Monday 26th May 2003 will live with me for the rest of my life.
The day started out early morning when I travelled down to Cardiff with two of my friends. On the journey down there was a huge mix of gold & black with red & white but everybody seemed apprehensive about the forthcoming events of the biggest game in their season.
We were booked in for the night at the Holiday Inn right next to the ground and after we had managed to park we checked in and had a couple of drinks in the bar before we made the short walk to the stadium.
At this stage my nerves were jangling but I was quite confident that we were going to win on the day. I had the result at 3-1.
Once we knew we were in the play-off final twelve of us made the decision to have a box which cost us £200.00 each and I knew that if we won I would be mobbed by the wolves fans so I thought from a personal point of view it was money well spent so I could take the day in as a football fan.
I spoke to Don Goodman after the game and he sat in the stands and said he must have signed 1,000 autographs on the day.
The atmosphere in the stadium was unbelievable – at 3-0 the fans were chanting my name as I chanted back with them – it was amazing.
At half time my mate Tigger ordered champagne but I refused to drink any and we didn’t open it but put it on ice. Deep down at 3-0 I thought we were there because no team had scored 3 goals past wolves this season.
Then the penalty decision came and Grant pulled of a great save and I knew then that it would be safe to crack open the champagne because it was going to be our day.
When the final whistle went the wolves’ fans in the stadium went mad – the atmosphere was tremendous – I’m sure the next day most of the fans would have lost their voices.
Apart from the whole day being a fantastic memory one of the key moments that will stay with me was seeing Lee Naylor running round the pitch with a flag saying “Boing, Boing down the Baggies”, or something like that, it was class.
After the game most of the wolves fans departed to their respective parties back in Wolverhampton and we had ours round Cardiff – a few beers were drunk before we went to bed.
I never went to the home coming celebrations the following day but the pictures and stories I’ve read just show how passionate the wolves’ supporters are. It was reported that between 80,000 – 100,000 turned up and Molineux was completely full. Next season I’m sure we can fill the stadium twice over – Please, please will everybody stop asking me for tickets – I have already been bombarded!
The preparations for next season I’m sure will have been underway the minute the final whistle was blown. I think Wolves goals should be to do what Blues have achieved this season and establish themselves in the top league by finishing fourth from bottom or above. That for me would be a great success whilst we continue to build the foundations of the club and bring in new players whilst developing the younger players.
I think we need to bring in half a dozen fresh faces and after reading the paper over the past week there are some great catches out there on free transfers.
With the transfer market declining I think that Dave Jones can do some great business and look to bring in the right balance of fresh faces to strengthen the squad.
As a born Liverpool fan I will look for the home fixture against them first,, but in general I can’t wait for every team in the premiership to grace the pitch at Molineux next season – We’re back in the top league, big teams, big name players and from the experience of Cardiff – a fantastic following of wolves supporters who will create a truly superb atmosphere.
