Eddie Howe reveals Newcastle United 'bigger picture' – and his football inspiration

Howe will lead his Newcastle United team out at Wembley tomorrow for the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United with his late mother firmly in his thoughts.

The 45-year-old was taken to the stadium as a child by his mum Anne, who died in 2021 after a short illness.

“She took me for a tour around Wembley as a five, six-year-old, lifting the fake FA Cup, walking out with the fake crowd noise,” said Howe. “She was there doing that with me.

“My football opportunity is all down to her, really, so certainly during this week, I’ll be thinking a lot about her and the part she played in my life.

“But those memories as a kid, I’ve never forgotten that day. Wembley for me was an amazing place, a place I was desperate to come back to in some capacity in football.”

Howe’s mother raised Howe and his siblings as a single parent, and United’s head coach believes he inherited her work ethic and dedication.

“I’d say 99.9% is all down to her, because she was my driving force as a child,” said Howe. “She was a massive, massive influence on me, and I’m doing everything now really because of her.”

Howe went into coaching early after being forced to retire aged 29 because of a serious knee injury – and he took Bournemouth from the fourth tier of English football to the Premiuer League.

“I got the coaching bug, and it was a coaching bug that I never thought I’d get, because I just felt I was a bit too shy to do it,” said Howe. “I was just passionately then trying to seek every resource that I could to try to understand coaching more, because playing and coaching are totally different skills.

“The reality is you finish playing, and you realise you know nothing, so I was starting from zero.”

A Wembley win would be hugely significant for the club, which hasn’t won a major trophy since 1969, and for Howe.

“Hopefully, my work over time will prove that I’m good enough, but I think there’s a bigger picture here,” said Howe. “This is for Newcastle.”