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?'"
