DON’T cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
Of course, City fans can feel disappointed, who wouldn’t after losing a play-off semi-final?
And of course, it’s fine to question things, like whether City’s January recruitment could have gone better, whether they scored enough goals, why their away form was so rotten after the turn of the year?
But Thursday night still felt special, a remarkable stage to show how far this club has come.
It is barely two years since that bitter Good Friday protest outside Valley Parade ahead of a game with Tranmere.
Many fans were, not without justification, wanting to see the back of Stefan Rupp and Ryan Sparks, while on the field, a ghastly run of results had just torpedoed any chance City had of getting out of League Two.
Even the most optimistic City fan at the end of March 2024 could surely never have imagined where the club would be at now.
From a personal point of view, being stood at the back of the North West Corner all night on Thursday was an honour and a privilege.
It sounds corny, maybe ‘tinpot’ as some would say these days, but I’ll never forget the flag waving and support for the team at full-time.
The way the crowd in the Kop, North West Corner and the Morrisons Family Stand rose as one to applaud the players, you’d never have guessed that it was right off the back of gut-wrenching disappointment.
And one last blast of ‘Midland Road’, one of my absolute favourite footballing songs, even pulled me back into the stands when I’d begun to exit the stadium.
Bolton’s fans travelled brilliantly, massively contributing to a bouncing atmosphere, as two northern powerhouses collided in a match with so much on the line.
Honestly, the game wasn’t brilliant, but that 15-minute spell in the second half was a thrilling rollercoaster.
Max Power’s curler being brilliantly tipped on to the crossbar by the diving Jack Bonham, the game-changing Tyreik Wright seeing a shot deflected inches off-target, surely City were about to equalise on a aggregate.
Alas, it wasn’t to be, save for that upsetting realisation after about three seconds that when Kayden Jackson turned home the rebound from Nick Powell’s saved header, he was so far offside he may as well have been in Huddersfield.
Sadly, I was the one observant enough among my friends in the brief pandemonium of the ball hitting the back of the net to realise that the linesman’s flag was up.
And then, such is the beauty and cruelty of football, depending on which side of the Pennine fence you sit on, that Xavier Simons went straight up the other end and scored the winner.
But Thursday night was about so much more than the football, it was just a delight to be a part of.
Getting into Bradford about two hours before kick-off, the weather was horrendous and I dived into City Vaults for pints and warmth.
And while the pub was pleasingly jam-packed, I was worried how the pouring rain might have affected the atmosphere on North Parade.
I needn’t have worried, given the videos my mate was showing me on Snapchat.
Another nostalgic reminder of that Fleetwood game last May came once the pair of us finally made it up to North Parade at about 6:45pm, with the smell of flares invading my nostrils instantly.
I settled for a pint in The Peacock, but my friend insisted on a second, so he could drink it out of a plastic glass on his way up Manningham Lane.
That led to an all-time great moment of physical comedy, when the police on the road told him to finish his drink before going any further.
He obligingly stopped in his tracks to do so, only to get accidentally bumped into by a bloke from behind, thus inadvertently chucking his beer all up his own nostrils.
The bumper could not have been more apologetic, myself and our other friend thought it was hilarious and to top it off, the police kindly thanked our clumsy pal for getting rid of his drink so quickly!
As the three of us were on the back row in the North West Corner, that allowed us to stand all night, but a lot of fans did the same, which immediately helped generate a better atmosphere.
We were stood directly behind a South Asian mum, who was with her little boy and girl, both up way past their bedtimes for such a magical night.
And the lad, who must have been about six or seven, reminded me exactly of what I was like at that age, talking us through things like the time added on and what that meant.
I’m obviously a football enthusiast, but I’ve been a football geek for as long as I can remember, so it’s always nice to see others acting the same way.
Even after full-time, with City’s season over, it was still packed in the shawarma takeaway and on the train home.
But more than that, there was seemingly little deflation around.
If City can make a play-off semi in their first season back in League One, who knows what the sequel might hold?
