The Swans at Wembley – a memorable day!
Those of us who were lucky enough to be at Wembley in the Swansea City section of the almost-capacity crowd will in years to come pinch Max Boyce's catch phrase “I was there†to describe our feelings as the rampant Swansea smashed a bamboozled Bradford City in the final of the Capital One Cup competition.
The Swans were totally in charge from the kick-off as they stroked the ball around and their opponents made the error of chasing shadows, rather than getting 'stuck in', which is the normal tactic from teams playing opposition three divisions lower.
It turned out to be little more than a training session for Michael Laudrup's team and one could actually feel sorry for the Bradford City contingent who had made the 500 plus mile round trip and had to wait until the 86th minute before they were able to cheer a first corner – and their only shot by skipper Gary Jones a minute later, which in truth was a very tame effort that bounced three times before it reached Swans' keeper Gerhard Tremmel. Yet they waved their flags and were still singing their songs as we all walked down Wembley Way together afterwards.
Early start – and a good group to travel with
Our contingent of eight from Pembrokeshire travelled in a minibus driven by former Johnston goalkeeper Ian Smith, who had his daughter Nia and nephew Haydn with him, alongside Chris Tansey, the most successful Hakin United manager of all time, Kenny Chadwick, who scored over 300 goals for Angle in 500 matches, plus James Reed, who also played football for Angle until he broke his leg. My side-kick on the 500 mile round trip was Gordon Thomas, the Western Telegraph Sports Editor, who had been designated the role of looking after the only pensioner in the party – and did a good job! Fraser Watson was supposed to join us but the call of his St Davids soul mates meant he had to drive them!
Are the Welsh a soft spot on a trip?
After an 8am start we had breakfast at Leigh Delamere services, which was packed with people of all ages looking resplendent in black and white. The food places had clearly been told that the Welsh were a soft touch as a rather tatty breakfast and cup of tea cost over £12!
If you will allow me a further little rant about prices it was also a bit of a cheek to be charged £20 for parking in an area where we were told we couldn't stay there for more than 4 hours.
Food in the stadium lacked variety, to say the least. It was burger and chips for £8.60, a pint at £4.70 and little else in their quest to meet the needs of their valued customers! But it was worth it just to see the magnificent stadium – wow!
We sat high up in the gods of the top tier. There was a flag under each seat so that everyone could wave. It created a brilliant atmosphere and 'Hymns and Arias' were belted out in increasing volume as the Swans' goal tally increased.
More costly travel
Sitting next to me was a young feller called Matthew who had travelled over from Western Australia especially to watch the game. Born and bred in Swansea he had the broadest Aussie accent imaginable. He waved his flag like a good 'un and knew every word of all the Swansea songs. It had cost him £2,500 to get to Wembley and there is me grumbling about paying seven quid for a programme!
Celebrations, debate and presentations
Five goals to cheer in something of a non-match saw Laudrup's lads come through and the celebrations were great – Chico Flores, who missed out because of injury, appeared resplendent in a matador's outfit before being engulfed by his delighted colleagues.
Much was made of the Swansea penalty, taken by de Guzman, and, softie that I am, I thought it would have been nice to give Dwyer the chance of his hat-trick. “Not a bit of it†said the hard-nosed Tansey as a football manager, and Mr Thomas agreed. They were proved right but I had my own back on Mr Tansey because prior to the match I had the pleasant duty of presenting him with his “I Almost Beat the Expert†tee-shirt from our resident Mr Grumpy, who initially wanted to come but refused to pay £40 for a ticket!
Memories of a legend to round off a great day
It was presented alongside the iconic Bobby Moore statue (20 years since his death!), whilst an identical tee-shirt was presented to Fraser Watson, the Western Telegraph sports reporter, during the interval high up in the stand.
“I wasn't travelling 500 miles just to present two losers with a reminder of the fact that they are hopeless pundits†said The Expert – “I watched the game on telly and didn't spend a penny!â€
He may be right about their inability to pick winners in Pembrokeshire but they are like many thousands of other Swansea City supporters who will never forget their visit to a great stadium to watch their team win their first-ever major silverware!