SWINDON Town fans were tired but jubilant as they greeted the morning after the incredible night before.

At the club shop, manager Clare Haworth said business was four times the level she’d expect on a usual post-match morning.

Among the superfans who came to mingle with fellow supporters and choose some celebratory merchandise was 31-year-old Neil Dixon, a BMW worker who lives in Park North.

Season ticket holder Mr Dixon has been a Swindon fan all his life and was at Charlton’s ground, The Valley, to help cheer his team to victory.

He said: “We got back to the County Ground at about two in the morning and I’m still buzzing.

“It was incredible. It was a brilliant atmosphere but in the first half we weren’t in it. When Gordon Greer got sent off we thought that was it, but Danny Ward’s goal gave everybody belief – the players and the fans.

“You got the feeling through extra time that maybe it was destiny, and the penalties were perfection.

“The atmosphere will stay with me throughout my life.”

Mr Dixon is married to Vicky, and has two daughters, seven-year-old Ella and two-year-old Martha. Last year Martha modelled Swindon Town toddlerwear for the club’s merchandise catalogue, and one of those cute miniature kits was being bought by another fan, Fred Rutland, for his 14-month-old niece, Maddison.

Mr Rutland, a retail worker from Gorse Hill, said: “I was there last night and we got back to Swindon after two in the morning.

“The match was superb – it was brilliant. There was a great atmosphere all night. It was breathtaking at times, and I lost a few more hairs!”

Mr Rutland said losing keeper David Lucas to injury so early was a particularly nerve-wracking incident, but he was full of praise for substitute keeper Phil Smith, adding: “He did everything that was asked of him.”

Fans browsed among club merchandise including replica kits, calendars, hats, caps, mugs, glasses, sandwich boxes, books, programmes, towels, scarves and countless other items, ranging in price from 10p player cards to £49 tracksuits.

Shop manager Clare Haworth, 34, from Haydon Wick, has been a fan for longer than she cares to reveal, and had watched the match at the County Ground Winner’s Lounge.

She said: “It was fantastic. It was very tense and very nervous at the start, but it all came good and I never doubted them.”

So strong was Ms Haworth’s faith, in fact, that she ordered a raft of Swindon Town Wembley souvenirs three weeks ago. Fans will shortly be able to stock up on special teeshirts, polo shirts, flags, car flags, foam hands, facepaint and other goodies.

The manager added: “Business in the shop has been crazy – we selling four times as much as we would normally, and online business is also big.”

And her prediction for the Wembley appearance at the end of the month? “We have never before been to Wembley and lost.”

Demand is so great that the shop’s hours have been extended. It will now open from 9am to 7pm on weekdays, 9am to 5pm on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.

While fans gathered souvenirs or shared memories that will last a lifetime, the club’s board held a meeting to discuss the thriller at The Valley and the even bigger thriller that’s on the way.

One of the directors, Jeremy Wray, emerged to speak to the Adver, and was full of praise for players, fans and a “Churchilian” half time team talk by manager Danny Wilson.

“It was a very special night,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt as nervous. You couldn’t say you enjoyed it at the time, but you could definitely enjoy it afterwards. I’ve never enjoyed a game less in terms of being nervous.

“The fans were just immense. We took 3,000, and even when we were two-nil down they were outsinging Charlton.”

Mr Wray said the early setbacks galvanised the squad, making them want vistory all the more. He added: “It’s a big pitch, and when you’ve both lost a player it’s an even bigger pitch.

“We just seemed to get a second wind. I gather that there was a bit of a Churchilian half time talk.

“They were two-nil down having been outplayed, and I was scratching my head to think of how to change this, but that’s what you pay the manager for!”