POST MATCH RAMBLE: Wednesday -v- Wycombe

Like most Wednesday fans I didn’t sleep much the night before this and I was up and down emptying the Beastie bladder every hour on the hour so when I woke up not only was I nervous as hell, I was as bleary eyed  as well.

Having said that when you’ve had 40 days and nights of continuous rain and you wake up to the sun shining through the curtains on what you hope is gonna be a momentous matchday you simply have to have a spring in ya step.

After an old man style leap (or tumble) out of bed I had hopefully, one more set of lucky matchday routines to get through…

Get these right today and it would carry us through the automatic place and send the Blades into the play offs…

The thing is, I’ve been very confident we’d go through the season unbeaten from the point Dave Jones came in and always thought we’d win against Wycombe and the Blades would lose at Exeter but once that day comes around, as usually with me, all the horrible nagging ‘Yeah but this is Wednesday’ thoughts come flooding to the fore and the nerves kick in big style…

I still have my well worked routine that hasn’t failed so far but if the slightest thing changes it plays havoc with my weak, girly mind.

If I knock something over I think

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

No matter how insignificant it is I always think THAT’S the thing that will hold us up…

Dropped flannel in the shower…

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

Walking downstairs, a slip on the bottom step…

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

Splash water on the floor, shut the door wrong, creak the wrong floorboard, put deodorant under the wrong armpit first, breath at the wrong time…

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

I really do need to sort out some counseling…

I spent 20 minutes throwing my socks all over the bedroom in search of a grey pair, not just any old grey pair, they had to be the exact shade, a dark grey…could I chuffers find a pair…I got frantic at one point and there was just a big pile of boxers and socks on the floor…I found them eventually though, stuffed down the back of the drawer but my heartbeat was racing like mad through the panic of it all…

I know what ya thinking, let me stop ya there…’WHAT A GIRL!’

I can’t disagree…once I’d found them I set about the lucky 3 Sh’s…the first was a classic lucky Sh and I even tweeted live from it just to make sure everyone knew it was going to plan…I believe it made Bradders bring his porridge back up…unless that’s a euphemism for something.

The music is of course standard now and even though I’ve banged on about the 80’s music being the stuff that’s carried this season there is a quite specific little section of songs on my playlist that have seen us right through this golden era late in the season…

The first of the 3 Lucky Sh’s is done to Together in Electric Dreams and then they just follow on…

To Cut a Long Story Short…Spandau Ballet Temptation…………………….Heaven 17 Tarzan Boy…………………….Baltimora Solid…………………………….Ashford and Simpson So Macho………………………Sinitta Sexual Healing………………..Marvin Gaye Running Up That Hill…………Kate Bush

That little lot has been my personal soundtrack to the season and I’ve loved every one of em…

By the time I got to Marvin and a bit of ‘Sexual Healing’ I was into the third of the 3 Sh’s and we were well on the way…

Like a well drilled trooper (stop making your own jokes up) our lass had laid out all my lucky clothes and I was like on a fillum when they load up for war…with the dramatic music and sound effects going on….I was in the zone..

I found I was all rigged and ready to go, complete with perfect grey socks, in double quick time and was now only waiting for the Young un to arrive and we could get away early and get a prematch drink…

She wasn’t here and because I’d got everything done early I was pacing about impatiently like a bear in a cage…I was getting snappy as well…obviously the nerves were kicking in big style and the longer it went before she arrived the snappier I got…

Oh yeah, I forgot…I’d given her the task of making us a banner for the game, sommat to say thanks to one of the players and maybe get us a bit of media whoring on the telly..

Because we sit at the front of the kop we decided on a banner for Stephen Bywater. We knew how he loved the late Les Sealey who was his mentor at West Ham and how when Sealey had died Bywater had decided to always wear the number 43 on his shirt as a mark of respect for his hero… I thought we could pay our own respect to  both…We decided on 43 Forever and a picture of Bywater himself

Oh and another thing I forgot to mention…when she said ‘what do you want on this banner’ I said ‘47 forever’

‘Why 47′ she says…’that’s his number’…’OK’ she says…

It’s a good job she checked before starting it…when she found out it was 43 she rang me…’YOU IDIOT!’

What?

What number is Bywater?

47?

NO HE ISN’T! HE’S 43!

Oh.

It’s a good job I know what you’re like and checked before starting!

