The Magic Of Football

With the Premier League becoming boring and predictable as Guardiola’s juggernaut strut their way to their 4th straight title and the 3 newly promoted teams drop straight back down to the championship, https://the-football-tourist.com/2024/05/13/straight-back-down/ ,it is to the lower leagues that those desperate to feel the magic of football send their soul soaring are increasingly turning.

There is nowhere better to find this magic than the crazy lottery of the playoffs.

Once most teams are on the beach there are 4 teams from each EFL league that keep going on a course they hope will end up with a day to remember under the arch.

To get to Wembley and the chance of promotion they must first face off in a two-legged home and away showdown and it’s these semi-finals that I found the magic again.

Pouring out of the Mornflake Stadium onto Gresty Road at the end of Crewe’s 2-0 first leg defeat the fans around me were convinced their team was done and another season in League 2 was on the cards.

Later that week this downcast throng of humanity was exploding in ecstasy after an incredible comeback in South Yorkshire that ended with an incredible shootout victory to send the Alex to Wembley and leave Doncaster Rovers fans wandering what the hell just happened.

It’s days like those that fans live for, your team is dead and buried and then from nowhere a miracle is pulled and you’re planning a trip to Wembley for next weekend.

Whilst Crewe’s crazy comeback provided a dose of magic for one fanbase the Crawley Town’s crushing of a franchise on the other side of League Two provided magic for two fanbases.

Obviously witnessing your team humiliate the opposition 3-0 in the home leg before going to their soulless Stadium MK and sealing an away win, 5-1, in front of half empty home stands will have been incredible for fans of The Red Devils.

It may have been even sweeter for fans of the true Dons though as the franchise that stole their team got humiliated on the national stage, on the back of beating beaten at Plough Lane for the first time in MK’s short history.

The True Dons fans will relish the chance to make it back to back home victories over the franchise next season.

On Sunday Crewe Alexandra will face off against Crawley Town for the ultimate prize of promotion.

Surrounded by friends, family and strangers they will celebrate or commiserate at fulltime, joined together by an unbreakable connection with the team they love, that is the magic of football…