Words can’t really do justice to the emotions I felt when the final whistle blew at Wembley.
Euphoria, of course, and plenty of jumping, shouting and punching the air as Crystal Palace won a first major trophy.
But also, this strange sense of disbelief. Has it really happened? We’d waited so long, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a dream. I never shed tears at a match as a player, but they were impossible to resist.
Chairman Steve Parish gave me a hug. ‘Brighty, we’ve just won the FA Cup, what a journey it’s been!’
I played my regular round of golf on Sunday and everybody wanted to talk about the game and offer congratulations, though I’m well aware I can’t claim credit for the win!
Crystal Palace is like a family and it was incredible how many of us were at Wembley. Former captain Gareth Southgate, ex-managers Roy Hodgson, Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and countless others too.
I genuinely felt we had a chance, but that was tempered by being aware of how dangerous Manchester City are. I also knew we had a manager in Oliver Glasner who showed at Eintracht Frankfurt how to win trophies.
That final hurdle can be the hardest. I’d found that out as a player with Palace in 1990 and Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal three years later. We didn’t get over the line because it wasn’t our time. On this occasion, we found a way.
We had the bit of luck winners need when Dean Henderson handled outside the box and later saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty. The closing stages were purgatory. I was wishing the game away, but time seemed to get slower and slower. When 10 minutes of stoppage time were shown, I thought ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ But the tactics worked. Go toe-for-toe with City and you lose.
I was so happy for the boys and everyone at the club, including the owners, who run big sports franchises in the US and around the world but looked thrilled.
This triumph felt extremely personal. As a kid, my dream was winning the FA Cup and my first memory was seeing Charlie George laying on the Wembley turf celebrating scoring in 1971.
After Newcastle won the Carabao Cup, I congratulated Alan Shearer and hoped we could do the same in the FA Cup.
No set of fans deserve it more than Eagles supporters, who’ve stuck with the club throughout.