There can’t be a better opening blog than describing your team’s win at Cup Final at Wembley.
It was a fantastic day; the sun naturally shone, the atmosphere and sense of occasion was memorable and we put in probably our finest cup performance since 2001 (when we lost to a late Owen goal in Cardiff). I only learnt I had a ticket the day before on Friday, so only had a brief period to plan my itinerary for day. It was my fifth FA Cup Final, and now I had to decide my drinking plans.
Where to start your day is always a difficult conundrum. Do you trek out to Islington as many do and enjoy your first beer in The Gunners or The Twelve Pins? A popular option of mine is to hit Baker Street, where there are many bars and then you can catch the overground train from Marylebone to Wembley Central. The West End is another possibility, but this is usually the domain of northern teams supporters. I could have gone locally in West Hampstead, but this being a special day, I wanted to steer clear of the bars I visit on a regular basis. For home games you get into a routine of going to the same pub, but for an FA Cup final day there are too many options.
So I ended up selecting the obvious destination of a bar in Wembley. The police in their wisdom allocated bars to east of Wembley to Arsenal fans, with Villa fans drinking on Wembley High Street. With no great history of tension between the two sets of supporters, it’s a shame we couldn’t mix, but I guess this is the norm now for Wembley finals. We settled in the Blue Check bar and drank at steady pace. The anticipation and excitement was there and everyone in the pub appeared confident. I actually expected us to win, I just felt we were due a good performance at Wembley. I didn’t have the nerves of previous finals. It was a big occasion for the Villa team, I just sensed our big players would excel. Little did I know just how good we would be.
So I had a good pre-match and enjoyed the walk up Wembley Way. There was not a hint of trouble between the sets of fans and I had a final beer in a small bar assigned to Villa fans located just next to the Bobby Moore entrance. I supped my final pre match beer while observing the Villa fans in full voice. They were fully expecting an upset and were heading home with the trophy.
The game itself was a breeze for us. When did a set of fans last have such an enjoyable Wembley experience over the full 90 minutes?? We all turned up, the players and the fans, and it was one, massive party. The half time beer was drank in a state of exuberance and total confidence in the ultimate outcome. Villa were never going to come back from that first half mauling. The fun continued into the second half. This was very different to the Emirates experience. Everyone was standing up, most were well fuelled and we actually made a lot of noise for a change. “Tim Sherwood is a gooner” was joyfully sang when he walked up the Wembley steps (though the Happy Birthday song for Gerrard was the stand out song of the day).
The journey home was inevitably low key, seeing that I travelled home alone and my day was done. The defiant chants from the Villa stragglers of having won the European Cup, were ultimately pointless. They had been slaughtered and most of them just wanted to get back home. I got home with feeling of smug satisfaction. The frustration of Monaco, was for now, a distant memory. I settled down to watch the highlights and then drifted off to sleep, imagining what my Tottenham mates had got up to.
Winning is always good, but winning in such style is very special. I hope José and most importantly Roman, were watching….