GOOD TIMES: Newcastle United fans could finally enjoy the success they have craved for so long. AFP/VNA Photo

Paul Kennedy

Five years ago, on this very day, something happened. I’m sure of it. Cast your mind back a little further, and I can guarantee you that something also happened on this day 10 ten years ago. In fact, 15 years ago something else also happened on this day as well.

All of the above are related to football. And like an addict desperate for a fix, I am clearly in need of the beautiful game running through my veins once more. That’s why I’m currently loving all the trips down memory lane popping up on my social media feed.

This week, for example, was 15 years (jeez, am I that old?) since Liverpool’s miraculous Champions League Final victory over AC Milan in Istanbul. I was there and it was, and always will be, the greatest ever night of my entire life.

Another anniversary popped up this week that did, sorry to my friends in Newcastle in the North East of England, make me laugh out loud.

It was 65 years ago that Newcastle United won the FA Cup. In fact, its 65 years ago since Newcastle United actually won anything of note.

The video is so old it’s in black and white and has commentary from a man who sounds like he is reporting on a football match from 1955. Oh, hang on a minute. He was reporting on a football match from 1955.

Newcastle United have been well and truly starved of success for as long as time itself. But maybe, that’s about to change.

It seems the supporters of the Toon may soon be following a team owned by one of the richest men in the world and in this day and age, money definitely talks.

If you are to believe what you read, the deal is now thought to be in the hands of the Premier League who are just waiting to give it the rubber stamp and make it official.

One loyal Magpie fan told me this week that it could be a matter of just days before the paperwork is finally signed and the announcement made.

It must be music to the ears of those who support the team in black and white. Not just because it’s been an age since they last won anything, but over the past decade or so they have been run into the ground by an owner who couldn’t give two hoots about the supporters.

Already they are being linked with just about every player money can buy and I’m sure the rumour mill has been in full force in the North East.

“My mate just saw Neymar’s wife looking at houses in West Denton.”

“My brother’s wife has a sister who works in an Argentinian restaurant and she said Messi has booked a table in there for his birthday.”

Whoever they do eventually sign will no doubt be massive. Cash will be spent and Newcastle will improve. That’s for sure.

But the club must look at the bigger picture here and if they do win a trophy, their first since 1955, it will be amazing for the fans but they need to think of the future.

The club needs a great academy to discover and nurture the best talent. They need to find more Gascoignes and Shearers on the streets of the North East. They need to improve their training facility to make it the best money can buy.

They need to build for the future and not just become a flash in the pan success story for a few seasons until the owners get bored and sell up.

Money can’t buy you love, the Beatles once sung, but it sure can buy you a decent centre half, top midfielders and a world-class striker.

And it can also make Newcastle United a force to be reckoned for generations to come. VNS