Sir John Hall's phone has not stopped ringing. Even Newcastle United's former owner has been bombarded with calls asking him if he has any spare tickets for the Carabao Cup final. In truth, Sir John feels fortunate to have one himself.
Sir John and Bruce Shepherd, whose late brother, Freddy, was the club's chairman, will be at Wembley on Sunday after the pair were personally invited to the game by EFL chair Rick Parry. The duo's presence in the royal box will serve as a link to Newcastle's past on a day the Magpies hope to make history and end their 54-year trophy drought against Manchester United. Now that would be a welcome early birthday present for Sir John, who turns 90 in just a few weeks.
"It would be wonderful," he told ChronicleLive. "I'm much older now and it would be great to win, but we're playing a tough team and it's going to be very close so I'll light some candles. But who ever thought we would be in and around fourth in the Premier League at the start of the season? I just keep shaking my head and saying, 'Is this real?'"
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Sir John is not the only one asking himself that - even if Newcastle have stuttered of late. To think it has been nearly 24 years since Newcastle reached a cup final and that prospect felt further away than ever in the Ashley era.
Sir John never imagined that would be the case when he sold his shares in the club to the billionaire in 2007 and Ashley told him how he was 'going to globalise Newcastle in a way I couldn't do'. It is easy to forget, in hindsight, that initial excitement was shared; the Journal's front page at the time even screamed: 'BIGGEST AND BEST' amid Ashley's plans to make Newcastle United 'the number one force in football'.
We all know what happened next, of course, and Sir John is the first to recognise how it 'went wrong and Mike brought the wrong management in'. Nothing quite sums up that era like Newcastle's dismal cup record and humiliating defeats against Oxford United, Stevenage, Peterborough and Brentford's second string live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons. However, those days are now behind Newcastle.
"We never had a glimmer of hope until now," Sir John said. "Win or lose, as far as I'm concerned as an old supporter, the club is on a journey.
"The benefits will come not in my time but for the younger generations. I honestly believe with everything the club has got behind it now - the finances, the management team and the players - there's hope we have never had basically since my day. I would not say I jump for joy because I'm a little too old for that, but it's wonderful for all the supporters.
"Every part of the club is being looked at, dusted down and brought to modern standards. I just hope I live long enough to see things."
On that point, Sir John admitted he has 'never seen the club in such a strong position before' after the 89-year-old personally got a glimpse behind the scenes in the boardroom. More than a quarter of a billion pounds has been spent on new players, but renewed investment has not just made a difference on the field.
Just this month the club agreed a deal to buy back the long-term lease of the land at Strawberry Place behind the Gallowgate End. This was land which Sir John and Freddy Shepherd's ownership purchased from Nexus in the first place in 1998 before Ashley later sold it to developers.
Expanding the Gallowgate was always going to be complicated and costly - Sir John previously spoke about how Newcastle looked into building a cantilever during his time at the club - but reclaiming this land may yet prove crucial in the long run.
"To buy it back is going to improve the stadium," Sir John said. "They need that bit back to do the Gallowgate End. I don't know what it would take it to? A 60,000 capacity would be great and we have got everything going for us. Every fan can feel the future is ours.
"These clubs that always see themselves as the top six can step aside. One of them is going to have to give way to us. Who is that going to be? Because we are coming soon.
"We have got a great team but not a big squad. When we get that, we will be challenging year after year. Our time is coming."
Those words hark back to Sir John's time as owner when Kevin Keegan warned Sir Alex Ferguson that Newcastle were coming for the title. Keegan certainly had the backing from Sir John to do just that and the names from that era still roll off the tongue: Philippe Albert, Rob Lee, Peter Beardsley, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand...
These Entertainers were 12 points clear at the top at one point in 1996 and a confident Sir John had even planned the victory parade before Newcastle faltered and Manchester United won the title. Yet there were still some special nights to come - not least a famous 5-0 win against the Red Devils.
"The football we played was absolutely brilliant and we just tore them apart," Sir John added. "That was special and that was something I will never ever forget.
"A video was produced after the game called Howay 5-Oh. I've got it here at home and I watch it from time to time just to see how we played. It was one of those matches that people my age will never forget. It was just magical. That was the greatest game I saw."
Sunday may yet top it.
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