Ant and Dec, the Likely Lads, Sting, Supermac, Shearer and the brickies from Auf Wiedershen, Pet – get your glad rags ready, Newcastle are at the gates of Wembley.
For 68 years, the Toon have had as much joy in cup competitions as Frank Spencer with a tool kit. The more they craved success, the more fortune deserted them. But in a feisty semi-final at St Mary's, they held their nerve as Joelinton's winner and England keeper Nick Pope's 10th consecutive clean sheet took them to the edge of heaven – and their first cup final for 24 years.
The Brazilian had an eventful night, controversially having a first-half effort chalked off for handball and missing the most sat-down of sitters before handing Newcastle an enviable advantage ahead of next week's second leg.
It was by no means one-way traffic.
Pope was arguably fortunate to escape a red card for wiping out Southampton forward Moussa Djnepo before the interval, and Saints sub Adam Armstrong – a Geordie emigrant, no less – was unlucky to see his 'equaliser' scrubbed out for handball after VAR interference.
But Newcastle are at Newark – halfway to Wembley – where they have suffered so much heartbreak in the last half-century that all cardiologists' leave in north-west London has been cancelled next month.
Whether they were running into Kevin Keegan catching a wave in Bill Shankly's last game as Liverpool manager in 1974, Dennis Tueart's bicycle kick two years later or Manchester United en route for the Treble in 1999, Geordies have spilled enough tears at Wembley to fill the Tyne.
The black-and-white legions are desperate to make their first pilgrimage down English football's most celebrated boulevard in 23 years since a 2-1 defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Saints, rock-bottom of the Premier League, competed with verve and gusto. But Pope, who has now been unbeatable for more than 16 hours, rode his luck to organise anotehr shut-out. And Southampton's goose was cooked when Croatian defender Duje Caleta-Car was dismissed for two bookings late in the piece.
On a lively pitch offering pace and bounce, Joe Willock volleyed two early chances so far over the top they almost caught the Isle of Wight ferry. But Newcastle's best chances thereafter fell to Joelinton, the £40million Brazilian whose journey from misfit to cult hero has been a catalyst for Newcastle's surge from makeweights to heavyweights.
Five minutes before the break, he thought he had put Newcastle in front after Gavin Bazunu had parried a more accurate Willock effort, but referee Stuart Attwell ruled it out for handball. Replays suggested it was a harsh call, a borderline infringement at worst, but VAR Andre Marriner saw no reason to overturn it. Attwell was less exercised when Pope raced out of his box to head clear, wiping out Moussa Djenepo in the process.
No foul, according to the hapless officials, but the Mali striker was too dazed to continue. Joelinton had no excuses, and nowhere to hide, when he spooned a simple chance over the top from six yards out from Almiron's low centre eight minutes after the restart.
It was the kind of miss that finds its way on to blooper compilations, and Southampton seemed to take heart from their unlikely escape.
Sub Che Adams, racing clear, was foiled by Pope's outstretched leg – but he should have scored, and the England keeper excelled to foil the Scotland striker again moments later.
But persistence is a virtue, and 17 minutes from time Joelinton finally located the target. Sub Alexander Isak's low cross picked out the fans' favourite at the back post and, from point-blank range, even Joelinton couldn't miss.
Saints thought they had equalised two minutes later, only for Armstrong to be penalised for bundling home with his hand, according to Marriner's forensic eye.
As plumes of mist rolled in from the Solent, sold-out St Mary's looked more like a Top of the Pops studio with the dry ice machine in overdrive than the setting for a major semi-final. Now they will have to conquer fog on the Tyne to deny the black-and-white legions the Wembley crusade they have craved since the turn of the century.
