The tide of emotion shifted at 5pm on Saturday. As tens of thousands of fans left the SOL, they slowly forgot the win against Walsall and started to talk about Wembley on their journeys home.
When the Checkatrade trophy appeared on our fixture lists in August 2018, we all knew it was a Wembley final but brushed it under the proverbial carpet as the league was the priority. Too right.
However, over the past few weeks Wembley excitement has certainly taken hold of the region. The clamour for tickets, to be one of the 40,000 travelling to London, has, as expected, exceeded our allocation. The final itself will go down as another sell out awayday for the club, as the hordes make their way to the capital.
The international break next weekend has afforded us all two full weeks to enjoy the build up to March 31st. Any knocks and niggles Ross has within the squad can hopefully be remedied over the forthcoming 14 days.
The final though is about the day out. The title “Checkatrade Trophy Winners 2019” will hardly enhance the club’s history books, nor will it create any media euphoria. What it has created is a platform for us, as fans, to just go to London and have a bloody good awayday and after the last few years of shit., we deserve that.
A percentage of fans will probably start their journeys earnest on Saturday 30th as they head south, craving a repeat of the scenes in Covent Garden five years ago. I’m drooling in anticipation typing this as these are my precise plans. Why shouldn’t they be? That night in 2014 was without doubt the best experience I’ve ever witnessed as a fan.
The buzz and feel good factor generated that night, the scenes and the last drop of alcohol purchased from that Tesco Extra, will forever live in the memory. We all deserved that night and by God do we deserve another one.
Our history books since that evening have been nothing short of horrific. We’ve had scandal, jail terms, inept managers and players that quite frankly did not give a fuck about our club, flung at us by the previous regime. We’re now reborn.
As a club and a group of fans it’s time to start the preparation for the journey south in two weeks’ time. The occasion, the night out in London and the level of enjoyment that will hit us all will be deserving as we are the loyalist fans in the land.
As me and my son strut towards to the Covent Garden street party, I’ll be proud again and why the shouldn’t I be. It’s days like this why we follow football.
Go there, enjoy the whole occasion and remember this. Every one of you deserve it. STID.
