WEMBLEY 2012: Been there, done that

Heading to Wembley as the underdogs against an Arsenal side who played two divisions above them, the Robins were largely tipped to make up the numbers.

But Town showed true grit that day as two extra-time goals by Rogers saw Town upset the odds to secure a 3-1 victory and with it their first, and only, League Cup success.

“We went there the underdogs that day but that was probably better as there was no pressure,” said Rogers.

“Anyone can win on the day as it is a one-off. For me, playing at Wembley is the pinnacle of a player’s career. It doesn’t matter what final it is, playing at Wembley is brilliant.

“The atmosphere is brilliant and I think it is actually better before than after. The build-up is something special.”

Fastforward to the present day, and Rogers admitted he could not have envisaged just how well this season would go, especially after the way it started.

“At first, it looked like we were going to be doing the same as we had done the season before,” added Rogers.

“But we certainly got our act together and we have gone the other way completely and I can’t see that changing.

“Paolo is so enthusiastic, I have never seen a manager like that before but obviously he gets the best out of the players. That is what it is all about.

“I never worked with a manager like him when I was playing, he is completely different and one of a kind.”

Rogers will head to Wembley tomorrow as a guest of interim chairman Jeremy Wray.

Unlike their last trip to the national stadium two years ago, an entire season is not resting on the result of the game, so Rogers is looking forward to just being able to enjoy the day.

“I will be going to Wembley without a doubt,” he said. “All my family will be there and I will be going with Jeremy Wray, I went with him to the play-offs as well.

“It is a one-off, and then we can focus on getting promotion.”

Should, as is expected, Town go up then many are already predicting they will be a force to reckon with again next season.

But Rogers was opting for a more guarded view on what the club’s targets should be next season.

“It would be nice to consolidate in League One in my opinion,” he said.

“The club won’t say that they will say that they want to go straight up, but I think a top-half finish will be very good.”

• IT SHOULD have been a fantastic day that every player connected to the club would look back fondly on for years to come.

Alan McLoughlin’s 30-yard strike was enough to give Swindon a 1-0 win over Sunderland at Wembley back in 1990 and with it their place in First Division. Sadly, it didn’t.

Just 10 days later, the dreams of McLoughin and thousands of Swindon fans were shattered when the Robins were denied their place in the top flight after being found guilty of making illegal payments to players.

“Winning at Wembley is something you dream about since you are a kid and I remember striding up to box to get my winner’s medal. Except there was no medal and instead there was just this tiny trophy," said McLoughlin.

“Colin Calderwood lifted it high in the air, but at that moment I was still looking for a winner’s medal.

“We didn’t get one, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if under the counter there were medals for Sunderland if they won it.”

Despite what followed, McLoughlin knows it is a major honour to play at the national stadium and he remains proud of how Swindon performed that day.

“I remember it was a hot day,” he said. “It was a slightly different scenario to what Swindon have tomorrow in that after 40 odd games everything hinged on that game.

“It was a big ask, but we felt confident going into the game and, personally, it was great to play at Wembley and for my family and to see my name on the scoreboard after scoring.

“We dominated and ultimately the performance matched the ability we knew we had prior to the game.”

McLoughlin was to play at Wembley again, coming off the bench as the Republic of Ireland drew 1-1 with England in a Euro 1992 qualifier.

Since then, the 44-year-old has been a regular in the press box at the stadium and he will be there again tomorrow as a co-commentator for BBC Wiltshire as Swindon take on Chesterfield in the JPT final.

“Swindon are going as strong, strong favourites but they have to be careful about that,” said McLoughlin. “I have been in games where we should have won but it is not always written in the stars. Upsets are there for a reason.

“But make no mistake, Paolo Di Canio will want to win this game as that’s his attitude and I am sure it is the same for the players.

“I am confident they can win and should they do that, it would be a big morale boost to help get them over the line and secure promotion.”

• THREE up in under an hour, Swindon’s place in the Premier League seemed assured. But then Leicester fought back.

Three goals in 12 minutes wiped out Swindon’s seemingly unassailable advantage and had the Foxes very much in the ascendancy in the closing stages of the game.

However, six minutes from time, Town were awarded a penalty when Steve White raced onto Glenn Hoddle’s long pass and the forward was adjudged to have been brought down inside the area by Leicester keeper Kevin Poole.

