I know, I know, but let's have a thread where we can post our excitement and behave like kids* Play nicely please *more than normal.
Walsall in 2011 and Coventry 2012 were pretty special. Last night was breathtaking to watch on tv and Wembley, wow.
Still great memories of Wembley and the JPT final. Yes was only the JPT but seeing your club lift a trophy at Wembley was incredible. Wembley just holds some sort of magic. Prior to that at old Wembley saw a couple of great games involving Gillingham. Old league 2 Play off final they lost v Man city in 99. Gills 2-0 up after 90 mins only for city to score 2 in added time and won on penalties Following season back at Wembley against Wigan. This time gills won 3-2 after being 2-1 down with 5 mins to go in extra time. Went with my Gillingham supporting mates. It's a cruel place if you lose but the best place on earth if you win.
Spare us a thought Sotonians. Even as every one of us may have shed a little tear as Shane did the business last night, this is an internet forum. Many of us have been forced from our homeland for many reasons but all of us are Saints through and through. We can't get to the pub before the matches and we won't be able to go to Wembley. Spare us a thought as we cheer with you and cheer the team on from where-ever we may be!
Funny you should mention these games. I thought about them while sitting in traffic trying to get home - less than 30 miles for god's sake yet took me an hour and a half! The Walsall game was a walk in the park. I didn't feel tense about the Coventry game, but I was actually quite choked at the thought of Saints going back to the Prem. Yet nothing prepared me for how I would feel last night. This wasn't us playing an already relegated team for the right to play at the next level, a right earned by dint of a great season. This was us playing Liverpool at their place for a place in a Cup Final. And we didn't bottle it. We didn't turn up as sacrificial lambs. We didn't concede a last minute heartbreaking goal. In other words we forgot for a minute who we were and then Shane Long went and bloody scored and I couldn't stop screaming. And all of the crap. All the **** relegation dog-fights; the losing to teams from lower divisions in Cups; losing games we should have run away with; losing 4-3 at Tranmere; losing semi-finals to bloody Everton and Liverpool; the almost bottling promotion at Middlesborough; blowing it in the 1979 Final after bossing the first half. All that suddenly didn't matter. I was at Anfield singing that we were going to Wembley. And it was bloody great. FLT, you big kid. Great thread, mate!
Lambo - of all the people's stories I know, this must be one of the most special for you. I can just imagine you being dragged out the ground as they closed the gates behind you last night. Love it.