So as the Wigan game approaches, I want to know what YOUR memories are of THAT day in 1998. How did your day go? What did you eat/drink? How did you feel? Etc, etc, you get the gist. I was only 5 and barely remember it!!
"WE MUST HAVE COME IN A TAXI!"
Sheffield Eagles - 2012 & 2013 Championship CHAMPIONS #backtoback
I remember stopping in a hotel near Knighsbridge on the Friday night,Went and had some nice sarnies across the night,Brian Aston was in our hotel and the usual score predictions were going round,People happy to keep it respectable,Brian insisting we would win,We all thought he was How wrong were we,Travelled to Wembley on the train and he was still banging on about how we were going to win Remember drinking Holsten Pil for the 1st and last time,Cant really remember much in the build up to the match,Went to the bookies all the Wigan 17 were infront of the Eagles players for 1st tryscorer,I had a £10 on Nick Pinkey and he duly obliged,Brian had a bet on Mark Aston for the Lance Todd and my Dad had £50 on the Eagles to win,The man who took his money sniggered as he handed over the slip,Went to collect the winnings at the end and the shop was shut Paul Carr later said if you would have had a £1.00 accumilator on all three happening youd have won thousands (cant remember exact figure)I remember counting down the minutes,the clock never moved its seemed forever to get to the 80 mins,still believeing we might chock it up even with two minutes to go,then the hooter went (getting shivers just thinking about it)Went to a pub after,being congratulated by other fans and giving the wigan coaches a friendly wave as they left Wembley with no trophy and a bit of embaresment,After that a went to the after match party were the trophy and the speeches went on all night as well as some celebratory ales,What a day,will never be forgotten.
I remember being really excited, waking up really really early on the saturday morning, to get the coach with everyone else and seeing the anticipation on the fans faces. We got some amused looks from the passing motorists while we were waiting for the coaches to turn up. We all piled on to the coach and began decorating it with banners, scarves, posters, everything you can imagine. The journey down was spent painting faces and seeing how many other eagles fans we could spot on the way!
The excitement built as we got closer and closer to wembley, you could tell the older ones in our group were getting nervous. We arrived at wembley and the atmosphere was amazing, i remember being completely terrified by the number of people there.
We stopped to get some merchandise and got talking to some wigan fans who were loving the fact that they were going to win and seemed to find it amusing that the eagles fans had even bothered to turn up.
We arrived in to the stadium and found our seats and watched the stadium get fuller, i couldnt believe the number of wigan fans who had turned up, from arriving in the stadium, to the actual kick of seemed to take the longest time, i didnt really pay attention to the junior game on and then the band that were providing the pre match entertainment.
Finally the teams walked out and everyone stood to sing abide with me. I remember seeing a few people getting a bit emotional, although at the time i didnt really understand why. We sund the national anthem, we were all flyingour flags and scarves and then the game began. I dont remember a huge amount of the game to be honest it was all a bit of a blur, i remember the groans that went aroung when tubbs got concussed and we thought he was going to have to come off. The last few minutes of the game the atmosphere seemed to change as we all began to realise that actually, we may just be able to do this.
(its making me get goosebumps writing all this out!)
The final whistle went, and everything just went mental, no one could believe what had just happened! the cup was presented and i remember looking behind me and seeing fans with tears pouring down their faces. We stayed in the stadium for what felt like hours after the game celebrating and chanting applauding the players. The people who were sat in front of us had bought a programme and had forgotten it so we quickly picked it up and pocketed it!
Back on the coach, it was amazing, the journey home flew by, everyone was just saying what an incredible day it had been. Stoppeed at a service station on the way back and could not stop laughing at the wigan fans who just looked shellshocked!
Arrived back in sheffield late on to oddly enough see 2 wigan fans in shirts climbing out of a taxi in the city centre, cue more shouts and chants.
On the Sunday we all donned our shirts and went down to the players cafe to see the players arrive back with the cup. Again, it still felt hard to believe that we had beaten the mighty wigan!
Words cant really do it justice, it was just an incredible day. those of us who were there will cherish the memories forever.
I still cant listen to some songs i remember being played on the day without getting goosebumps thinking of 2nd May 1998.
Last edited by lola on Thu Apr 15, 2010 1:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I only wish I was about ten years older. Gutted I wasn't born earlier, I've been dealt with some right dross watching Wednesday drop to the third tier, and Eagles having to start from scratch. If I was born earlier I could've seen Wednesday in their 3 Wembley cup finals in the early 90s, as well as beating the Pigs at Wembley, be a dominant Premier League side AND seen us play European football. And I could've fully appreciated the Eagles in SL and Wembley 98. Bring back the 90s I say
"WE MUST HAVE COME IN A TAXI!"
Sheffield Eagles - 2012 & 2013 Championship CHAMPIONS #backtoback
E.S.O wrote:I only wish I was about ten years older. Gutted I wasn't born earlier, I've been dealt with some right dross watching Wednesday drop to the third tier, and Eagles having to start from scratch. If I was born earlier I could've seen Wednesday in their 3 Wembley cup finals in the early 90s, as well as beating the Pigs at Wembley, be a dominant Premier League side AND seen us play European football. And I could've fully appreciated the Eagles in SL and Wembley 98. Bring back the 90s I say
agreed! i appreciated wembley then, but if it happened now, i would appreciate it so much more, it would mean so much more too. Oh well, could be worse!
as a wigan fan it was a bit sad but that day i was on a start of a 6 week holiday. first week off to benidorm, flying from gatwick at 2355 hrs.home for a week then off to oz on the following friday to watch nrl for four weeks. one of the games i went to was cronolla sharks home game about 3 weeks after wembley. waiting for a train back to central sydney after the game. me in a wigan shirt on the platform and about 40 sharks fans waiting for the train. they saw me and all chanting eagles, sheffield and 17-8 till i got on the train
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