ComeOnYouUll wrote:ALL the Cup wins mean a lot to me. In 153 years we've only won it five times and I've been there for four of them, so I consider myself very fortunate.
2005 was an amazing feeling 23 years since the last Cup win. There was a tinge of regret that it wasn't at Wembley but it's still the same trophy. That said to finally get that monkey off our back in 2016 was for me the greatest day in the club's history.
As an alternative view from a slightly younger generation, I only started following regularly in 2000 having been to a few games between 94-99 as a young kid (and being sucked in by the early Premier League hype). I didn't witness the Wembley defeats, or even see any Wembley finals. I also didn't hear any Rovers fans singing about it except for a a meaningless annual friendly that began in 2003 (as they weren't in SL) so winning at Wembley wasn't really important to me - winning a trophy was. I didn't care where. I just knew that we hadn't won anything for a very long time and that it was always the same faces. In the time between 2000-2004, Leeds, Bradford, Saints and Wigan were in EVERY final. To break that duck was impressive enough, and to finally get to a final after so long was intense for me, but to go on and win is a moment I'll never forget. I just didn't think we could and was happy just to get there. The game was also one of the best I've been to in terms of drama and excitement.
In the following 11 years, we had higher expectations and different challenges. We reached the Grand Final the following year and winning that seemed the logical next step for us. When our form dropped dramatically, we became unrecognisable from just 2 years prior so the new dream seemed to just fade away - yet we still managed to reach another Cup Final. That one was important to me because it was my first ever trip to Wembley, but wasn't as big for me because we'd been spoilt with 3 finals in 4 years and we'd already won.
As our form picked up slightly, but still pretty bang average, expectations of winning the league slipped, a number of derby embarrassments began to build up, so winning at Wembley became more important. The nilling at Wembley was embarrassing, and the stick we got irritating, so it became it more important for us to win at Wembley and get that monkey off our back. For Rovers to get absolutely embarrassingly humiliated the year before made 2016 incredibly sweet, and to win there after seeing us lose twice and the collapse we'd had between times was incredible, as well as the history.
But for me, 2005 was the beginning of the making of the era. We had a bit of a bump, but are now back in track. That one will always be my fondest memory I think. It's what created my expectations for all future seasons. I think only a Grand Final win can top that... then a World Club Championship away from the UK!