One Day In May

Saturday 17th May

FA Cup Final

Arsenal 3 Hull City 2 

The sight of more than 25,000 Hull fans, turning huge swathes of Wembley into a rippling blanket of amber and black, sent out a powerful message to any potential signings tuning in.  The pictures of Bruce urging his players on, of Hull rattling Arsenal for so long, created an enticing advertisement for the club.  “I hope so,” said Bruce.  “That’s always the challenge.  We landed two or three really big ones last summer, Huddlestone and Jake Livermore, and we’ve got to try and secure Jake, if we can.  We’re spending a lot on the academy and its job is to produce some young players.  But that’s for the future.  I’ll probably get the sack when it’s all in place!”  Henry Winter (The Daily Telegraph)

What a day!

Setting the alarm for 5.45am but actually waking up just after 5 o’clock...

Helping Mrs Slush get an excitable younger daughter ready for her own big day – the Brownies 100th Birthday Bash at Wetherby Racecourse - while trying to keep a tab on ‘Social Media’ goings on...

7.29am - the final of fifteen pocket checks – phone, money, tickets...

At 7.30am we’re off – the best trip we’ve ever been on – picking up at Patrington and Hedon – passing 'early start' Rovers fans with flags also out en route to ‘Magic Weekend’ – through Hull and out on to the M62 among countless other vehicles turning the carriageway into “a sea of black and amber”...

9am-ish - First mishap! Too busy talking and reminiscing about midweek trips to Carlisle means we miss the A1 turn-off...

Turn off the M1 near Worksop and soon back on track...

10.15am: second mishap! Miss Grantham Services due it not being sign-posted on the approach to the Grantham turn-off (honest!); arrange to pull-up at the “next available lay-by” and meet up with the Campbell Clan

10.20am - stood supping San Miguel in a lay-by, while acknowledging the honks and cheers of the passing Tiger Nation...

12.15pm – parked up at Rickmansworth

12.20pm – encamped in The Pennsylvanian (Wetherspoons); few pints of Ruddles County £1.99; pub well populated with City...and the odd Arse...

1.30pm – the Campbells depart for the station; we decamp to The Feathers beer garden; decent pint of Castle Rock Pale Ale; sun, smiles and best wishes from the locals, none of whom it seems want Arsene to end his recent trophy drought!

2.30pm – On the ‘over-ground’ from Rickmansworh to Wembley Park, joining in with the singing of a dozen or so east Hull lads in the next carriage; ‘We’re All Going On A European Tour’, ‘Silverware We Don’t Care’ interspersed with ‘When the Red, Red Robin...’

3.10pm – Wembley Park: what a sight!

3.20pm – after an aborted attempt to get in The Premier Inn, decide to sample the sights and sounds of Wembley (sorry, Olympic) Way – great to see City fans have tagged it; wander past Hull CC’s impressive ‘City of Culture’ display..

3.35pm – amazing how many “old school” faces you can bump into on a ten-minute stroll; accosted by a worse-for-wear City fan who tells one of our party: “The only way to win today is to hit the Southern b@stards early, get into ‘em, they won’t like it...” – er, 'Stereotype Alert’ and ironically, the bloke in question had a southern accent ;-)

3.45pm – On Wembley concourse supping a pint of p!ss in a plastic glass, the privilege for which I paid a fiver; ah well, I’d been spoilt up to now...

4.15pm – Take our seats in Block 120. What. A. Sight.
4.30pm – Steve Jordan whips up a storm, helped by plastic rattles, free flags and Elvis’ “Wise Men Say” booming from the speakers...

4.45pm – Leon Lewis leads “Abide With Me”.  I’m a blubbering wreck.  I knew I would be. Love you Mum!

4.50pm – Here they come; F#ck me, Hull City’s players are coming out on the pitch in an FA Cup Final; the hairs literally ARE standing up on the back of my neck; “God Save The Queen”

5pm – We’re off...

5.03pm – Chester. Ecstasy...

5.09pm – Davies. Oh. My. God!

5.16pm – Cazorla. Reality check.

5.48pm – Job half done

Hull’s players, especially Curtis Davies, were magnificent, until tiring.  Bruce demonstrated he is a significant managerial force.  Arsenal were in a battle.  Henry Winter (The Daily Telegraph)

6.17pm - Respect to the Valley Parade 56

6.30pm – Koscielny. B@stard! 

