Sean Longstaff knows that a decade is a long time in football and says he will savour every moment of Wembley this weekend.
At 25, Longstaff is one of the elder statesmen in the Newcastle United dressing room these days but it wasn't that long ago that he was part of an excited bunch of kids assigned to be ball boys for the Europa League at St James' Park. Longstaff was from a group of youngsters that included Cal Roberts and Dan Barlaser but he has emerged as the big star from that group.
Despite scoring a glut of goals in the reserves he was shifted from an attacking midfield role to a more defensive position and then came a lot of talk about whether he'd get a big contract at all. But it was Rafa Benitez who made sure he was tied down and after hauling him back from a loan deal to Portsmouth, Longstaff made his debut in the 2018/19 season.
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Going back to that night against Benfica, Longstaff and his youth team pals soaked the occasion up and hung on every word as then Toon coach John Carver made his way down to the ball boy room and reminded them of what a big role they had to play. Longstaff admits that he might have laughed if you'd told him then that he would go on to be one of driving forces that could push the Magpies back into Europe.
Longstaff says it is hard to believe when the last 10 years are framed like that and told Chronicle Live: "Yeah, it is. When you are in the moment you don't think of it.
"But when you sit back and look back at all the players you played with growing up, where they are now, where they are playing, I am the one who has gone on to play for Newcastle - it is a proud moment for me. Only the other day our scholar group are sorting a reunion, I was 15/16 back then and time has flown by.
"I still don’t think I’m that only but I’m 25 now. It makes me proud I was the one to go on and play for Newcastle - and it is around 100 games in the Premier League as well. It is something I will always be able to look back on with proud memories."
The night against Benfica was a bitter-sweet experience as Newcastle came within a goal of the Portuguese giants then crumbled in the final stages. Papiss Cisse's goal raised the roof but it was never going to be enough. United went out at the quarter-final stage and have never been back.
Looking back on the night Longstaff said: “I think we did the Anzhi game first. When Cisse scored and ran to the corner, he sort of ran in front of me - I’d never heard an atmosphere like it. It gave me a little extra motivation to maybe one day be in that situation it could be me.
"For the Benfica game, as a young lad when I played FIFA and one of my teams was basically a Portuguese league team, so I was watching the Benfica team warm up! I never thought one day I’d go on and play like I did against them in pre-season. "It’s funny how life works out.
"Really fond memories and now we’ve got a chance to emulate that and get into Europe this year, which I think we’re really driven to do."
Longstaff was the man who drove Newcastle to Wembley when he bagged twice against Southampton to put the club on the road to the capital for this week. The next step would be bringing silverware to the city.
But he doesn't have to look too far for somebody who has lifted a trophy and scored in a major final with his dad David Longstaff - a fully-fledged Great Britian international in the ice hockey world - having done son in the Elite League play-off final back in 2006 wit Newcastle Vipers no less.
When asked if that had cropped up over the dinner table this week, Longstaff laughed: "He hasn’t mentioned it but there’s still time! It’s a different sport but obviously my Dad was successful and played in a lot of finals and big games.
"I might try and tap into him, see what it was like and how he prepared. Not just my Dad, but in this team, we’ve got lads who have played in big games.
"Everybody is just trying to help each other along. It’s a new experience for some of us, but not so much for the other lads. With where the club is going, hopefully, they’ll be having these games every season and we’ll be watching. But if we can be the first team to bring a trophy back, it’s something you’ll always be remembered for and go down in history. "
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