It might be the morning after the day before, though some may not know what year it is right now.
When I wrote the brief SW19 update from last night up (What? You haven’t read it? Here it is), I vowed to sleep on it, wake up afresh and go again.
This morning, I’ve done exactly that. And yet, Going Up 1 Staying Down 0 still isn’t sinking in properly.
The sentiments I wrote last night remain as true as ever, and they’ll remain as true for a good long time to come.
It will be tempting right now to liken this to Wombley 2016, but this one felt different in a lot of ways.
Having the majority of the crowd (imagine if it was Bradford we faced instead of Walsall), being in the playoffs throughout most of the season, and not having the strikeforce we had nine years ago.
It doesn’t make yesterday any less sweet, of course. Certainly no less of an achievement.
Yesterday had that vibe yesterday that wasn’t quite Wembley 88, and it wasn’t nearly as nervy as Luton at the Emptyhad.
Nothing will beat Staines for pant-shitting though. And yes, I believe Mark DeBolla’s free kick is still the most important in AFCW era history.
I guess whoever does that Facebook-esque “Thought Of The Day” thing at Morden station had us in mind when they wrote “Make Mental Health Your Priority”.
Anyway, the journey to London HA9 was pretty uneventful, and your editor used his local knowledge(ish) to locate the nearby Asda.
It was predominantly Walsall around that area, and they weren’t going to be quiet.
Vibe-wise, it was odd. Those coming down from the Black Country were making their presence known, while we were more subdued and apprehensive.
Your editor settled any pre-match nerves by popping into the nearby Currys and looking at washing machines for five minutes. Beat that.
Still, we were turning up en-masse, even though the queues to get in were awful. I’ll mention Wembley itself later but having airport security immediately after you get in is a shit arrangement.
They make going through TSA in the US look competent.
The game? Oh, that.
Well, it wasn’t one for the ages spectacle wise, it has to be said. We were defensively as rock solid as ever, I guess there were nerves jangling around like crazy, and it was really going to be a moment of magic or a mistake to decide things.
We were on the back foot early on, at least it seemed like it, although the Saddlers didn’t really cause us too many issues.
Speaking of fuckups, Walsall’s backline seemed to have one in them, although the way we play – if they had left the field we would have scored one then just passed it about ourselves for the rest of the game.
I was happy to get into half time sans but, but when the corner came in and was dealt with in traditional L2 style** Hippo’s finish was worthy of winning any game at Wembley.
** – ball up in the air a lot, nobody having the requisite skill to do anything with it.
I know that the game being over when we score is (mostly) something rooted in reality, but that did seem to kick Walsall in the bollocks. Especially scoring it in injury time.
I can’t say I was massively enthused with our lot singing about promotion in the concourses at half time.
Nor was I particularly impressed with Wembley full stop. For a stadium that cost $1.57bn (US) it’s a bit piss-poor.
The views at the front aren’t as good, the way the trophies are presented appear to be an afterthought, and some men’s toilets don’t have urinals.
Go to Arsenal, or Spurs, or Brighton, and they’re much better venues. And not nearly as expensive to construct too.
Still, it’s what is on the pitch that makes the occasion, and the second half was always going to be torture.
I didn’t write too many notes, although it didn’t help my nerves one bit when we cleared off the line almost seconds into the second half.
More so than ever, we needed the second goal. And to be fair we tried to get it – and with a bit of a luckier bounce here and there we would have got it.
Oddly enough, the time didn’t drag as much as it could have done. Maybe sub-consciously we knew that Walsall weren’t offering too much threat?
I won’t say I knew we were going to win, because I didn’t. Not even until the 97th minute. But thinking about it this morning, we did a job and did it to perfection.
Even the sight of a last minute free kick with the Walsall keeper sprinting up to our box didn’t seem to worry me.
Of course, I was glad when the final whistle went. Glad, relieved and ecstatic, but mostly those first two.
The celebrations on the field told their own story, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out our players have just left some knocking shop club as I type this.
The social media clips at 9pm last night looked like they were starting to get messy. I hope we’re not planning contract announcements/departures this week, we might have a lawsuit or two under diminished responsibility.
With the trophy presentation up the Wembley steps as equally shit as 2016 were (no wonder they have a big screen) it all felt a bit surreal as much as anything.
But then, I found 1988 like that too. It’ll only dawn on me that we’ve gone up next month.
Maybe it’ll be something like seeing Leyton Orient’s name mentioned, then realising we’ve got them in the League next season?
That can wait though, as can all talk of what happens in 25/26.
I’m in no doubt you’re all like the proverbial dog with two dicks, you may even be swinging them when you walked/strutted/stumbled into work/the job centre this morning.
Just not literally, I don’t think a court of law would accept our win as a reason for indecent exposure, even though they should.
I had lots of doubt beforehand that we’d do this, though it’s better to have that mindset than walking in thinking success was nailed on.
Or to put it another way – I’d rather get it wrong and we go up than being correct and us staying down.
There’s going to be a lot of things I’ll miss out, and I’ll do another update by Friday before I piss off to Russian-speaking lands for the next 12 days.
Who knows what the next few weeks will bring, AFCW wise? And right now, I’m not sure I care…
Plus points: We won. Clean sheet. Hippo’s goal. Defensively rock solid. Nobody putting in less than 9/10. Looking more comfortable than perhaps we realised it at the time. Going up.
