Of course, it is impossible to completely escape a city’s feelings and expectations, especially when the club’s all-time leading scorer, Alan Shearer, texts the club captain, Bruno Guimaraes, on the eve of the game. His message was not one spewing emotion, but a clinical instruction: “Bring that trophy back.”

Because the great drought is over; their Wembley jinx with it, Liverpool’s league leaders eviscerated as Newcastle celebrated. Their previous trophy at Wembley came a few weeks after Winston Churchill had stood down as prime minister.