takeover in 2011 that had been the goal, the\u00a0objective. When we finally won\u00a0it against Inter, there was a sense of\u00a0relief.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve 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<\/a>. 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<\/a> in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n In terms of the emotion among\u00a0fans in the stands, it seemed\u00a0to peak around the second\u00a0and third goals. That\u2019s when people\u00a0started to realise two things: first, that we\u2019re 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\u00a0Munich<\/a> 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<\/p>\n Bath<\/p>\n 14 June 2025: Won Premiership final, beating Leicester 23-21 at Allianz Stadium<\/a>, their first league title in 29 years<\/p>\n Mike Elliott (right), with his wife and son outside Twickenham, before the Premiership Rugby final between Bath and Leicester. Photograph: Mike Elliott<\/p>\n I\u2019ve 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\u2019ve been there long after them, too. We lost to Saints in the final in 2024<\/a>, when we were down to 14 men, but they\u2019d played better rugby than us all year. This year was different, we\u2019d been top of the league all season. Leicester still ran us close. I think all the commentators assumed Bath were going to walk it,\u00a0but it was such a nervous occasion. Tigers played really smart rugby and it ended up being one of those games you say \u201cnever in doubt\u201d but you don\u2019t really mean it. It was a bit like we\u2019d saved our worst performance till last. My son\u2019s a Tigers fan, and even he agreed we deserved to win it.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> fan at the Rec is not always the best experience, I sit in the open stands, and when it\u2019s raining you get wet through, and the rugby\u2019s 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\u2019s Champions Cup final in Bilbao next summer, but I\u2019ve not done it yet, I\u2019m too worried I\u2019m going to jinx it. Mike Elliott (Bath Rugby Supporters Club chair)<\/p>\n India Women<\/p>\n