Those were the words of superfan John Coyle after completing his epic marathon of FA Cup matches to follow the victors from the extra preliminary round all the way to the Final in May.
And for anyone who doubts whether the Aston Villa fan, from Otley in Yorkshire, has been there and done it – he even has the t-shirt to prove it!
Coyle is throwing down the gauntlet to supporters around the country to undertake their own magical journey through The Emirates FA Cup and record their road to Wembley with their own commemorative t-shirt.
Coyle's completed FA Cup t-shirt from last season
“My own journey began about 10 miles from my house as I started with my local team Silsden. I thought ‘I’m going to follow the winner of that round.’ They lost to Consett so I went there next and so on,” he explained.
“People always look back at this competition because it is coming from purely an amateur level. It takes 14 rounds to get through from start to finish, so it is unique.
"I really enjoyed it and even had people on Twitter saying ‘I’m living the dream’.”
The romance of The Cup well and truly gripped Coyle, never more so than when he witnessed Bradford City’s unforgettable giantkilling at Stamford Bridge as they came from two down to defeat Chelsea 4-2.
“After the two goals I thought it was going to be damage limitation – but if you feed the [Jon] Stead then you have a chance. That’s what they did and they had a game plan that worked well.
“It was a great day out for the fans and very emotional, even though I’m not a Bradford fan, but as I was doing the journey you do get wrapped up in the moment.”
John, an avid Aston Villa fan, was able to complete his journey by watching his beloved Villans in The FA Cup Final – but it was not the fairytale ending he hoped for as they were defeated 4-0 by Arsenal.
As the new season closes in, John is already planning his next journey, this time in The FA Vase.
“I intend to make the journey this time in the Vase, starting with my local club Silsden again.”
Although his focus will now be on the Vase, he will still be getting his fix of Emirates FA Cup action, and this will be where he is looking for someone to pick up the baton and carry his t-shirt forward towards the national stadium.
“I’ll also be attending The FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round between Silsden and West Allotment Celtic.
A closer look at Coyle's epic journey
“I believe the non-league structure would benefit if this idea was taken up. It could persuade ‘one-off‘ FA Cup supporters to get more involved with their local club by encouraging them to return for matches.
“So to get started, I’ll purchase a white t-shirt and have it printed with the first two fixtures – the result of the first fixture would be known by then.
“Thereafter for each round you can go back to the printers and have the result of that round and next fixture added.
“I intend to give to each club a t-shirt with this first fixture printed on and hope someone there from each club will pick up the challenge [of going all the way to Wembley].”
For more information or to chat to Coyle about taking up his challenge you can contact him via his Twitter account, @Coyle1826.