Yeah, that might have been a bit embarrassing…hehehe

When the Young Un turned up though she hadn’t finished the banner and me, the Young Un and our lass set about colouring in on the kitchen floor…we were running very late now and we were also running out of ink…we scoured the house for perniment markers…searched the car…under the stairs…under the coffee table obviously, always look under there and when you’ve finished looking, look there again…pretty much everything in our house ends up under the coffee table at some point

Eventually we found one, under the coffee table, with just enough ink to finish the job…I loved it when it was finished and how could Bywater  not love this?

We got underway and the Young Un gets the 90’s music going and the journey flies past but we can’t stop repeating the same old thing…it’s all about nerves and ‘Dad, I want us to go up!’ ‘Make us go up dad!’ ‘Daaaaad…Daaad…sort it out Daaaaad’

Chuff me if I had that much power we’d have been home and dry ages ago.

Before long we’re parked up in the Wednesdayite car park and we’re walking over the road to meet Liam and then onto the Niagara Club for a drink with anyone that was around…

The Young Un had her banner wrapped around her and her Miguel Llera headguard and I had my Llera headguard on too. As we walk along everyone’s smiling and commenting about Llera…and the headguards.

We get into the club and meet, Lord H, Eddie, Durrutti, Billy, Bradders and Phoebes, Wym…PACT family Ellie…it’s like a Wednesday reunion, it’s brilliant and there’s someone new to talk to at every turn…I loved it.

As we’re talking to our now good friends, the PACT family it’s clear that Ellies brother Josh loves the Llera headguards and the Young Un gives him her headguard at first he didn’t want it as he thought it was a bit rude to be so cheeky but it just made us want to give him it even more and  absolutely loved it and even went to bed in it that night…I doubt he’s taken it off yet.

Eventually we take a slow walk back towards the ground..I want to savour this, I don’t want to hurry at all…we have plenty of time and I want to take it all in, walking amongst the Wednesday fans the whole lot…

As we walk out onto Penistone Road some lads spy me in the headguard and start singing…a few steps more and another group do the same…every few yards that happens, they love it, they love him…Miguel Llera and that headguard have captured the imagination of the Wednesday fans and every time it happens it makes me smile…

Lleeeeeera Woah!

Lleeeeerah Woah!

He wears a balck headguard, he scores from 30 yard

Lleeeera Woah!

The closer we get to the ground the more congested it becomes as the crowds get bigger and bigger and the noise gets louder…

We wave Wym off at the roundabout and he heads for the Leppings Lane stand whilst we continue our slow amble groundwards…

As we turn and head through the gates towards the South Stand we see Jonny and Leroy through the railings enjoying a pint…we have a quick natter about nerves and whether we think it’ll all be alright by the end of the day…Jonny is uber confident for a change but Leroy still has his doubts…

This is it then…we’re at the turnstiles… Once we’re through here there’s no turning back and the game really does begin…as we’ve done all this season, yes another routine that wasn’t gonna be changed…I go first…I love this bit, even moreso on days like this but I absolutely love this moment… From the turnstile to my seat…it’s not far but it’s one of my favourite journeys and even I can’t get lost on this one…it’s a hell of a lot more crowded this time but we wind our way through…

Usually I get a clear unobstructed view on the pitch and North stand as I climb the steps…this time it takes a little longer and it’s almost tormenting me, tantalising me…hiding the view from me even longer, til eventually at the top it all clears and the noise is great…what a sound…what a sight..

We’re early, there’s loads of time yet but the ground is well on the way to filling up and that’s ALL 4 SIDES! Filling up!

This is like a cup final, it’s like a localised Cardiff 2005…everyone is in a great mood, it even sounds and smells like a cup final and nothing can derail this day, nothing was gonna stop us keeping a tight grip on that second spot. All over this fantastic ground the buzz was brilliant, everyone chatting excitedly or singing…already that singing was good and the inflatables were out in force…everywhere you looked but none moreso than on the kop…it was raining inflatables on the kop, they were everywhere.

We squeezed our way down to our seats and settled in…there wasn’t an empty seat anywhere in the place…usually there’s loads of room around us in the shit viewing area but not today…jam packed everywhere…

In those few minutes before kick off the crowd, all 38,000 of us set our moods to promotion…

Whatever it took, it was gonna happen… Everywhere you looked there was happy smiling faces, kids with painted faces, adults with painted faces, in fancy dress and we were all keen to get underway… The giant flag went across the north Stand before coming back over to the kop and once It went up it was covered in the inflatables…there was a paddling pool on there, a lilo, any number of beach balls as the party mood continued…

-
THE MATCH
-
Even though Wycombe flattered to deceive at times early on they never tested Bywater at any point, in fact I’m struggling to recall him making a save of any description throughout the 90 minutes and but for the heroics of a staunch rearguard defence and inspired goalkeeper we would have run out very easy winners indeed.

