Who said that?
âSixty seconds fromâŚâ about Saturday is below.
(or here https://x.com/hullsaddler/status/1920372063975416248 )
Sixty seconds fromâŚ
I check my phone.
87 minutes.
Eighty miles away.
Still nil nil.
Refresh!
How long left?
The scoreboard is an unhelpful black screen.
We are sitting back too much.
Defending our 59th minute euphoric moment.
92 minutes
Eighty miles away.
Still nil nil.
Refresh!
A long throw. Our player spins. Volley.
Almost within touching distance
the ball is in the back of the net.
93 minutes.
Eighty miles away.
Still nil nil.
Refresh!
I and 2318 other away fans erupt.
Pent-up anxiety released.
94 minutes.
Eighty miles away.
Still nil nil.
Refresh!
We are going up!
Said, we are going up!
Some are singing.
I worryâŚ
Said we are tempting fate.
95 minutes.
Eighty miles away.
Still nil nil.
Refresh!
96 minutes.
Bradford 1 Fleetwood 0
The person next to me says itâs been disallowed.
Refresh!
Fake news!
Bradford 1 Fleetwood 0
The atmosphere switched off.
In an instant.
A knife with sharp cutting, gutting edge.
Final whistle.
The players rush over for news.
We have won, but lost.
They, me, the rest of us slump.
Stunned.
Itâs the hope that kills you they always say.
Platform Six. Crewe Station.
Most around me are Birmingham New Street bound.
They depart.
I head north.
4.15am.
Those sixty seconds from promotion
are on repeat in my head.
Those sixty seconds from promotion
are on repeat in my head.
Irrational hope slowly seeps in with the dawn.
Whose fault is it, my other half asks?
You seemed so happy in January.
She understands vaguely somethingâs gone wrong.
She understands vaguely about the play-offs.
The finalâs at Wembley if we make it, I say.
Oh my lads, you should have seen their faces,
Going down the Wednesbury Road,
To see the Walsall aces!
Or perhaps on May the 26th,
Going down Wembley Way,
To see the Walsall aces?
(Just need to beat Chesterfield first.)
And then?
A double dose of despair?
Lose in a penalty shoot out?
But then you never know.
I am trying to be optimistic.
All the lads and lasses,
All the smiling faces,
Going down the Wednesbury Road
To see the Walsall aces!
17 Likes
Iâve got no complaints with Chesterfields conduct in this, theyâve offered us the tickets as per the rules of the competition in order to maximise tickets they sell to their own fans. We would offer them 2k Iâm sure if they did the same but thatâs because itâs unlikely we will sell out the home audience areas.
I never believed for one second Bradford wouldnât score. Even in injury time, the only time I gave in was about 5 seconds before our George said âBradford have scoredâ
Still gutted.
8 Likes
Chesterfieldâs average attendance is 8,440 and all season they have given only 1,000 maximum to away fans. They sell the vast majority of home seats for every game, so why should they reduce their own fans availability for a play-off game.
Our average attendance is 6,315 and pending the result of the first leg, we probably wonât sell out the home areas. Weâre the ones being petty here, which will only really be justified if we come close to selling out.
A similar thing happened a couple of years ago with Stockport and Salford in the play-offs. Salford only gave Stockport about 600 tickets as per the 10% rule and obviously the extra space was not taken up by home fans.
3 Likes
Iâm glad weâre being âpettyâ fu ck âem
5 Likes
Iâd rather have 1000 of them taunting us and reminding us of our lost 12 point lead than 2000.
3 Likes
And also the way that gate receipts for the play offs are carved up would mean we would see only about ÂŁ2500 of the ÂŁ20,000 or so an extra 1000 Chesterfield fans would bring. Keep em out I say.
4 Likes
Yes I know!
Same, why hand them an advantage with extra away fans. We need all the help we can get 
2 Likes
Theyâve wheeled out OâKelly for the rallying cry 
7 Likes
Should shut down the conspiracy theorists among us who think heâs gone missingđ
3 Likes
He rolled the ball along the line.
2 Likes
âHow exciting are the play offs to be involved in?â
The club tickles me at times. Itâs like North Korea. No mention of whatâs happened - everything is just so positive!!!
18 Likes
Rubbing salt in the wounds springs to mind.
2 Likes
Christ alive.
2 Likes
Golf course was shut today.
2 Likes
It must just be this site where us negative Nancyâs lurk then! With a few clappers Benny Boy has registered! Whoop
Itâs actually borderline pisstake.We were 15 points clear of 4th thereâs no way whatsoever of dressing this up into anything other than a disaster of epic proportions.
6 Likes
You wait for the fallout, if and when we lose in the play offs. I ainât even warmed up yet!!