Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is to depart St James’ Park with immediate effect following a difficult campaign and an unsettled summer, sources have told BBC Sport.
The 48-year-old’s final game in charge was a 4-1 defeat by Bristol City in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday, bringing an abrupt end to a reign in which he delivered Champions League football and ended the club’s long wait for a major domestic trophy.
Howe had been under growing scrutiny after Newcastle finished 12th in the Premier League last season, losing 17 of their 38 league fixtures in a campaign viewed as a major step backwards following a fifth-place finish in 2024-25.
Frustration over transfers and key exits
Well-placed sources have indicated Howe was taken aback by some aspects of Newcastle’s transfer business this summer, even though he accepted the club needed to sell players to meet financial and strategic requirements.
Earlier this year, Howe had resolved to stay at St James’ Park despite the inevitability of player sales. However, his outlook is understood to have shifted over the course of the summer window.
Newcastle spent in the region of £240m on signings 12 months ago, underlining the scale of their investment under the current ownership. But Howe is said to have been left frustrated by the sale of striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool.
His squad has been further weakened by the departures of Sandro Tonali to Tottenham and Anthony Gordon to Barcelona. Arsenal are also pursuing captain Bruno Guimaraes, adding to the sense of uncertainty around the core of the team Howe had been building.
In March, chief executive David Hopkinson insisted the club were “not having those conversations” about changing manager “at the moment”, but the situation has evolved rapidly since the end of last season and during the summer’s transfer activity.
Trophies, Champions League and records
Howe took charge at Newcastle in November 2021, succeeding Steve Bruce after the club’s change of ownership, and quickly established himself as one of the most successful managers in the Magpies’ modern history.
He ended Newcastle’s 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy by guiding them to the 2025 Carabao Cup, a landmark achievement for a club that had not lifted a significant domestic honour since 1955.
Under Howe, Newcastle qualified for the Champions League in 2023 and again in 2025, re-establishing the club among the Premier League’s leading sides after years of mid-table finishes and relegation battles.
Last season, Newcastle reached the last 16 of the Champions League before going out 8-3 on aggregate to Barcelona, underlining both their progress and the step up in quality at the latter stages of Europe’s elite competition.
Their defence of the EFL Cup also ended in the semi-finals, but it was the league form – and the slide to 12th place after a top-five finish the previous year – that amplified the pressure on Howe.
Statistical legacy at St James’ Park
Across 179 Premier League matches in charge of Newcastle, Howe recorded 84 wins, 38 draws and 57 defeats.
He leaves having overseen more Premier League victories than any other Newcastle manager. His top-flight win rate of 46.9% at the club is second only to Kevin Keegan, underlining the impact he made during his tenure despite the disappointing end.
Newcastle have yet to comment publicly on Howe’s departure or outline the process and timeline for appointing his successor.
