Rovers are promoted!
So I went up to the new Wembley on Saturday, and what a day it was! Rovers won the game 3-1, which means next year they'll be playing in League One with the likes of Leeds United and Notts Forest!
Caught the chartered train from Weston to London Paddington - it was over an hour late, but that didn't actually make much difference as it just meant I had less time to burn in London before the game. So once in Paddington it was simple enough to get to Wembley Park tube station - well, I say simple, but it's quite amusing how quickly a whole trainload of Bristolians get stumped upon which tube line to head for once we reached the underground system!
None of the trains were that busy, and as soon as you leave the station you can see the stadium and "Wembley Way" that leads right up to it. It wasn't too busy when I got there, so I walked around a bit, right round the stadium (which is pretty impressive) and had some lunch too. Then as time reached 1pm I headed into the station, and after having a pint at the bar I took my seat in the stand.
My seat was literally in the very back row at the top of the stand! So it's fair to say I was pretty high in relation to the pitch, but the view was pretty good, although maybe not quite as good as it had been at the millenium stadium last month in Cardiff. The game itself was quite nerve-racking. Shrewsbury scored within the first three minutes, and everyone started comparing it to the start in the millenium stadium when we also conceded straight off. Fortunately they didn't concede again though, and Richard Walker scored for Rovers soon after with a great goal knocked in from a cross. That was quite a relief, and was made even better when he scored again some minutes later with a more spectacular lob over the keeper!
It remained at 2-1 for most the rest of the game, although Shrewsbury were having the better of the play as they were looking to equalise. They had a player sent off just minutes before the end after a rash challenge, but the game climaxed in the final minutes of the game when Shrewsbury had a corner. They brought everybody forward for it to try get the goal they needed, including their keeper. But the ball was knocked clear by Rovers, falling to Igoe who started running toward the empty goal at the other end, pursued by Shrewsbury players. He seemed to tire as he was getting nearer, and thought he'd blown it when the Shrewsbury player caught up with him, but Igoe managed to get a shot in that was headed straight for the goal. I was certain it was going to go in, but then the ball started getting slower and slower and all the while it was being chased by a Shrewsbury player. The crowd seemed to go really quiet, and the whole thing seemed to last much longer than the few seconds it actually did, but the ball trickled across the line and that was the point we knew we had won promotion and just everyone in the crowd, some 40,000 rovers fans just went mad! It was so amazing to be there, the whole atmosphere and singing the club song Goodnight Irene, it was fantastic!
I stayed then while they went on and got the trophy and paraded around in front us fans, just celebrating along with everyone else. Eventually people started to head out the stadium so I followed, and although it had started to rain outside nobody was particularly complaining! It took a while to get back to Paddington, and I'll never forget being on the tube train there full of Rovers fans singing Ring of Fire all the way, just a whole party atmosphere spreading away from the stadium!
I can't wait now until next season starts, hopefully I will get to see some more games next time round, and would be great if they can stay up. Unfortunately Yeovil couldn't do the same on the Sunday, losing out 2-0 to Blackpool so they will be staying in League one and playing Rovers. But it's been a fantastic year for local teams - City, Rovers, Swindon all getting promoted, Yeovil very nearly doing the same, and Cheltenham escaping relegation. Good stuff.
Caught the chartered train from Weston to London Paddington - it was over an hour late, but that didn't actually make much difference as it just meant I had less time to burn in London before the game. So once in Paddington it was simple enough to get to Wembley Park tube station - well, I say simple, but it's quite amusing how quickly a whole trainload of Bristolians get stumped upon which tube line to head for once we reached the underground system!
None of the trains were that busy, and as soon as you leave the station you can see the stadium and "Wembley Way" that leads right up to it. It wasn't too busy when I got there, so I walked around a bit, right round the stadium (which is pretty impressive) and had some lunch too. Then as time reached 1pm I headed into the station, and after having a pint at the bar I took my seat in the stand.
My seat was literally in the very back row at the top of the stand! So it's fair to say I was pretty high in relation to the pitch, but the view was pretty good, although maybe not quite as good as it had been at the millenium stadium last month in Cardiff. The game itself was quite nerve-racking. Shrewsbury scored within the first three minutes, and everyone started comparing it to the start in the millenium stadium when we also conceded straight off. Fortunately they didn't concede again though, and Richard Walker scored for Rovers soon after with a great goal knocked in from a cross. That was quite a relief, and was made even better when he scored again some minutes later with a more spectacular lob over the keeper!
It remained at 2-1 for most the rest of the game, although Shrewsbury were having the better of the play as they were looking to equalise. They had a player sent off just minutes before the end after a rash challenge, but the game climaxed in the final minutes of the game when Shrewsbury had a corner. They brought everybody forward for it to try get the goal they needed, including their keeper. But the ball was knocked clear by Rovers, falling to Igoe who started running toward the empty goal at the other end, pursued by Shrewsbury players. He seemed to tire as he was getting nearer, and thought he'd blown it when the Shrewsbury player caught up with him, but Igoe managed to get a shot in that was headed straight for the goal. I was certain it was going to go in, but then the ball started getting slower and slower and all the while it was being chased by a Shrewsbury player. The crowd seemed to go really quiet, and the whole thing seemed to last much longer than the few seconds it actually did, but the ball trickled across the line and that was the point we knew we had won promotion and just everyone in the crowd, some 40,000 rovers fans just went mad! It was so amazing to be there, the whole atmosphere and singing the club song Goodnight Irene, it was fantastic!
I stayed then while they went on and got the trophy and paraded around in front us fans, just celebrating along with everyone else. Eventually people started to head out the stadium so I followed, and although it had started to rain outside nobody was particularly complaining! It took a while to get back to Paddington, and I'll never forget being on the tube train there full of Rovers fans singing Ring of Fire all the way, just a whole party atmosphere spreading away from the stadium!
I can't wait now until next season starts, hopefully I will get to see some more games next time round, and would be great if they can stay up. Unfortunately Yeovil couldn't do the same on the Sunday, losing out 2-0 to Blackpool so they will be staying in League one and playing Rovers. But it's been a fantastic year for local teams - City, Rovers, Swindon all getting promoted, Yeovil very nearly doing the same, and Cheltenham escaping relegation. Good stuff.