On Friday afternoon Walsall Football Club Chairman Jeff Bonser spoke exclusively to Saddlers Player, and talked about his time at the club, his views on Dean Smith's tenure, and just how much it means for the club to reach Wembley for the first time in its 127 year history.
Speaking to Walsall's Media Officer Dale Moon, Jeff said; "It's a fantastic moment for the club, it's a fantastic time for the town. It took 127 years to get to this moment according to all the stats that I've read.
"It's also nice to leave the club of four club's that have never been to Wembley, which is only three now, so we've joined the elite club that have been to Wembley.
"It's obviously a very proud moment for me because I've been party to this with the rest of the team.
"The match was only two or three days ago, it's going to amaze people how interested the town is, you remember when we went to the Millennium (Stadium) I think we took around 17,000 spectators, that was the only other moment that we could have got to Wembley had they not been refurbishing it, and rebuilding it at that time.
"Obviously, the Millennium Stadium was a fantastic day, but to go to Wembley Stadium, which is probably the most well-known Stadium in the world, it's the home of football as far as the world's concerned, i absolutely amazing. Obviously the job isn't done yet, we'd like to bring the trophy back and that's what Dean is concentrating on at the moment, I hope.
"I don't think It's all come home to me yet, what it does mean, it is gradually coming home to me, already receiving congratulatory notices by email, by mail, from other clubs, from people that I haven't seen for many, many years. So I'm getting the feeling now of how important this was, and I'd just like to say that this is a massive moment for the supporters that have supported this team through thick and thin, particularly the season ticket holders and the guys that come on a match to match basis going home and away, they must be on cloud nine with this, and hopefully they'll go to Wembley, make as much noise as they have at other places we've been to this season during this campaign, and let's see if we can bring the trophy back to Walsall.
"I think it's a just reward for all of the work that has gone into the club, I've been at the club for 23 years as chairman, and I've been with the years for quite a few years before that. I think we have run the club right, we kept it financially right, I Don't think that it gets the recognition it deserves< and I don't mean for me personally, I mean for the whole team that's here running it, and I think it is a just reward for running the team correctly.
"We've got a manager in now that's probably the longest serving manager in my tenure at the club, and his philosophy was to play good football regardless of the results...We've got this philosophy, we're going to stick to this philosophy, and it's brought us some success this time."
When asked whether this can be used as a platform to success, Jeff said; "Well why not? Let's hope we haven't got to wait another 127 years before we get to Wembley again. But who knows, had Wembley been in existence thirteen or fourteen years ago we would have been there then. But this is the first time, and who knows, we're still thirteenth or fourteenth in the league at the moment, it's so tight, the league, at the moment,six points can take you either way.
"I'm hoping that we're going to use this as a platform, nudging the play offs this year, and somebody's going to Wembley, so why shouldn't it be us? And if we don't if we don't go this year, I've always said that someday, and I've always said that it's getting closer and closer and we're going to go back to the Championship one way or another.
"I've only ever been to Wembley once in my life, I think I saw a Villa cup match there, I think it as against Bolton, John Gregory was the manager so I can't think how many years it's been. It was a game before, or just before, they knocked it down to rebuild it. So I've never been to the new Wembley at all, so it's going to be a great experience for me.
"We know who our opponents are going to be, they're Bristol City, which didn't come as too much of a surprise because they won 4-2 at Gillingham, although they would have been as nervous as us last night (Thursday), wit a 2-0 lead, it can easily drift away. I watched the game, and they deserved to in the game, and they are a good team, and are proving to be probably the best team in the league at the moment.
"With the Bristol City support it wouldn't surprise me if they took 35-40,000 people because of the base support they've got there. The base support here is much lower than there, but I would certainly think that we're going to take over 20,000 people there, to Wembley, and I hope they embrace the day and have a fantastic time."
When asked for a prediction, Jeff said; "You can get the prediction out of me that we'll be doing our best to win it. To being that back to the town, we're all over the moon at the moment, just being party to this, and going to Wembley. I think we've got a lot of league games coming up at the moment, between now and the 22nd March, which Dean's got to concentrate on obviously, but in the week leading up to this he's got to get his team mentally right to give Bristol City a very competitive game, and who knows, if we have the rub of the green that day we could be walking away with the trophy.
"Bristol City will be thinking exactly the same, we've got a good record of playing well against the top teams, we beat one of the top teams, at Preston, it wasn't up to us to win the game, it was up to us to put out a team that didn't lose the game."
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