Portsmouth connection emerges in Redknapp and Howe stat after Newcastle triumph
Harry Redknapp and Eddie Howe maintain a solid footballing connection via Portsmouth, which has shown itself over the course of the past few days.
Howe steered Newcastle United to their first major trophy in 70 years on Sunday (16 March) when they lifted the Carabao Cup after overcoming Liverpool at Wembley.
Pompey has a link with Newcastle this season, having signed Matt Ritchie in the summer after his long stay on Tyneside; Isaac Hayden joined on loan in January, and Josh Murphy was in attendance to support twin brother Jacob who started the match.
The Magpies boss was once a Blues player, a fact remembered by many in the city when they decided on their allegiance for the weekend final.
Redknapp mentored Howe at Portsmouth
As many pointed out over the weekend, Howe ended a long run at the weekend as he became the first English manager to lift a major trophy at Wembley since Redknapp in 2008.
Portsmouth won their second FA Cup at the national stadium 17 years ago, and with Howe finally breaking the hoodoo which developed since, another Pompey aspect has emerged.
BBC broadcaster Chris Wise posted on X (16 March) to highlight that not only has that unwanted record among English coaches been broken, Howe was also Redknapp’s first signing as Portsmouth manager.
Redknapp guided the Blues in two separate spells, punctuated by an infamous stint up the M27 at Southampton; Howe arrived at Fratton Park as a 24-year-old defender in 2002.
Wise shared: “Eddie Howe [is] the first Englishman to win a major domestic trophy in this country since Harry Redknapp won the FA Cup with Pompey in 2008.
“Howe was Redknapp’s first signing as Pompey manager. Strange and lovely symmetry.”
Fratton Park has enjoyed cup success
There are all manner of clubs across England whose generations of fans have never been able to enjoy the euphoria of a major trophy.
Do not listen to what the chronically-online brigade say when they bang rampantly on about ‘UCL’ and ‘it’s only a Carabao Cup’ – all that spiel. Any trophy is worth celebrating for any club.
But for those that experience it once in a blue moon or have ended a long wait like Newcastle have; like Portsmouth did in 2008, it can change the entire mood of its support for years.
Even in the dark Portsmouth years not long after the FA Cup success and subsequent European adventure, fans were able to cling to those days as something no-one can ever take from them.
| Englishmen to win domestic trophy at ‘New’ Wembley | Competition | Club | |
| 2008 | Harry Redknapp | FA Cup | Portsmouth |
| 2025 | Eddie Howe | Carabao Cup | Newcastle United |
It’s slightly different for Howe and Newcastle, who will now have added pressure applied to go and win more, especially with their financial backing.
But that first moment in many a generation where a trophy can be brought home solely in that club’s possession is a special time which can very rarely be replicated to the same extent.