Newcastle fans wave scarves as they await kick-off in the English League Cup final football match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium, north-west London on February 26, 2023. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)
LONDON – Newcastle United fan Kris Cook was so convinced his club was going to win a first domestic trophy for nearly 70 years that he had a tattoo celebrating the fact on his leg.
The problem was Newcastle ended up losing 2-0 to Manchester United in Sunday’s League Cup final at Wembley.
Cook had the popular club chant “Tell me ma me ma” complete with “NUFC Cup winners 26/02/23” etched onto his skin but it proved somewhat premature as Newcastle’s wait goes on.
“I asked the lass who does my tattoos: ‘Can you put cup winners on my leg?’,” he told the BBC.
“I think she was thinking it was a bad idea at the same time, but I got it done. I think my mam is still a little bit livid, my grandma, she went ballistic — apart from that, all my pals think it’s funny.”
Asked by a BBC Radio Newcastle reporter whether one solution would be to change the N to an M for the sake of accuracy, Cook said he would rather wait for a Newcastle win.
“I wouldn’t have that on my leg — I would rather have one leg to be fair,” he said.
“(It was) dedication or stupidity really, I have always loved (Newcastle) but I didn’t think I’d be walking around with that on my leg for the rest of my life.
“As long as they win something I don’t care, so I can kind of get away with it a little bit.”