Fair to say a lot of negativity surrounding this 2025/26 Newcastle United season.
Indeed, I have seen some fans claiming it has been the worst season ever.
I am not sure if these more extreme supporters really believe that but clearly the mood isn’t great generally.
It isn’t just recently either, even when Newcastle United were still active in all four competitions there were fans saying they just wanted the season to end.
So what about this. Imagine if by this point Newcastle United had now scored 94 goals in the 2025/26 season and had won 24 matches so far, with three still left to play? How would you have felt then?
Well you don’t have to imagine how would you have felt because that is the reality now on Tuesday 5 May 2026.
Eddie Howe and his Newcastle United team have so far won 24 matches, lost 22, with 9 draws.
Currently standing on a total of 94 goals scored and 83 conceded.
Has this really been such a miserable season with few, if any, moments of joy?
When those 94 goals were hitting the back of the net and the final whistle blowing on the 24 victories, did you not feel anything?
There have obviously been frustrations, the season has been anything but perfect. At the same time though, those who describe the 2025/26 Newcastle United season as a disaster, what exactly are they judging it against?
Just imagine for a moment if now that Eddie Howe has got almost all of his key players back, his Newcastle United team can follow on from the 3-1 win over Brighton (who were the Premier League form team) and do the same against Forest, West Ham and Fulham, get three more wins and average three goals per match.
That would see Newcastle United end the 2025/26 season with 27 wins and 103 goals.
To give that some perspective, the three previous full seasons that kicked off under Eddie Howe and this NUFC ownership saw 25 wins and 77 goals scored in 2022/23, 24 wins and 102 goals scored in 2023/24, then 29 wins and 88 goals scored in 2024/25.
To give this real proper perspective, the three seasons that kicked off under Steve Bruce and Mike Ashley brought 14 wins and 50 goals scored in 2019/20 (3 of the wins and 13 of the goals were against lower league sides in the cups), 15 wins and 55 goals scored in 20/21 (3 of the wins and 9 of the goals were against lower league sides in the cups), 13 wins and 44 goals scored in 2021/22.
Also worth looking further back when Newcastle United twice finished runners-up in seasons that kicked off under Kevin Keegan. Across the 1995/96 season we watched Newcastle win a total of 28 games and score 82 goals, then in 1996/97 it was 24 wins and 93 goals scored.
This 2025/26 Premier League season has been a major disappointment compared to our hopes and expectations built up by the previous three full Eddie Howe seasons BUT not a disaster in my book. A setback to bounce back from.
Whilst if you take this season as a whole…
Imagine if as suggested above Newcastle United did win these final three matches and score another nine goals.
Then imagine telling the grandkids in the future…
“Yes, I remember that 2025/26 season, I still have nightmares! Won 27 matches, scored 103 goals, absolutely bloody woeful!! Only finished eighth in the Premier League on 54 points, reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, got to the last sixteen of the FA Cup, played 12 games in the Champions League and after matching Barcelona for three-quarters of the tie just failed to reach the last eight. Can you imagine how bad it was back then???”
As Newcastle United fans we shouldn’t be happy or content with how things have gone in the Premier League this season, but at the same time we should be understanding as to how this can happen and it isn’t inexplicable. When a small squad hit by so many injuries has had to play so many matches and to the backdrop of a shambolic summer 2025 that I am sure the Newcastle United owners have learnt so much from, that not decisively dealing with the Alexander Isak situation and failing to deliver Eddie Howe’s top targets ruined the preparations for such a tough season.
Newcastle United have a great manager and a small group of real top quality players, it is also a team and squad that has produced these last four years far better results than anybody could have reasonably expected from the individual parts of that team and squad, up against rival clubs with such huge advantages over NUFC.
The 2025/26 Newcastle United season won’t top my list of best ever NUFC campaigns but still some great memories and plenty to build on for next season.