We were having a right go and we should/woulda/coulda had a couple of goals early on…

We got a corner and once the ball was in the box everyone’s trying to prod it in but it’s Llera that gets a touch on it eventually and we’re up on our feet, only to see the Wycombe keeper somehow push it out…HOW THE FOOK?

All that did was crank up the noise level again as we expected the corner to come into the danger zone again and for us to do the same again, but this time, hopefully someone would force it over the line…

Would you believe it that’s exactly what we did…well almost.

The ball comes in from Treacy and Llera once again leaps like the gret helmet wearing Spanish salmon that he is and heads the ball home for the first – OH FOOK ME!

The keeper fingertips the ball over the bar…AAAAARGH!

Fook off ya twat and let us enjoy our moment!

I was hoping this wasn’t gonna be one of those days where yet another keeper comes to Hillsborough and is inspired to play well…You’ve let more goals in than any other fookers in this division, now just lay down and let us have it matey!

We were playing well and it wasn’t gonna be long now surely…this chuffer can’t keep us out forever….

He didn’t.

The ball was punted long, flicked on i think and it seemed to hit Ranger, we couldn’t make out whether it was defended or if he passed it to Antonio but once he’d got it the Reading loanee worked very quickly to take control… He used his incredible skill and superb strength to fend off the Wycombe defenders and with the keeper bearing down on him he side foots the ball past the flailing keeper and motionless defenders and we’re on our feet…

The wall of noise as that ball rolled into the net was spine tingling…it hit you full on and it was a release for us all…any nerves fans had held onto were now melting away, we could all relax a little more. Everyone in the ground really began to believe it was going to happen and we were still celebrating when the scoreboard flashed up…

SHHHHHHHHHH!

T

Mid celebration and they’re asking us to be quiet?

You’re having a laugh….but here it comes….

EXETER  1
SHEFF UTD  0

YEEEEEEEAAAAARGHH!

We picked it all straight back up again and we were bouncing…not for the last time today it was everywhere…all over the ground…

IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE!
IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE THEN YOU’RE A BLADE!

COME ON! GET IN! GET IN! FOR FOOKS SAKE WILL YOU CHUFFIN GET IN!

All of a sudden this season is sorted once and for all…not only are we ahead but the Blades are losing and it lifts us all yet again as we go close to doubling our lead.

Everyone is blamming the ball at the Wycombe net from in and around their area…

If fell to an Owls player he lashed at it…BLAM! It was blocked.

BLAM! Blocked again!

AAARGH!

Eventually we get a great shot off on target BLAM! The keeper blocks yet again but Ranger is in there quick as ya like to head home the loose ball and we’re up and on our feet again…

GET TH-

OFFSIDE!

The flag was up and it was ruled out…the fans to either side of the ground in line with play weren’t happy and from our fantastic viewpoint at the front of the kop, opposite end of the pitch, we were convinced it was definitely onside but it was ruled out and we had to calm down…calm down? Calm chuffin down?

That wasn’t gonna be easy…

We went close another couple of times in the run up to half time but we just couldn’t extend that lead…it didn’t really matter…most of us, even me with my liking for being edgy, were pretty relaxed. It was clear that the Wednesday players were enjoying this and were playing relaxed, confident football and were ready to finish the job off

Our joy and celebrations didn’t stop there though as news slowly filtered through that James Beattie had been sent off at Exeter…it was enough to start a cracking little rendition across the back off the kop.

‘BIN SENT OFF, BEATTIE’S BIN SENT OFF, NANANANANANANAA,
BEATTIES BIN SENT OFF, BIN SENT OFF, BEATTIES BIN SENT OFF

The second half and we continue where we left off playing good relaxed, comfortable football and looking as though there was no way on earth we could lose this game…within 7 minutes of the restart that point was underlined…

The ball comes down our left, I couldn’t really see who from but it finds Nile Ranger and as he collects he’s fouled by the Wycombe defender…it’s right on the edge of their box soa  good chance here for us toe xtend the lead…everyone around us is on their feet…

Come on!

