Russell Martin's Wembley notes

Good afternoon, it is with enormous pride that I welcome Saints fans to Wembley for the play-off final, one of the biggest games in football.

As I said before our semi-final second leg, these are the occasions we are in the game for – a sentiment magnified and intensified today. This is a Wembley final, it’s every football fan’s dream.

We are aware of our privileged position as a football club, but we have earned the opportunity to be competing here today, and we will give absolutely everything to give you all a day to remember for the rest of your lives.

As someone who has spent a lot of time in the Championship over the past 15 or so years, firstly as a player and then as a manager, this season’s promotion race has been the most competitive I can remember.

For us to finish fourth with 87 points really underlines the consistency of the teams at the top of the division.

I congratulate Leicester City and Ipswich Town for winning automatic promotion in what has been an incredibly competitive year. For ourselves, and for Leeds United, only one of us today will achieve the target we set ourselves before a single ball was kicked last summer.

It’s been a huge challenge to take on this job, but one I, and all the staff, have thoroughly enjoyed. As a player I have been there, coming down from the Premier League, and as you will be aware there’s a lot of change to navigate.

For us, there was a fair bit of uncertainty right up until the closure of the transfer window, with numerous players unsure as to whether they would be staying or going.

Such challenges made our first couple of months in the job tough, but once we had a settled group we gelled quickly and developed a real unity both on and off the pitch. This was strongly demonstrated in the club record 25-match unbeaten run from September through to February.

However it ultimately has come down to today, to this play-off final, and there is no more memorable way to go achieve promotion than by winning at Wembley in front of 90,000 people.

I’ve been there myself as a player, with Norwich in 2015, and it was the best day of my career, bar none. That day saw Norwich bounce straight back up to the Premier League in the first season after relegation, so there are parallels with today. It was such a potent feeling. That was nine years ago to the day and I have powerful feelings running through me again, we all do.

The play-offs stir up something unique in all of us. The welcome we received on the team coach coming into the stadium for our semi-final second leg against West Brom is something that will live with me forever.

We knew it wouldn’t feel like any other game, but the response of the supporters blew me away that night just nine days ago. It was an emotional scene, and the vibrant and passionate atmosphere reverberated inside the stadium from well before kick-off and throughout the whole 90 minutes. Many people said they’ve never seen St Mary’s like it. Bring that to Wembley today for us, and for yourselves.

Our fans have been unbelievable all season and you really deserve this day out. You travel in your thousands wherever we go, sometimes from one end of the country to the other, and we’re incredibly grateful for the sacrifice you make to support your team.

We know you will be loud and proud today, and I cannot wait to see our end of the stadium filled with Saints shirts before kick-off this afternoon. I know it’s going to be an amazing sight.

On the pitch, our job is to finish what we started way back on the first day of pre-season in June. Our form over the last three games has been really good, and we come into this final confident in the work we’ve been doing – not just in the last couple of weeks, but in the 11 months leading up to this day.

Thank you for being here with us.

We March On.

Russ

The official EFL matchday programme is priced at £10 and is available to order below, as well as from the Saints Store at St Mary’s on the morning of the game for those fans travelling from the stadium.

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