6.54pm – ninety up. Can we really can take anymore of this?...

7.21pm – Ramsey. Didn’t we just know it?

7.30pm – A-l-u-u-u-k-o...aaaargh

7.33pm – Dream over...

For the next few minutes I stood numb.  I wasn’t going to cry, even as Jake Livermore approached the City end looking totally and utterly lost.  Then that overwhelming sense of pride, as the rest of the players came over and moments later as they trudged wearily up the steps to receive their runner-up medals.  Losers?  Never.  Then the Arsenal players went up to receive the main prize.  I applauded.  Not sure they’d have done the same had the positions been reversed.  Let’s get out of here...

7.55pm – back along Wembley Way; songs of defiance fill the air...

8.05pm – Still waiting for our train inside Wembley Park...

8.50pm – back at Rickmansworth...

9.05pm – On the way home...
11-midnight-ish - Ferking roadworks (M1)

1.55am – Journey’s End

The following day I posted something of a rant on a popular Social Media site trying to express the sheer PRIDE I’d felt the day before.  Looking at it now, it still holds true and as such I’ve repeated it here... 

The morning after the evening before and having watched much of the day/game back on the box, my overriding feeling remains one of immense pride at my local team - something that those of you born and bred in these parts who purport to follow the so-called "big" clubs will never truly appreciate. From the "comfort" lay-by stops on the A1 with honks and cheers from fellow City fans to the best wishes of the locals in Rickmansworth and the camaraderie of meeting friends old and new from Hull and East Yorkshire to the full Wembley experience - crying through Abide With Me (as I knew I would), THAT start (!), the Arsenal fightback which has to be admired, the sheer bloody-mindedness of City to the end and the reception at the close for our heroes (which included staying to see Arsenal lift the cup - would they have done the same? Hmm). You can preach all you like about lifelong "support" for your Liverpools, Man Utds, Arsenals - you simply cannot relate to a club in the same way that you connect with that which is LOCAL to you. One decent piece of ITV's coverage yesterday was that with Mark Herman, Garreth Roberts etc showing where Hull City (not Tigers) have come from and what they've been through - you would-be Scousers, Mancs, Gooners from Holderness can never appreciate the experience I felt yesterday of watching MY team representing MY part of the country when taking part in what is still one of the finest showpiece occasions in World Sport. You go on about "plastic" Hull City fans - I don't care whether they've supported City for 5 mins, 5 years or 5 decades - those there yesterday were there to back their local team. And we came so close to really putting the place on the global footballing map. Now to Europe and beyond. Rant over. "Hull, Hell & Happiness".

As expected much of the national media coverage last Saturday focused on Arsene and his nine-year wait for a trophy.  This was evident in the match reports of esteemed writers such as Patrick Collins of the Daily Mail (“yellow and black” FFS!). 

But there were some who were willing to give City more than a passing nod.  Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph and JacobSteinberg in The Guardian.

Locally the Hull Daily Mail’s coverage was extensive as was to be expected.  Their man Phil Buckingham captured the mood perfectly with his blog post for ESPN. 

Then there were also excellent accounts from Matthew Rudd in City Fanzine Amber Nectar and Rick Skelton for The Metro.

But perhaps the piece that resonated most with those of black and amber persuasion was this from Cole Moreton in The Daily Telegraph.  Simply brilliant.

In conclusion I must concede that to some reading this my actual attendance at the FA Cup Final will sit uneasily.  My days of regular City attendance were curtailed in the early 1990s when I opted to return to the grassroots game.  That said, I’ve still got to Boothferry Park, the KC and the odd away trip when I can and have never lost my desire to see my local team arrive on the big stage.  Being there on Saturday made all those days spent watching poor City sides being systematically taken apart in front of the eyes of me and a few other hardy like-minded souls all the sweeter.  

Next stop the Europa League...

Some of the pictures courtesy of The Daily Mail's "LIVE" report.

Jake Livermore picture courtesy of The Guardian.
Steve Jordan pre-match photo courtesy of BBC Radio Humberside's James Hoggarth via Twitter