First up was the League Two Final between Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town. Living so close to Paddington Station, I’d heard a few "Ro-vers!" and "Wem-ber-lee!" chants during the morning. There was a sprinkling of Rovers fans on the platform at Paddington tube and a lot more at Baker Street around 1.30.
The most surprising feature of that first game was that was Bristol brought more supporters with them than any of the other five play-off finalists, i.e. 40,000. Where were they during the season? Yes, Wembley would certainly have been an attraction. Having been to eight games at the new stadium now, I have to say it’s the most glamorous sporting venue I’ve ever been to.
Yes, even more glamorous than Paddington Rec. The young ladies in their Wembley uniforms who show you which entrance to go through, which escalators to go up and which seat to go to, are all out of this world. It’s like a dream. Pinch me, someone.
I was sitting in the middle tier behind one goal and saw Rovers get promoted after a 3-1 win. Their third goal in stoppage time, at the Rovers end too, was unbelievably exciting. The whole Shrewsbury team, including the ‘keeper, had piled forward for a corner and the ball was quickly cleared upfield to a Rovers player lurking near the halfway line.
The Shrewsbury half, naturally, was completely empty. He dribbled the ball to a point about 30 yards out from the goal, a posse of defenders gaining on him all the time, and rolled a gentle shot goalwards. At first I thought one of the Shrewsbury players sprinting back would reach the ball before it crossed the line, but they just failed to make it. The Rovers crowd went mental – and so did "The Barber".
Blackpool deserved to beat Yeovil on the Sunday and then Derby edged a predictably tense Championship Play-Off Final against West Brom on Bank Holiday Monday, described in the media as "The £60 Million Game". Before the kick-off they played West Brom’s theme tune of "The Liquidator", reminding me that I first heard it at The Hawthorns when Palace lost there to a Jeff Astle hat-trick in 1970.
On the following evening I was at the Rec for MTV v Thorp Design, which could’ve been described in the media as "The 60 Pence Game". My 200th and final game of the 2006-07 season was England v Brazil, which probably wasn’t a bad one to finish with.
After the nightmare of eight days without a game – they call it "the close season" – I was in Hendon on Sunday to watch two back-to-back fixtures in the Brent Cross Summer Sunday League (Women): Hampstead v Katabella and Norfolk v KPMG.
The second game had an unusual finale, the ref awarding a last-minute penalty to KPMG and sending off the Norfolk goalkeeper. After a brief word with the official, the substitute ‘keeper removed her shirt and faced the spot-kick in her bra.