What a year it's been

Last updated : 25 May 2010 By Tony Scholes

It certainly took my mind back a year, in fact a year ago today, since our glorious day at Wembley and how our club was suddenly fired into the spotlight.

Watching the game last Saturday was a strange affair, and it just didn't seem right when I saw a Cardiff fan sat in the seat I occupied a year ago. I still think of it as my seat. As for the parade yesterday, well there's no doubt that Blackpool upstaged our efforts of last year but having a promenade and a big area to build a stage is something our town doesn't have.

Good luck to Blackpool (he says through gritted teeth). Like us they've earned their right to go and play against the big boys and I just hope their fans go and enjoy it for the whole season no matter what happens, even if Ian Holloway does hop it in January.

The last few days have not only taken my mind back to last year but also had me reflecting on our year in the top flight, a season I'd spent years and years waiting for and I wasn't going to let it pass me by.

That emotion charged day at Wembley will live with me forever; the relaxed journey down and wandering around the stadium ahead of the game, then the tension of the game before the final whistle turned it into one of the best days in a long, long time.

We chatted on the way home about the teams we would play and the stadiums we would visit. I might be old enough to have remembered a good number of previous seasons in the top flight but make no mistake I was as excited as anyone else at what we'd achieved.

I wanted to be able to go to all the games and thankfully that was possible. It was hard going at times, and I think when the fourth and fifth went in at White Hart Lane it finally dawned on me that every minute of every game might not be quite as enjoyable as I'd hoped.

But what highlights we had, unforgettable ones too. Winning points in the Premier League is no easy task, and so every time we picked up points it was a highlight. Perhaps the biggest of them was the first one, that amazing night under the Turf Moor floodlights when we beat Manchester United 1-0.

It wasn't just the result; it was our first home game back at the top level and we won it with the most stunning of goals from Robbie Blake. How fitting it was that Robbie scored it and how brilliant it was that it came against the champions. "Driving home I wondered if it could get any better," Wade Elliott said in a recent television interview.

If I could pick out one other home game then it would surely be the 1-1 draw with Arsenal. We looked as though we might get hammered as the Cesc Fabregas inspired visitors went in front and ripped us apart.

Then we got a penalty, and we know immediately that means a goal, before Fabregas went off injured and suddenly the game turned round. On a night of breathtaking football we were close to winning it and had the assistant referee done his job properly we would have won it.

Robbie had scored our first Premier League goal in that win against United and he got our first away goal too, that coming in the opening minutes at Ewood Park. It was high on the list of best celebrated goals, but unfortunately the lead didn't last.

Losing both games against our local rivals were very much one of the lowlights of the season. Treated like criminals by the police it was difficult watching two defeats, even more so given the cheating for the penalty in the home game.

Add that to the awful January when the manager walked and took his backroom staff with him; ripping the heart and soul of the club as he did so.

Kevin McDonald
The Burnley fans went crazy when Kevin McDonald scored the late equaliser at Manchester City
Forget that though, it happened, so back to the good things and some more great goal celebrations. I was on the front row of the upper tier at the City of Manchester Stadium in October when Kevin McDonald grabbed that late equaliser which brought our first away point.

I think I was close to falling over at one point as the full away section went crazy. It was special to get that first away point on the road. It had taken six games but I didn't think it would take another eleven to get another but what a day when it happened.

"We're winning away, we're winning away, how shit must you be, we're winning away," was the song as the Burnley fans taunted the Hull fans at their KC Stadium. Not only did we win, but we came from behind to win 4-1.

The game came just a week after the embarrassing 6-1 home defeat against Manchester City and the horrible aftermath of that game. It reunited every one; the reaction of the players when the goals went in said everything. It had been a long time coming but it had been worth waiting for.

In the end, the wins were too few and the defeats too many, and when Liverpool (the only team we failed to score against) beat us in the third last game we were relegated.

With just pride to play for and around £800,000 in prize money we at least went out with a bang as we came from 2-0 behind to beat Spurs 4-2. It was almost sweet revenge for that cup heartache just over a year earlier.

The crowd were brilliant in the second half, but apart from a spell a few weeks earlier had been so all season.

It's at the away games though when the fans really can be brilliant. It wasn't just the goal at City and the win at Hull; throughout the season it was a privilege to be amongst the Burnley fans at some of the Premier League grounds.

From the initial optimism at Stoke to the McDonald goal at City; from the banners at Horwich to the wonderful atmosphere at Hull. It really has been a year to remember.

And so back to the final this weekend and with it the realisation that it will be Championship football again next season for us. Just think. We could be playing Swindon on the same day that Blackpool play Premier League champions Chelsea.

I've enjoyed our season in the Premier League, virtually every minute of it. In a warped way I've even enjoyed Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson being over critical, although I did draw the line at the patronising Andy Gray laughing at us at Villa.

What a year it's been. Now all we can do is get behind the team and hope that we'll get the chance again to play in the Premier League even if we do have to pay for our season tickets next time.

If you want to re-live Wembley - click HERE to see our photographs from a year ago.