Newcastle United winger, Allan Saint-Maximin has led celebrations following the Magpies’ first Champions League qualifcation in 20 years.
Saint-Maximin was introduced as a late substitute in Newcastle’s goalless draw against third-bottom Leicester, with the point proving enough to guarantee Champions League qualification with a top-four Premier League finish for the first time since 2002-03 season.
Post-match, the Frenchman took to Twitter where he reflected upon Newcastle’s progress in 18 months under Eddie Howe, who took over when the club sat in the relegation zone in November 2021 and since overseen a stunning turnaround in performance and results.
We went through a lot, we even fought hard for not going down in Championship… but now look where we are… 🤍 https://t.co/YN6tV6C8Jc
— Allan Saint-Maximin (@asaintmaximin) May 22, 2023
Bruno Guimaraes, Elliot Anderson and Fabian Schar also took to Twitter as they celebrated how special their achievement is in the club’s ‘history’, having struggled to create much success over recent decades.
Making history! Here we go @ChampionsLeague 🖤🤍🆑 pic.twitter.com/maJxHeqSYu
— Bruno Guimarães (@brunoog97) May 22, 2023
It looks impossible until it’s done 😜🖤🤍🫢 https://t.co/hyb2QdWuME
— Bruno Guimarães (@brunoog97) May 22, 2023
Making history! 🆑😍 pic.twitter.com/Hse69awzsn
— Elliot Anderson (@elljanderson) May 22, 2023
History!!!🖤🤍 #NUFC pic.twitter.com/YJHHged0xI
— Fabian Lukas Schär (@fabianschaer) May 22, 2023
Alexander Isak and Kieran Trippier meanwhile took to Instagram as they celebrated the Magpies’ success.
Ex Newcastle player and club legend, Alan Shearer meanwhile was elated to see the Magpies back in the big time, and even hinted that he wants a trip to Milan, Italy next season.
Champions league anybody 🤪 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻❤️❤️
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) May 22, 2023
Have you ever seen a Mackem in Milan? 🖤🤍🤪😎
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) May 22, 2023
Departing BT Sport presenter, Jake Humphrey meanwhile tweeted his congratulations to Newcastle players, staff and fans, as he vowed to cheer them on in their pursuit of European success next season.
Savour it.
You fans deserve this. Wishing you all the best in the Champions League next season. I’ll be cheering you on 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/jzVhCaKNZn— Jake Humphrey (@mrjakehumphrey) May 22, 2023