Linesy is stood over it and the big lads are in the box…

He curls in a fookin peach of a ball and there’s Nile Ranger with what looks like absolutely acres of space to head it past the keeper…he’s off running up field and we’re going stone bonking mental! I grab the Young Un as I’m leaning back giving it a fook off mighty roar and she’s going WAAAAAAAAH! She’s looking right at me and making this daft noise WAAAAAH! She can’t believe it…I can’t believe it…

We’re fookin gonna do this…we’re actually gonna go up today, right here and right now….

That was a lot to take in but everything…the whole season, the ups and downs, the bumps, the setbacks, the stick from the pigs, reclaiming the second spot…all of that…Megson going, Jones coming in and going unbeaten…all of it…

Well, let me tell ya now, ya can shove ya dictionary’s right up your proper English arse! Keep ya good grammer and spot on punctuation. Every last bit of our season was contained in that one word, that one noise from the Young Un…she absolutely nailed it!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

It summed up that precise moment perfectly and when we’d all sorted ourselves out and come back down to earth the chant was superb…

SAID WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP It was incredible, deep and booming… It reverberated around the ground, you could feel it coming up through the concrete floor and right through ya soul….it was wonderful… It wasn’t just words anymore this was for real. It really was gonna happen and we were living the dream every single one of the 38,000 was caught up in that wonderful, wonderful moment.

Even the news that the Blades were now winning despite being down to 10 men, no one cared about them anymore…our destiny lay in our own hands and we were finishing off the job ourselves.

There was a bit of a commotion to our left as someone in a curly Blue and White wig was standing up and all the fans around were singing at him…

REDA REDA REDA REDA FOLLOW THE REDA

Rfeda Johnson had been sat there amongst it all with his cunning disguise on…but now his secret was out and his huge incredible beaming smile lit up the entire South Stand….

During the half there was also a smashing chant of thanks to Milan Mandaric

MILAN…MILAN MANDARIC
MILAN…MILAN MANDARIC

That was accompanied by a huge warm heartfelt round of applause and as we rose to salute him he in turn stood to acknowledge the Wednesday fans…it really was a nice moment.

On the pitch we continued to dominate and I really wanted Gary Madine to score in front of the kop just to cap off a pretty good season for the troubled striker…

He had his chance too…

A free kick taken from halfway into the Wycombe half…it’s floated over to the far side of the box where Madine is waiting and once again he’s in absolutely loads of space…there’s no wonder Wycombe have conceded so many defending like this…he meets it perfectly and places it even better…just inside the far post…

From our seats we’re staring right down the barrel of it and it’s in…it’s all over 3-0 and thank you very much, Championship here we come…

But NO!

Once again it’s kept out…I have no idea how…I STILL have no idea how…I suppose a defender hooked it out but it looked impossible….CHUFF MY OLD BOOTS!

It didn’t matter as far as the score and the result went…we were so comfortable now…in fact the Young Un commented about how she felt a bit cheated. This isn’t the Wednesday way…usually they have us on the edge of our seats with our nerves in tatters…they’d not given us any of that and it was all very easy in the end….too easy! She protested.

The Wednesday fans thought so too and they started to gather in front of us on the kop…

There was still time for a very funny little cameo involving Antonio..

Antonio gets the ball near the corner flag, he has 3 Wycombe players surrounding him, 2 of em up close and personal…he’s clearly running down the clock and they know it and don’t like it…they try and badger him into losing the ball but he skips past them and dances towards the box…both players are hot on his heels chasing after him…as he gets past them he’s met by the third, he skips past him and doubles back in a wide arc to where he started, in the corner near the flag. Rather than stop there he goes around again and to our disbelief all three of em follow him in single file…it’s like the keystone Cops, or an episode of Scooby-Doo…it’s classic cartoon capers…he could run round and round for an hour and they’d still follow him…funny as fook

When the scoreboard clock hit 88 minutes you could feel the surge…I don’t mean folk pushing to get to the front I mean you coud feel the surge in love, in hope and expectation, in realisation…with only 2 minutes left of the game, of the entire season there was no way back for Wycombe and more importantly, no way back for the Blades…that second spot and automatic promotion was ours…

We got a corner and Llera headed onto the bar..if that had gone in this game was ending even earlier than it did, that would have been enough for the fans….

All round the ground the repeated chant…

WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP
WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP

It echoed loud and proud all round this fookin beautiful old place, it was heaving, hell the place was probably creaking as Hillsborough had well and truly found it’s voice (Probably under the coffee table all along)…

More than that though it had found it’s heart and soul again and this was about to become as great a moment for us as anyone has ever seen at Hillsborough

Seconds later that inner surge finally gave way to the physical one as shouty bloke at the side of me says to the Stewards, what dya think you’re gonna do? No way are you lot stopping anyone!

