Never Give Up

The Religion of Hope

Growing up in Newcastle, there's no decision to make about which football (soccer) team to support. You're born into it. Newcastle United isn't just a club—it's a religion that binds the city together in a sacred covenant of hope, heartbreak, and unwavering loyalty.

For 70 years, generations of Geordies have shared collective pain, passing down stories of near misses and what-might-have-beens. Some fans have lived full lives without ever seeing their beloved team lift a trophy. The weight of this trophy drought has been a constant companion, a shared burden that has defined what it means to be a Newcastle supporter.

Yet we keep showing up. We keep believing. Because in the North East, that's what you do. It’s a way of life.

The Boy from Blyth

Newcastle player Dan Burn's story embodies this Geordie spirit of persistence better than most. Born in Blyth, just north of Newcastle, he grew up worshipping Alan Shearer like every other kid in the region. He lived the dream of joining Newcastle's academy—only to face the crushing disappointment of being released at age 11.

"It hurt massively," he would later admit.

Instead of giving up, he dusted himself off and started again from the very bottom in search of his dream. He collected trolleys at Asda. He played for non-league Blyth Spartans. He signed with Darlington on a youth training scheme. He was relegated to the Conference at 18. He was released, signed, loaned out—navigating through seven clubs across all four tiers below the Premier League.

It took Brighton to recognize his talents seven years ago. And then finally, the circle completed — Newcastle brought him home.

The Moment That Defined Decades

Last week, as Newcastle faced Liverpool in a cup final, it wasn't just about ending a 70-year trophy drought. For Dan Burn, it was the culmination of a lifetime's journey.

When the ball came in from Kieran Trippier's corner, time seemed to slow. The 6-foot-7 defender—who runs "like a man in a hailstorm with a sack of coal on his back"—rose above the Liverpool defense. With neck muscles straining, he powered a header into the corner of the net with such force you could almost hear the thunk off his forehead.

The Newcastle end erupted in a rolling wave of sound, a single shared vowel that traveled the length of the pitch. Burn closed his eyes, entirely lost in that sensation. A Geordie boy scoring the crucial goal to help end 70 years of waiting.

And just days earlier, he received news of his first-ever England call-up at age 33.

The Key Takeaway

Persistence isn't just about refusing to quit—it's about embracing detours as part of the journey. Dan Burn's path wasn't a straight line from dream to achievement. In fact, look closely enough at any successful person’s life story and you’ll see it’s never linear. Burn’s was a winding road through disappointment and humble beginnings, through collecting shopping trolleys and playing in half-empty stadiums far from the Premier League spotlight.

Yet every step, every setback, was part of the journey home.

In our careers and personal lives, we too face moments when our dreams seem impossibly distant. The path forward isn't always clear. But Dan Burn's story reminds us that persistence eventually bends the arc of our journey toward fulfillment—even if that fulfillment comes decades after we first dared to dream.

What dream have you held onto despite setbacks? What would achieving it mean to you?