The supporters of City know that whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s Capital One Cup final, the sheer fact that the club have reached a major cup final has drawn a line in the sand after 12 years of mediocrity on the pitch and financial drama behind the scenes.

Watching City over the past decade has not been fun!

Sure, it would be great if City can win the trophy and proudly bring it back to Bradford – in similar style to Jimmy Spiers in 1911, over 100 years ago – but simply reaching Wembley is a great achievement.

As long as we avoid a heavy defeat, then most City supporters will be happy, although I confess I may not be so charitable in my thoughts.

Will the likes of Hanson, Wells, and Jones become Bradford folk heroes in the way that Spiers, Torrance and Mellors have become?

Will the 2012-13 team be remembered in 100 years in the way that the 1911 team is still regarded by many supporters, who never saw them play.

It is difficult to imagine but should they win the cup, then the present team will always be remembered in Bradford as the first team to win a cup since 1911.

When success comes in its many forms – promotion, the Premier League and that wonderful Wembley day in 1996 – City supporters tend to embrace it fully, maybe because it may be a long time before it comes around again.

I fondly remember the way the team and the supporters refused to leave Wembley in 1996 as they celebrated long and hard. The stadium officials said they had never seen anything like it as ‘Simply the best’ boomed around the old stadium.

I was looking at a thread on one of the City supporters’ message boards and a fan was asking what had been the low point of the last 12 years, and it was interesting to see that many fans had different recollections of what has become known as the ‘beige years’.

The sacking of Colin Todd was, in my opinion, a bad decision as I firmly believe he would have kept City in Division One that season. The football was not good but I think he would have won enough points to keep the team in the higher division.

I recall going to Accrington for Peter Taylor’s first game but the optimism was swept away as City lost 2-0 – and I also remember Stuart McCall waving goodbye at the final whistle as City lost 1-0 to Bury.

So for me, the sight of too many teams celebrating victory at Valley Parade over the past 12 years, and the inability to find a manager to take us forward until the arrival of Phil Parkinson, have been the things that have both frustrated and disappointed me, rather than defeat by any one team or losing any certain games.

How we really wanted Stuart to be that man; how confident we were when Peter Taylor arrived, and how our hopes were dashed.

So Wembley 2013 really does draw a firm line in the sand. Behind us are the ‘beige years’ ahead of us the new era, a return to the higher leagues and, who knows, maybe a shiny new trophy in the Valley Parade cabinet to prove we really are leaving the bad times behind us.

Bradford, City and their supporters will be the focus of the watching world tomorrow. I am sure that both the team and the supporters will be a credit to our city.