Ten Years Ago Next Week

It Was Ten Years Ago Next Week

As a kid growing up I would always watch in envy on FA Cup and League Cup (as it was then) Final day to see the teams being led out at Wembley by their suited managers and always dreamed that one day it would be my team – Swansea City – that graced the hallow turf at Wembley in a Cup Final. Even in the Toshack days I wondered if it would always be a dream and then they invented not only the Autoglass Trophy (as I will always affectionately know it) and the play offs. Wembley was in touching distance of every team in the country and not just those that were capable of reaching major finals.

And 1994 was to be our year. The year that finally I would sit in the stands at Wembley and watch from a distance as us, Swansea City, played our football on the stadium that had seen so many great footballing moments – many of which we have seen time and time again and some which we may wish that we never see again.

The likes of little Wimbledon lifting the FA Cup against the mighty Liverpool in 1988, Tommy Hutchison scoring at both ends in the 1991 Cup Final, Alan Sunderland celebrating his winner in the last minute in 1979 and of course the English side lifting the 1966 World Cup. All pictures etched in the memories of a young football fan (well I was 23 in 1994!) and memories that were about to be created by the team I had supported since the late 1970s.

I remember the day vividly even if it did pass in a blur. I remember Andy Macfarlane putting us ahead early on and running up and down the aisle to celebrate, I remember a wall of silence at our end when Huddersfield equalised. I remember the bloke next to me leaving at the end of extra time as he couldn’t handle the penalty shoot out. And I remember the last penalty that Roger saved which seemed to go so slow that I am sure I could have got down the other end of the pitch and saved it in time. There was the lap of honour with the trophy and I even remember the mini bus at Leigh Delemere services that stopped next to us and the blokes who actually had the Autoglass Trophy Winners sign that had been displayed hours earlier on the Wembley turf. And I remember not sleeping the night afterwards – it was like being a child on Christmas Eve again – this was our moment.

And yet now I cannot believe that that day was almost ten years ago. Those memories are so clear surely they must have been yesterday? Where did that time go. But that is the stuff that memories are made of, they may fade slightly with the test of time but the basics you remember forever. Every Swans fan at Wembley that day has a story to tell about the day and what they remember will be different to the next person.

Well, that’s what we are here for. All through next week we will build up to the 10th Anniversary of that Wembley appearance with your memories, and those of others involved in the day, here on JackArmy.net. We want you to send us your thoughts/comments/musings of the day in April 1994 when Swansea were the cup winners at Wembley. You can e-mail us your thoughts by using this link – no matter how long or short just share your comments on April 24 1994.

And it won’t just be the fans, we’ll share some views of others that were there as well so keep checking back over the next 8 days for a trip down memory lane only with JackArmy.net

SHARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE AUTOGLASS FINAL BY E-MAILING US HERE

DO YOU HAVE ANY PICTURES OF THE DAY THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO SEND TO US? IF SO E-MAIL US USING THIS LINK

APRIL 24 1994 – THE AUTOGLASS TROPHY FINAL – A DAY NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO WAS INVOLVED WITH SWANSEA CITY AT THAT TIME? THEN GET IN CONTACT HERE – WE WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO THEM IF POSSIBLE