The Play Off Final 2002

Now, I've supported Stoke for 12 years, and this day was my most proudest as a Stoke fan. Bar the promotion in 1992 under Lou Macari, winning the Autowindscreen Shield twice and reaching the play-offs 4 times before this, I haven't had that much to shout about. Getting relegated from the first division has to be the worst moment, and the manner in which we did go down was appalling but I'm not here to talk about that. Reaching the play-offs was quite an achievement for our manager, who has worked under bad circumstances this season. Losing Thorney to eventual promotion rivals Cardiff was a huge blow as he was the only man in our side who could reach 25+ goals a season, plus the appalling injury list we have had to contend with.

It was almost fate that we played Cardiff in the play-off semis, and due to our awful record in the play-offs, coupled with our unconvincing form going into the play-offs despite winning our previous 6 home matches, some Stokies believed we didn't have a chance. The first leg couldn't have started any worse as well, going behind to a Robert Earnshaw goal after 12 minutes was a hammer blow to our prospects. We fought, dug in, but chances were few and far between. We were staring another season in the Second Division again when a Graham "Greedy Bastard" Kavanagh swept in a nasty free kick which Cutler managed to parry, only for the ball to land at Leo Fortune West's feet and he duly pounced to make it 2-0? Game Over?-Think Again. This is where we really had to see what our players were made of, and they didn't disappoint. Deon Burton has been rather disappointing since joining from Derby, but he gave us a potential life-line by notching home a real strikers goal to make it 2-1 to Cardiff at the end of the first leg. We still had it all to do, but after the last 15 minutes of the match, Stoke fans remained quite upbeat.

And so, the second leg was here, Gudjon showed his intent from the start, a 4-3-1-2 system with the usual keeper and back 4, Dinning, Super James and Bjarni in midfield, Big Chris and Deon upfront with Arnar tucked in behind them. This was the most amazing match ive ever witnessed as a Stokie. The players fought, battled like their lives depended on it. The clocked turned to the 90th minute, Stoke were almost out. But then, Clive Clarke picked up the ball, went on a mazy run before sending in a great ball that reached Bjarni Gudjonsson who hit it back in, James O'Connor was there to pounce and score to send the Stoke fans into wild celebrations. The tie had reached extra-time. On the 115th minute, Stoke picked up a free kick on the edge of the Cardiff penalty area. Obviously high on confidence, James O'Connor hit it, only for it to come off Souleymane Oulare's backside and hit the back of the net. I was at the big screen, you had grown men hugging each other, it was quite amazing. I ran on the pitch at the end and was dancing around madly, remember I had about 7,000 other people watching me from the stands, I can't think of enough superlatives to describe how I felt.

And so Brentford it was. After the Cardiff match, I had no worries that we would win this match. As 35,000 Stokies made their way to the Millenium Stadium for what was our biggest game for 20+ years, I was left wondering on the way down whether this day could reach the heights of the Cardiff match. How it didn't disappoint. Stoke fans took over Cardiff for the day, to see all them Stokies made me so proud. This was a day for Stoke, a day that we will never forget. In a venue that can only be described as awesome, I was sitting in the top tier, with a great view and atmosphere to boot. This was to be the proudest day of my life so far. The lads played so well, goals from Deon Burton again and an unlucky Ben Burgess own goal from a great Bjarni free kick gave us the deserved win and we were finally back to where we belong. I had tears in my eyes at the end of the match, I was so proud, we had finally done it. No more Colchester, Vale or Cardiff, bring on Leicester, Derby and Wolves. Gudjon deserves huge credit for this day. WE ARE GOIN UP! THANKYOU GUDJON, THANKYOU STOKE, YOU HAVE DONE US PROUD!

Thankyou to Graham Etherington who provided the above picture and the ones down below, greatly appreciated mate.