It's 41 years and we're still here...
Unless you count the Anglo-Italian Cup, the Texaco Cup, the Japan Cup, some crappy plaque that says we won the Intertwobob Cup or our two Championship trophy triumphs - Newcastle United have now gone 41 years without winning what we'd consider a major trophy.
Today, is the 41st annivesary of Newcastle winning something worth shouting about in the form of the Fairs Cup back in 1969 beating Ujpest Dozsa.
Just a year ago, it felt like St James' Park had collapsed after relegation but in the middle of it all the Fairs Cup winning team of 1969 still celebrated the achievement of yesteryear 40 years on.
The names McFaul,Craig, Clark, Gibb, Burton, Moncur, Scott, Pop Robson, Davies, Arentoft, Sinclair and Foggon are still the names that go down in history as the team that won our last major trophy.
I was lucky enough to head back to the Nou Camp with Bob Moncur and Alan Foggon a little over a year ago to pick up the Fairs Cup on loan from Barcelona, where it usually resides in the museum.
Then with Newcastle up for sale 12 months ago, Moncur entrusted me to drop the Fairs Cup back at the Nou Camp before an end of season holiday.
The pleasure was all mine but as we handed the Fairs Cup back to Barca, you had to wonder if we're ever going to win something worthy of note.
Of course the Toon fans continue to turn up in their droves and while many teams bang on about victory parades after winning silverward, what sticks out in my mind was the day after relegation last year when all you could see on Tyneside was black and white shirts in a real act of defiance by the Geordie public.
Next season of course, we won't win the league again and we'll get cracks at the FA Cup and Carling Cup.
Staying up to many will be classed as a success.
But nevertheless, while the time between that balmly night in Budapest now stretches to 41 years, the level of support from the Toon Army shows no signs whatsover of waning.
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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