Minus points: I would have liked a second goal.
The referee’s a…: Had a reputation, to put it mildly, but didn’t need to use any authoritarian measures.
Also, VAR was available to use but wasn’t needed. It really was that kind of game, though I reckon not using it ruined the offical’s day.
Them: I almost feel sorry for them, although a thought I had this morning – maybe them being 12 points clear at the top was a false position?
Perhaps the Walsall we saw yesterday was the real Saddlers, a middling upper table side who don’t quite have the quality to make that final step.
Quite simply, they didn’t really turn up. Just like Plymouth didn’t turn up against us in 2016.
Apart from us needing to clear off the line in the second half, did they put us under any proper pressure? I’m not sure if they did.
If you want to sum them up yesterday, this was a thing of beauty.
Being a Walsall fan this morning must be up there with waking up and realising you support Franchise, albeit without the sense of shame or isolation.
I was on the tube with a couple of young lads from Villa and Wolves (one of whom kept asking me where the stop for Wembley was. These provincial types in the smoke…), although they seemed sound enough.
Couldn’t quite work out what they were saying, mind you.
You do wonder what happens to Walsall now. They’ll either take their implosion for the ages and come back much stronger, or it damages them psychologically and they find themselves fighting to stay in the EFL.
For next season though, they’re not our problem…
Point to ponder: Whither Johnnie Jackson?
A penny for his thoughts this morning. At least, ones that don’t involve the post-piss up regret of too many bevvies and an unfortunate incident with a pot plant at 3am.
For him, this must be one helluva vindication. Not only of his approach, that still remains a necessary evil in the minds of many, but for him generally.
He was axed at Charlton because their owner at the time hated his style of play, and he never got a pre-season with them.
When he left, he was a manager in League One, and assuming he stays he’ll be one again with us.
So you wonder if he’s got unfinished business next season? Even if he’s not going to be back at the Valley in the League.
But considering so many wanted him gone after the first season with us, and even now a few won’t be unhappy when he does eventually depart, you sense this means more to him than you realise.
He strikes me as an emotional man under that exterior, that he takes the pressure but doesn’t entirely enjoy it.
The way he hugged (presumably) his missus on the Wembley balcony said a lot.
He’s done it his way, and we’ve got back into L1 because of it. While you should never be shy in axing a manager if it’s clearly not working, sometimes it’s best to keep what you do have.
Next season will be interesting with JJ in charge, because L1 is more “his” division. The club backed him two years ago, and the least they can do is to repeat it in the upcoming months…
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) We’re going up. 2) If you were able to sneak a plastic bottle in, there was a water refill point (see above). Only one though for the whole concourse. 3) Seeing well known comedian Geoff Norcott on Wembley Way with his young son beforehand, blending in. Am I the only one who’s never listened to a routine of his? 4) The blue and yellow balloons got annoying after a while. I now understand why the PL stewards burst them on sight.
Anything else? I see this promotion not just as an achievement, but righting the wrong of 2021/22.
Even now, when I think about it, the way we lost our L1 place back then sticks in my throat.
It was an unnecessary relegation, even though it led to the restructuring on-field we see today, brought about by collective arrogance, hubris and grotesque negligence due to ineptitude.
Yes, I’m still bitter.
This might explain why yesterday is different, because it feels more like a process than an achievement in itself. If that makes sense.
In 2016, getting up to L1 was new and exciting. In 2025, getting up into L1 is the next stage of the club’s continued progression.
Sure, there’s Cardiff and Reading and Huddersfield to look forward to next season. There’s saying hello to Luton and Plymouth again as well.
Maybe we’ll finally put in a decent performance at Peterborough? Hell, maybe we’ll finally put in any sort of performance at Blackpool?
I’m getting almost excited already.
This time, as a club we should know what to expect a bit more. I like to think that we’ve learned lessons from going down last time, that we’re much better prepared.
I have one real fear, although today is not the day to express that, and I hope the decision makers prove me wrong on that score.
We might struggle, but I always felt our last tenure in L1 was hampered by scouting and recruitment that belonged in non-league.
Get that right, and I can’t see why we should automatically go down again this time next year.
As for L2, it helped us to lick our wounds but I’m not upset to leave it (in the right direction) at least for a season.
While I think we would have gone up eventually, I’m very glad we had that one chance to escape and took it.
The style of football could be pretty brutal at times, and as said above JJ might be the L1 manager we need.
We shouldn’t dismiss the fourth tier too readily, many will be making us favourites to be in it again in 2026/27.
But there’s no Barrow or Swindon or Colchester or Newport in the League for us in the next 12 months.
As for looking at the fixtures for next season and realising Franchise aren’t listed…
So, was it worth it? If you say “no” to this, you can fuck off and stick a large object 45 degrees anally.
In a nutshell: We are going up.
And finally…: Yes, there’s an extra bit.
I know one can mock superstition, and how it doesn’t really affect things in the real world, but we all do it.
Your editor has done one for the last two months, namely I haven’t cut my toenails in that time.
I vowed after Morecambe away, the last time I got the clippers out, that they wouldn’t be touched until I knew what division we’d be in next season.
Maybe leaving it until the last week in May was pushing it a bit though.
Anyway, I’ll spare you the pictures of them at this very moment, although suffice to say that they’re a bit, well, notable.
Today, the clippers come out. And of everything in the last 24 hours to happen, this might be one of the most relieving of the lot…