‘We have to try’ says the steward sheepishly.

The area down in front of us behind the wall filled up in the blink of an eye and everyone down there was in party mood like you wouldn’t believe… The noise builds up…like a wave all round the ground…. IF YA DON’T FOKIN BOUNCE… IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE THEN YOURE A BLADE

Quickly its picked up by every single Wednesday fan in the ground and all four sides are bouncing like chuff…I swear I even saw some Wycombe fans bouncing, it was that loud, that bouncy and that infectious…and it was wonderful…a sight to behold…

The fourth official holds up 2 minutes

There’s a gasp from everyone as they brace themselves to run onto the pitch…

I don’t know what watch the ref was using but we coulda done with it against Huddersfield earlier in the season as what seemed like seconds later he blew for full time…

He’d barely finished peeping when he was off and leggin it towards the tunnel…no way was he getting caught up in this lot…Usain Bolt wouldn’t have beaten him today

As the last dull note of that peep left the whistle the crowd were on the pitch and swarming and within seconds the pitch was covered…it was like opening the floodgates, nothing was gonna stop this, no amount of stewards, nothing at all. You could have built a wall as big as ya like, it wasn’t stopping the Wednesday fans, not after waiting so long, not after taking so much shit, not after all that hurt and heartache and as the crowd ran on the stewards huddled together for safety and let the fans get on with it…

I stood there at the front of the kop as wave after wave passed by me…I was like a big fat old rock in the middle of a river, it was incredible and it seemed endless…I looked around and the kop was still full, so where were they coming from?

As I turned back to the pitch you couldn’t see a spot of green…no part of the pitch was visible as the fans ran to the players that hadn’t made it to the safety of the tunnel…within seconds Llera and Danny Batth were mobbed and everyone wanted to thank them, moments later and they’re hoisted high like gladiatorial champions…emerging high on the shoulders of the fans, unsteady and wobbling about but on their faces were the broadest smiles of pure joy, they were loving it…they were making this moment count, like me, they didn’t want it to end….

The chant was still going on

WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP! There were flares in the middle of the pitch and I know this isn’t the right thing to say but they added to the whole drama of the moment, they made this moment pure theatre and it was quite emotional… I stood there absolutely stunned, rooted to the spot…my stomach was churning…my heart was pounding like mad and I admit it I was struggling to hold it together… That’s just how emotional the whole thing was…it got deep inside you and it demanded your full attention…

I was snapped out of it as Liam, Salop, Craig, Danny, Caharlie and Titch all came to stand with us…we stood together all locked into the moment…all hypnotised by the scenes in front of us, we were pretty much speechless, just wallowing in it all…

To stand there…with the Young Un and share that moment, those few seconds with her and those friends was very special indeed. It would have been Liam’s granddads 92nd birthday the day after this game, he was a keen Wednesday fan…he’d have loved all this, loved it and I’ve got to tell ya, even with my piss poor memory, it will all stay with me a long time…at least a week this time…I’m sure of it.

Just to continue with the whole mood of the day, the whole friendly nature of the event our fans ran over to the small bunch of Wycombe fans in the corner and applauded them and what’s more they applauded back…absolute class…there was talk afterwards that they’d even joined in the bouncing and sang to us…

THIS CITY IS YOURS…THIS CITY IS YOURS….

As loud as everything had been sung throughout the day I doubt anything matched that song at that moment…

I’m absolutely sure that when we got to….

FOOK OFF UNITED, THIS CITY IS OURS!

They could hear us all the way down at Exeter…It was so loud it rattled ya spine into the middle of next week

The Young Un started shouting DAD! WE’VE DONE IT! WE’VE DONE IT! WE’VE DONE IT!

She just kept repeating that over and over again like she needed to say it to make it all official, to actually confirm we had indeed done it…I was beaming, smiling from ear to ear, I love her to bits and I loved that exact moment more than anything

Once the players had finally made it back down the tunnel the announcer asked fans to leave the pitch so the players could come out and do a lap of honour…he asked for everyone to return to the stands.

Liam said to me ‘Look at the stands. They’re all full. Where are they gonna go?’

He was right…as I looked around there didn’t seem to be an empty seat anywhere and the pitch was still full…where had they come from? There was certainly no way they could get back into the seats.

