End of the football league season and we are now treated to what is one of the most anticipated part of the season. The Play-offs.
The cheesy chants. The cheesy intro music to start the programme. But instead of it making the play-offs a tad trashy, it all adds to the nostalgia a football fan gets watching the play-offs and last nights championship semi-final play-off between Swansea and Nottingham Forest was a fine example of British football. It had the heart from the fans, the quality from the players and the emotion from the managers. You could tell how badly each manager wanted it by every camera shot that cut to them jumping out their seats willing their players on almost like they were the puppeteers to their players.
Another event in the past week that arguably has reminded English football fans of their history in the game was the FA cup final between Stoke and Manchester City. Everybody thought that Manchester United winning the title at Blackburn would over-shadow the FA Cup final. Not a chance did it. Manchester United fans will argue obviously but if you saw how each game ended, the last 8 mins of the Man U V Blackburn game spent with the ball at Ferdinand's and Vidic's feet even though for Blackburn the draw wasn't really enough and Man U hadn't played like champions at all in that game going 1-0 down. But in the FA Cup final game we saw both teams chasing down to the final whistle, players pulling up because of the hard-work put in and the celebrations by the City fans when the final whistle went was deafening. The nostalgia you get from the FA Cup is unbeatable by any trophy in the world.
Back to the play-offs however is where you get the real gritty lower-league English style football, not much flash or diving, but the odd piece of genius like young Britton last night for Swansea curving the ball sweetly into the far corner from just outside the box leaving Camp helpless in goal. It's games like these that you get the unlikely hero perk up to the occasion and really take stand, the teams know how bigger reward it is to win in the play-offs. For the Championship sides its that extra-time in the season to show they are good enough to get into the promise land of the Premier League.
Last years play-offs definitely provided the pick of the bunch with Blackpool being promoted to the Premier League after Ian Holloway worked his magic at the club and his speech after his side won the game was inspiring to any football fan of any age, the passion he showed for his club that he had only been at for a season was something every man and women involved in football should learn from, someone that appreciates the game for what it is and revels in the small awards of pleasing his fans.
The question this year is who can be the Blackpool of these play-offs? Nottingham Forest are the first team to be knocked out of the play-offs this year. The play-offs are one of English footballs oldest traditions and definitely one of its finest too, fans get the quintessential Englishness feel about it because no other country can compete. This year certainly looks to be keeping up this fine tradition in the game.
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