Referee David Elleray immediately pointed to the spot and Paul Bodin was tasked with the nerve-wracking prospect of taking the penalty that would likely determine whether Swindon would be promoted to the top flight of English football for the first time in 73 years.

“It was a case of not thinking about the importance of the game and the penalty, but just doing what I had done throughout the season,” remembered Bodin.

“I was the penalty taker throughout the season and I think I scored five from spot and another six from open play.

“I think if I had looked up to the crowd it may have dawned on me but I just wanted to strike it as well as I could.

“It is your job as a footballer to be professional and just focus on doing what you have to do every couple of weeks in a penalty situation.”

In the end, it was as cool as you like for Bodin who sent the penalty to Kevin Poole’s left with the Leicester keeper having dived the wrong way.

Scoring such a crucial goal in front of tens of thousands of fans at Wembley was undoubtedly a memorable moment for Bodin and one that has stuck with him.

Tomorrow, the current generation of Swindon players will have the chance to experience just what it means to play at England’s national stadium and they too could be a part of a match that could live long in the memories of themselves and Town fans alike.

“It really is an occasion to savour,” continued Bodin. “The build-up is quite something and I have seen all the players here go through the same thing in that you are inundated with requests for tickets and you try and keep everybody as happy as you possibly can.

“Hopefully the boys won’t freeze. I am sure they won’t though as they have been playing under the microscope all season.

“They have done well in high-profile games in the FA Cup so I am sure they will be able to go there and enjoy the occasion for what it is.”

Bodin was lucky enough to play at Wembley twice – in the 1993 Division One play off final and the 1990 Division Two play off final against Sunderland.

“Getting to the play off final in 1990 was a fantastic achievement, especially as Ossie Ardilles had only been with the team for about a year,” he said.

“We changed totally from being perhaps a little bit direct under Lou Macari - where the emphasis was on fitness - to playing total football under Ossie.

“But we eventually got to Wembley and we won 1-0 there and it was a fantastic day.

“The build-up to going there was something else. As a young kid and you are kicking a ball about in the road, you just think about playing at Wembley one day.

“So to get your first experience there is unbelievable. It was a memorable time for me because I was called up for the first time to play for Wales against Costa Rica in between play-off games and then a couple of days later I was on the hallowed turf at Wembley.

“Everybody says the day goes so quick and it kind of did the first time, but I was lucky to go back there three years later and experience it all again.”

• THE HISTORY of Swindon Town Football Club could have taken a very different course if the ball had not bobbled up in front of Charlie Austin in the 72nd minute of the League One Play-Off Final in 2010.

The Robins’ top scorer was clean through on Milwall keeper David Forde and looked destined to equalise, but, at a time when the state of the Wembley pitch was firmly under the microscope, he was undone by a divot.

As his shot flew wide Town’s hopes of promtion flew with it, and the rest is history.

Town’s only survivor from the starting line-up that day is midfielder Simon Ferry, and the Scot is desperate to make amends for the previous defeat when he returns under Wembley arch for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final tomorrow.

“When we came off the pitch having lost it was probably the worst feeling ever, because we went there having had a really good season and had a chance of going up automatically as well,” he said.

“To lose to the odd goal was hard, especially when Charlie had his bobble too, so we do not want to feel like that again.

“The whole experience of playing at Wembley is brilliant, it was a full house I think and that was a brilliant experience.

“It was a weird one because you do not really realise quite what it is going to be like until you walk out of the tunnel. But then the game started and from that point we didn’t do too well. It was a great place to go and play.

“But it is not a day out and we want a better performance this time around because it was not the best and we did not play so well.

“This is a chance to go out there and put things right, and we will be getting out there to and trying to give a good account of ourselves.”

Ferry sees similarities between the last two Town teams to reach play at the national stadium, but could not split them in terms of ability.

“Given how this season has gone and how that season went I think there has to be a lot of similarities between the two teams,” he said. “We had a great season then and this season we are top of the league, so we are on a high just now.

“Both were very good teams in their own right, and it has been just as enjoyable playing for this time as it was playing in the team which reached the play-off final.

“It is hard to say which is better because we were in a different divisions, but that side had some very good players like Charlie (Austin) and Dougie (Jonathan Douglas). It is very similar even in the way we play be getting the ball to the wide players and getting crosses in.”