Louise Pitts watched the match from the press box, while Stuart Miles watched it with the Hull City fans at Wembley.
Friday 23rd May 2008
The journey began at Hull Paragon station at 5pm, travelling on Hull Trains down to London. The train manager had a sense of humour which helped everyone relax on the journey – nerves were beginning to creep in – would we be travelling back as a Premier League club? Not sure what the minority of non-Hull City fans on the train must have thought of the occasional burst of singing and chanting!
After arriving at Kings Cross on time we headed to North-West London on the Underground. By this point I think we were all starting to get a bit tired – hence the mistake to walk half a mile in the wrong direction around the North Circular to our hotel…and then retracing steps and walking another half mile to actually reach it – ouch! One plus point was that we passed the Ace café which was crammed with bikers – obviously a regular Friday night get-together!
The bar in the hotel was packed with Hull City and Bristol City fans but the atmosphere was very friendly and there was much good-natured banter between the fans.
James Hoggarth, ex-Kingstown Radio member and now BBC Radio Humberside Evening Show presenter, was broadcasting his show from his hotel room at the Wembley Hilton Plaza and he had asked if we were interested in being interviewed on his show.
Arriving at his hotel gave us the first glimpse of Wembley stadium. It was getting harder to believe that in less than 24 hours we would all be there – amazing! After a couple of short interviews with James and a quick Kingstown reunion in the bar with some old members it was back to our hotel. The big match was just around the corner.
Saturday 24th May 2008
Bright, sunny and warm – perfect football weather. Cooked breakfasts all round on Saturday morning before catching a bus to Wembley. It was easy to work out when Wembley was nearby as the streets were filled with amber and black and red and white. After getting off near Wembley Park Tube station we walked to the Sports Ground which had been booked by the Official Supporter’s Club for the day. This provided the perfect pre-match spot as there was a great view of the stadium and somewhere for all the kids to run off some of their energy. As some of the supporter’s buses dropped off outside, plenty of bleary-eyed fans wandered in, it was easy to forget that some of them had a very early start to get there in time!
Danny Norton, one of Kingstown’s More Music Lunch presenters, arrived just before lunchtime after failing to get into the livelier pub across the road. He had brought with him a banner which read “The people behind me can’t see”. Sadly it failed to get on the television in the afternoon, shame as Danny isn’t always that funny! Joke!
The gates to the Stadium opened at 1pm so not long after we made the decision to start walking there. As we stepped onto Wembley Way it was amazing to see the sea of colours heading up towards Wembley. As we got closer Hull City fans went left, Bristol City fans right and I had to go and find the Media entrance, where the security man seemed more interested in my boots than what was in my bags – weird!
The first view of the inside of the stadium and pitch was amazing. As the ground filled up and 3pm neared, the noise got louder and louder, and the true enormity of the occasion began to hit home. The teams came onto the pitch, we all sang the national anthem, then kick off.
Despite some technical problems caused by the proximity of a PA speaker and the noise from the fans, I kept John Stead in the studio busy with the latest updates from the match, culminating in the first half with the Dean Windass goal in the 38th minute.
Half time came and went, apparently crème brulee was served in the press box, but I didn’t get chance to find out. The second half was pretty even until the last 10 minutes when Bristol City suddenly seemed to find an extra gear and pushed Myhill and defenders all the way. Well, I think they did, it was hard to see too much from behind my hands! When the 4th official signalled 4 minutes of added time, there was a collective groan from everyone around me who was supporting Hull, how could we stand the tension?
When the full time whistle blew, no-one really knew what to do. We’re supposed to be impartial and remain professional at all times – not the easiest thing to do when the team you have followed closely for years wins promotion to the Premier League. That would account for the slight hysteria in my voice when I gave the full time report on air!
The next half an hour or so was a complete blur as the players celebrated on the pitch, received the trophy and their medals and sprayed the champagne. I don’t think at that point anyone really believed that they had done it, and certainly not through a goal scored by Hull born and bred Dean Windass.
Once the celebrations were over, the fans filtered away. Outside the stadium, all was calm with both sets of fans applauding each other – it had been one of those matches! By the time we got back to our hotel, the Bristol fans were lying low, to be replaced by Doncaster and Leeds fans, ready for the League 1 final on the Sunday.
With stomachs growling after a long day an executive decision was made to travel back to Wembley High Street and visit Pizza Hut for tea. Not many fans left, but those who were couldn’t help smiling!
Monday 26th May 2008
Time for the city to show their appreciation to the players for their achievements at Wembley on Saturday. After boring friends and family with the story of the weekend on Sunday, there would surely be more to tell after the parade and City Hall celebrations!
We started at the KC Stadium where there were hundreds of fans already shouting for the hero of the weekend – Dean Windass! Roary the Tiger, the Hull City mascot, was trying his best to entertain the crowds but to no avail.
After managing interviews with Windass, Andy Dawson and Paul Duffen, plus a chance to see the trophy up close, we headed for City Hall to get set up for the celebration there. That was easier said than done. Despite the parade only just having left the KC Stadium, it was impossible to move around Queen Victoria Square and meant sharpened elbows being used to get through.
Once inside City Hall, and with all the equipment set up, there was time to look out of the windows and see just how many people had turned up to see their heroes. People, most in black and amber, as far as the eye could see down Whitefriargate and towards Queen’s Gardens. Mindblowing!
The buses didn’t take too long to arrive at City Hall and the players, with their families, were soon mingling in the area near to where we stood. This meant being able to get live interviews with Jay Jay Okocha and PhilBrown. As each player was called to the balcony for their moment of glory, the crowd responded with a loud cheer.
After the balcony celebrations were over, the players were ushered into the hall to receive awards from the Lord Mayor. It was at this point that we realised our passes would let us into the civic reception as well and meant we got to witness the presentation.
As people began to drift away, talk turned to the fixture list for next season, wouldn’t it be typical to end up with West Brom or Stoke (the other promoted teams) as the first match of next season? But then again it could just as easily be Manchester United or Chelsea.
