Okay, so I know this was Cardiff... but just to get everyone in the mood (like we need it!)... please log in to view this image
Is anyone travelling from the Westcountry? I'm fromYeovil area - trains are looking like a bit of a nightmare on the Sunday
First time I've ever been pleased about a Sunday kick off. It means I don't have to book a day's leave on Saturday, and I'm on a late shift on Monday.
What. A. Day. I remember the public announcer saying how amazed he was that the whole stadium was full. I think more Saints fans than Arsenal fans stayed at the end. "YELLOWS, YELLOWS, YELLOWS"
Remember walking away from the stadium with Saints fans singing to bemused Arsenal fans: Cheer up, cheer up, You won the FA Cup. A journalist (in his own New Years honours list) gave best fans award to Saints for how much we enjoyed that day...even after we lost.
I have mixed feelings about this. Yes, it was a great day out but all this stuff suggests that we we were just happy to be there. Maybe we were but surely not now. The League Cup final will be a great day out whatever happens but to quote Mick Channon (in the bath after beating Palace), "Now we've got to go and win the bloody thing!".
Mine would have been in the '70s. I used to hitchhike everywhere in those days and I arrived a few minutes late. As the gate guy was cashing up he just told me to climb over the turnstile. Result. Very strange ride home to, far more memorable than the actual game which I have no memory of.
I couldn't be more prouder of our support that day. Someone has to lose and to do so with grace and pride in your teams efforts should be applauded. This is how every clubs supporters should act after defeat instead of being a bad loser and storming off in a self entitled paddy before the medals are handed out.
To be fair, I've yet to meet a more gracious bunch in defeat than the many Scousers I talked to on Wednesday night on the walk back into Liverpool City Centre.
This is what i said in the 'heat' of the moment on the other thread. I recently have grown to extremely dislike Liverpool (for obvious reasons), despite them in the past being a team I admired and was fond of. Now the slate is wiped clean. I'm good with them again. Much of this is down to the grace and friendliness from their supporters and pundits.
I'm not suggesting that anyone should be a bad loser or anything other than gracious in defeat, however, as someone who has been to all our cup finals from '76 onwards, I can absolutely assure you that winning is better than losing. And that's how it should be.
