Dan the Fan: We'll paint the town red

A year ago this upcoming weekend we were visiting Brighton and the club made it sixteen games without a win, with a team and manager that didn’t look interested in the future.

But as we all know football is about the highs and the lows and this season the fans have been treated to a massive high.

On Sunday around 30,000 Swindon fans will descend upon the capital to witness the clubs first big step into an exciting future, and to put to bed the memories of ‘that final’ in May 2010.

When Town ran out onto the pitch at St James Park in Exeter for their opening Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie, Paolo Di Canio played nine first team players, the manager and the club had finally saw an opportunity to make a cup final appearance at Wembley, and it only took five games.

Of course we had some good fortune along the way but teams always do on cup runs and now we find ourselves going to play at the home of football.

Ok, it’s not in the League Cup or F.A Cup final but for a football league side it’s the best chance you’ll have at winning a cup competition.

A big part of our success has been the appointment of Paolo Di Canio, the man is entertaining, passionate and he looks and sounds like he has real feeling for Swindon Town, everything the old regime didn’t seem to have.

But a lot of credit has to go to the amazing job that the board of directors have done, appointing Paolo, which was a risk for them, giving the manager funds to buy new players and running the club properly.

Supporters will swallow an increase in season ticket prices in exchange for a quality manager, better players and a decent crack at success.

Visiting the home of football to watch your own beloved team play is something millions of fans never get to experience.

As Town supporters we are fortunate enough to do so again only 20 months after our last visit.

I’m not a superstitious person but it's amazing the routines that some fans will go though on the big day.

They will be putting on a certain sock first as they did in 1969 or sitting in the same place on the coach,car or train when we went to Wembley in 1993.

They will a look around Wembley, take pictures of the arch, walk down Wembley Way, visit Bobby Moore’s statue and, yes, pay over the odds for a pint and a burger - it's all part of the Wembley experience.

And then there's the match itself.

Of course we know it wont be an easy game, a cup final never is, but with Town being the form team going into the game and having the better squad It’s set up nicely to be a fantastic day for all supporters and the club.

And of course I can see us returning home with the JPT trophy for the first time in the clubs long history.

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @danjohnson_stfc

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