UEFA officially announces updated Newcastle United Champions League squad after the competition phase

The official Newcastle United Champions League squad has now been announced for the remainder of the 2025/26 competition.

After the competition phase, each UEFA Champions League club still in the competition was allowed to register three new eligible A-list players before Thursday 5 February at midnight CET.

The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League contenders have now all confirmed their squad changes for the knockout stages.

Now that UEFA is unveiling the names (see below).

The now announced Newcastle United Champions League squad consists of 21 players.

UEFA announcement of the Newcastle United Champions League squad (and for those of the other 35 clubs):

Champions League Squads: Squads for the League Stage confirmed

The 36 UEFA Champions League contenders have now submitted their selections for the competition phase, which starts on Tuesday, September 16.

Newcastle United

Goalkeepers

Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale, John Ruddy

Defenders

Sven Botman, Dan Burn, Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar, Malick Thiaw, Kieran Trippier

Midfielders

Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Jacob Ramsey, Sandro Tonali, Joe Willock

Come on

Will Osula, Yoane Wissa, Nick Woltemade, Harvey Barnes, Anthony Elanga, Anthony Gordon, Jacob Murphy

The above is List A (the main squad of the Newcastle United Champions League) and that Eddie Howe could have named a total of 25 players if enough players had been eligible under UEFA rules. However, NUFC were limited to choosing just 21 in total as they did not have enough to meet UEFA criteria.

In the original Champions League selection A-list for the League stage, Eddie Howe left out Mark Gillespie, John Ruddy, Harrison Ashby and Jamaal Lascelles, the four senior Newcastle players not included in the NUFC List A.

Emil Krafth has now been left out of the 21 senior players allowed and replaced by John Ruddy. Krafth was out injured at this point and Eddie Howe including Ruddy, probably because young keeper Max Thompson is on loan at Ayr United.

So, for example, while Pep Guardiola has been able to add Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo to his senior Champions League squad, Eddie Howe has been able to bring in 39-year-old John Ruddy…

B list

There is an additional List B for each club with young players, including Lewis Miley and Lewis Hall.

That List B only needs to be forwarded to UEFA the day before each match, while List A had to be sent by Newcastle United (and the other remaining clubs) to UEFA no later than 5 February 2026.

The full UEFA rules on List A and List B, but here are some of the most relevant points in those lines:

Article 31 Player lists
31.01
Each club is responsible for submitting to UEFA an A-list of players (List A) and a B-list of players (List B), duly signed by the club and verified, validated and additionally signed by the association. These lists must include the surname, first name, date of birth, squad number and name (if applicable), nationality and national registration date of all players who will be used in the relevant UEFA club competition, as well as the surname and first name of the head coach and first assistant coach. In addition, the lists must include confirmation from the team doctor that all players have undergone the requested medical examination; the team physician is solely responsible for ensuring that the player’s requested medical examination has been properly performed.

31.02
Only players duly registered with UEFA through List A or B can validly serve a pending ban.

31.03
The club bears the legal consequences for using a player who is not on List A or B, or who is otherwise ineligible to play.

31.04
No club may have more than 25 players on List A during the season. There are a minimum of eight places reserved exclusively for “locally trained players” and no club may have more than four “association trained players” in these eight places on List A. List A must specify the players who qualify as “locally trained” and also whether they are “club trained” or “association trained”.

31.05
A “locally trained player” is a “club trained player” or an “association trained player”.

31.06
A “club-trained player” is a player who, between the ages of 15 (or the beginning of the season in which the player turns 15) and 21 (or the end of the season in which the player turns 21), and regardless of the player’s nationality and age, is registered with the player’s current club for a period, whether continuous or not, of three full seasons (i.e. a period beginning with the first official match of the relevant national championship and ending with the last official match of that country). relevant domestic championship) or of 36 months. For the purposes of this paragraph, the season immediately preceding a player’s 15th birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday falls after the last match of the relevant national championship but before or on June 30 (winter championships) or December 31 (summer championships), and the season immediately following the player’s 21st birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday falls on or after July 1 (winter championships) or January 1 (summer championships) but before the first match of the relevant domestic championship.

31.07
A “club-trained player” is a player who, between the ages of 15 (or the beginning of the season in which the player turns 15) and the age of 21 (or the end of the season in which the player turns 21), and regardless of the player’s nationality and age, has been registered with a club or with other clubs affiliated to the same association as that of the player’s current club, for a period, whether or not consecutive, of three full seasons (i.e. a period commencing with the first official match of the relevant domestic championship and ending with the last official match of that relevant domestic championship) or of 36 months. For the purposes of this paragraph, the season immediately preceding a player’s 15th birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday falls after the last match of the relevant national championship but before or on June 30 (winter championships) or December 31 (summer championships), and the season immediately following the player’s 21st birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday falls on or after July 1 (winter championships) or January 1 (summer championships) but before the first match of the relevant domestic championship.

31.08
If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players on List A, the maximum number of players that can be entered on this list will be reduced accordingly.

31.11
Each club has the right to register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season. The list must be submitted no later than 24:00 CET on the day before the relevant match.

31.12
A player can be registered on List B if he was born on or after 1 January 2004 and has been eligible to play for the club in question since his 15th birthday for an uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club of the same association for a period not exceeding one year. Players aged 16 can be registered on List B if they have been registered continuously with the participating club for the past two years.

31.13
Each club must have a minimum of two goalkeepers on List A and a minimum of three in total (List A and List B together).

31.14
Exceptionally, if at any time a club cannot rely on the services of at least two goalkeepers listed on List A, a substitution after the deadlines set in these regulations is permitted in the following cases and under the following conditions:

Long-term injury or illness: the club concerned may temporarily replace the goalkeeper concerned and register a new goalkeeper at any time during the season. The club must complete the official List A registration with the replacement goalkeeper. An injury or illness is considered long-term if it lasts at least 30 days from the day the injury or illness occurred. If the goalkeeper recovers before the end of this 30-day period, the player must nevertheless remain from List A until the end of this period. The new goalkeeper does not have to be locally trained, even if the replaced goalkeeper was. The club must provide UEFA with the necessary medical evidence in one of the official UEFA languages. UEFA may require further medical examination of the goalkeeper by an expert appointed by UEFA at the club’s expense. As soon as the injured or ill goalkeeper is fit to appear on the field again, he can resume his position in place of his replacement, who must therefore be removed from the list. The return of the original goalkeeper must be announced to the UEFA administration at least 24 hours before the next match in which the original goalkeeper will play.

Outgoing permanent transfer of one or more goalkeepers: the club concerned may replace the goalkeeper concerned and register a new goalkeeper after matchday 6 and before the end of the competition phase. The club must complete the official List A registration with the replacement goalkeeper. The new goalkeeper does not have to be locally trained, even if the replaced goalkeeper was. If the club qualifies for the knockout stage, the goalkeeper added during the competition stage will be considered as one of the three new players eligible to enter for the knockout stage in accordance with Article 32. At this point, the quota of locally trained players on List A must be respected.

31.15
With regard to the definition of a “season” as found in Paragraph 31.06 to Paragraph 31.07 of these regulations, as far as the determination of “locally trained players” is concerned, the relevant dates to be taken into account are those of the respective domestic championship calendar as originally planned, i.e. no account is taken of the extension of a domestic championship calendar due to an extraordinary situation, as in the case of the 2019/20 season. In addition, for the 2020/21 season, the period starting with the first official match of the relevant national championship and ending with the last official match of that relevant national championship will be counted as a full season, regardless of the actual start and end dates due to the extraordinary situation.