They were drinking to the good times at the Blue Boar in Southend on Monday night.
Promotions to League One and the Championship, and that night of all nights against Manchester United: 1-0, Roots Hall, Freddy Eastwood, November 7, 2006. There’s not a wall of the pub that doesn’t contain some artefact of that League Cup win.
Here is the soul of British football, a community which doesn’t have a huge amount of wealth to shout about, sending its team out to ride the rollercoaster of our football pyramid, just as it has been for 116 years.