Sometimes, in football, it’s easy to get carried away. Easy to go over the top and make exaggerated, outlandish statements. It’s an emotional game, after all.
But make no mistake – this was a special day. Birmingham City’s greatest day.
A day when they squared up to one of English football’s powerhouses on the sport’s biggest stage and were better, stronger and, yes Monsieur Wenger, a little bit cleverer than them.
A day which will bring smiles to faces in and around the Second City for years to come. A day, like no other in the club’s history, to treasure.
Let’s be honest, for all Alex McLeish’s planning and motivational abilities, for all his players’ tenacity and skill and for all the ocean of goodwill behind them from thousands of followers in the capital, Blues travelled more in hope than expectation.
The club is, after all, accustomed to near-misses.
So when, at 6.08pm on Sunday, February 27, 2011, Stephen Carr lifted the blue-ribboned Carling Cup, the outpouring of joy and noise and colour from one half of the stadium (the other half was already deserted) was of an intensity and passion rarely matched in the 88-year history of this famous footballing plot.
This was the day of which Blues had dreamed for so long and it’s magic will linger long.
To the manager and players, huge acclaim. But to the fans too, a king-sized salute.
From the moment they woke, more than 30,000 Bluenoses were simply determined to enjoy this day.
From young ’uns who hadn’t slept a wink to the old guard who can recall the triumph of ’63; from the half-mile queue shivering at Snow Hill Station at 8am to the legions waiting for pick-ups at pubs, clubs, car-parks and village halls around the West Midlands; from scarf-draped drivers in cars and vans piling down the M40 to the bloke who used to play the flute outside the Tilton Road End; from all those who had anticipated this day for weeks to the loyalists who had booked Monday off work just in case some serious celebrations were in order – all were out to make the occasion, win or lose, a carnival.
The tone was set well before the match. With 90 minutes still to go before kick-off there was hardly an Arsenal supporter in sight but the Blues seats were filling fast, turning block after block of uniformly red seating in this impressive-in-size yet bland-in-design venue a defiant shade of blue.
Most of the Gunners’ fans were still supping cappuccinos in Islington High Street when Arsene Wenger nipped out for a quick peek at the turf. His peremptory wave to the Arsenal sprinkling provoked Blues fans into their first big noise which became bigger when goalkeepers Ben Foster and Maik Taylor ran out with coach Dave Watson, followed, five minutes later, by the rest of the squad.
Then came the real touch-paper: a rallying-cry video put together by Chris Alcock and Chris Coles and scripted to perfection by our own Blues reporter Colin Tattum.
