A rainy Yorkshire night, a heavy pitch and a competition that has its critics.
These aren't usually the ingredients to bring fans of the beautiful game flocking to stadiums - but thousands of loyal Bradford City fans braved the elements in the hope of seeing the Bantams reach Wembley.
An attractive ticket pricing deal - £10 for adults if you didn't leave it until matchday – was enough to entice a crowd of 6,903 - although the cut-price ticket offer should really have brought even more fans to Valley Parade, also known as the University of Bradford Stadium, for the semi-final of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
I took my seat on Row J of the Kop and soon realised I wasn't quite far enough back to escape the rain showers that swept across the stadium almost as frequently as City swept towards the Wycombe goal. No problem - we're tough up north and proud of it, with the occasional chant of 'Yorkshire, Yorkshire' enough to remind the travelling fans of that fact.
From the very outset, the attitude from the City contingent was positive and supportive - and the players duly responded by taking the game to opposition from a higher league.
With the crowd being some distance short of league game attendances, the decision to group the City fans together in certain sections of the ground paid off, concentrating the noise in the bottom tiers of the Kop and Main Stand.
I enjoyed a reasonably-priced Bovril at half time (£2.60), while others were taking advantage of the ‘Pie and a Pint’ offer.
The start of the second half seemed to bring a new level of intensity on the pitch and in the stands. Clearly revelling in watching their team kicking towards the Kop with everything still to play for, the City fans ramped up the volume in an attempt to suck the ball into the net.
Chants of 'everywhere we go' rang out. City were indeed 'putting on a show', as the song goes.
Sadly, Wycombe's keeper seemed intent on stealing that show, pulling off a succession of saves when the fans had risen as one in readiness to go wild with jubilation.
Comments like 'surely we've got to get one' and 'what have we got to do to beat this guy?' summed up the mood. 'We've had seven half chances and three you'd really expect to score,' observed the lad sat behind me.
'But you know what'll happen now', he added, knowingly.
The biggest 'aaawwwww' of the night came when a cross was flashed across the six yard box, only needing a touch to set City on their way to the national stadium.
Fans sprang out of their seats as often as a jack-in-a-box as shots curled just wide and promising openings came and went.
Each corner was greeted with a crescendo of noise. The deep yearning for a City winner was palpable. Many remarked on the quality of the football City had played in tricky under-foot conditions.
As the sadly foreseeable smash and grab unfolded in injury time, you had to feel for the home fans who'd offered such strong backing throughout the evening.
Unwavering in their support, many had started chanting again before City even had time to kick off after Wycombe's heartbreaking late goal.
Alas, the race was run and the remaining four minutes drifted by all too quickly.
As the final whistle sounded at around 10pm, it would have been easy for the entire crowd to slunk off into the Manningham night, thinking it had already been a late night.
Instead, the vast majority stayed behind - determined to show their appreciation for a cup run that had taken them to the brink of a first Wembley appearance in seven years and claimed notable scalps such as Derby County.
As the celebrations of the Wycombe fans were drowned out by applause from the Bantams faithful, one thing stood out to me - this is a fanbase that shows its support through thick and thin, with a nucleus of dedicated people who'll never turn their backs on their team and are desperate for the good times to return. If the positivity on display on Wednesday night can be replicated in future, surely the fans will be rewarded with some degree of success.
Before and after the game, it was heartening to see the boost that football at a traditional inner-city stadium can bring to the surrounding area.
Nearby businesses along Manningham Lane were busy with customers wanting to buy refreshments. The large queue at Istanbul Shawarma had caught my eye as I walked to the ground. On my return, I wasn't going to pass it for a second time without grabbing a kebab, which turned out to be the nicest I'd had for a while.
Nearby, the Bradford Arms was doing a roaring trade, while the bars on North Parade - in the top of town area - proved popular with fans before the game, creating a buzz of anticipation ahead of the match. In truth, I'd planned to return to these bars after the match to hear chants of 'Wemberlee, Wemberleeee' and to get a bit of reaction from joyous supporters. Sadly, it wasn't to be, but City can count themselves desperately unlucky.
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