I think someone realised that and just ushered everyone back to the edge of the pitch and formed a thin yellow line of stewards around the pitch to hold them back…that was never gonna work but eventually the players did come back out and made their way across to the North Stand

As they walked over one lad broke through the thin yellow line and ran full pelt at the players jumping to try and avoid the stewards, someone took him out with a fine clothes lining that flipped him backwards and onto his arse…it was a great shot and the rest of the Wednesday fans cheered.

The players didn’t stay long… They had their kids with them and this was getting far too risky so they made their way back in front of the Leppings Lane and then down the tunnel. Rob Jones was determined to see it out though and he walked his two kids, both toddlers, over to the kop and got them both waving at the fans…he stood there and applauded us… It was a nice moment but the Young Un, never a fan of the Captain, was having none of it…

‘Huh! We must have won if Rob Jones is coming over to applaud the fans. If we’d lost he’d have been straight down the tunnel’

She had a point but it was still a nice moment for the club captain.

Once he disappeared that was it…it really was game over and they weren’t coming back out and slowly…VERY slowly everyone drifted out….no one wanted to leave, certainly not quickly, we didn’t want the moment, the day, the SEASON to end and just as everyone was on their way, news filtered through that Exeter had scored in the 95th minute just to make a bad day for the Blades even worse and yet another cheer….one more cheer went up from the Wednesday fans…the season that keeps on giving just gave us a little more…

Once again we were the last ones out of the ground, like everyone else we didn’t want this to end but we finally had to admit defeat on this one and we were pushed out of the gates but we continued on to what has become another tradition in the latter part of the season, we meet North Stand Man and the North stand Boys under the back of the North Stand.

They took me by surprise this time though as we slowly walked out of the gate – BEASTIE!

They were running towards me…I grabbed one of the lads as he flew through the air…hugs all round and more excited chatter about not believing we’d done it…huge beaming faces, just astonishment and the fantastic realisation and excitement that we were back in the Championship.

We all headed over to the car park chatting away and as we were about to cross the road we saw Tommo and his two lads…Jamie looked fit to burst…he was desperate to share the moment with us and the longer we waited for the traffic to part and leave enough gap for us to cross the road the more animated and eager he became…hopping from foot to foot…

Eventually we got across and he couldn’t contain it any longer…more big hugs all round and then Jamie was off, both barrels and lightening fast…Beastie, we did it, we did it, that Antonio goal, who do you think was Man of the Match? They were rubbish, we were brilliant…non stop, he was like a machine gun…I loved it…we walked over to the car and he held my hand as he chatted away about the day…what a great ending right there…is there anything better than young kids with totally unbridled enthusiasm?
They can’t hide it, they can’t hold it in check and they can’t make it up, it’s just natural, like that Christmas morning effect…I love it, love it.

It took a while for the car park to empty and I rang work to see if I could get the night off to finish celebrating…

YES!

A quick drive home to get changed and back to Sheffield for the dogs to savour the day with more good friends and there were a lot of Wednesday fans over there which helped with the noise when the track DJ played ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ and we lifted the roof of the dog track belting it out loud and proud…the old lass behind the Tote counter shouted ‘That’s my team, sing it again…louder this time’….it all wove nicely into the fabric of this day and we chewed it all over many times in there before finishing off with a nightcap back at Seans and watching ourselves on the football League show…

We cheered every touch, chanting again and shouting at every high point, anticipating every move, sharing the celebrations of the players…we must have rewound it a dozen times and every time we did the same thing…oh yeah, what a moment.

It was very late when we headed off home and it was almost 4am when I finally climbed into bed…I STILL didn’t want it to end…I was absolutely shattered, totally drained…I had nothing left but I still didn’t want it to end.

Watching your team clinch promotion on the final day, watching your closest rivals snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Seeing those scenes at the end and being a part of them, a historical moment for OUR football club and best of all, sharing it all with some incredible friends…well let me tell you, matchdays, SEASONS, don’t get any better than this.

Thank you everyone that’s been a part of it…the players, the management, past and present, the chairman, the opposition fans at the likes of Wycombe, Exeter, Orient, Brentford, Hartlepool, Huddersfield and Bury…all of em…I’ve loved it all and you’ve made us feel very welcome but most of all thanks to everyone that’s been to the games with me and the Young Un, we’ve enjoyed your company and love that we have friends we can share all this with.

Sheffield Wednesday…back in the Championship.

One last thing, for Blades everywhere, GAP CLOSED!

Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive
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