10 (and a bit) years ago.

[Always hopeful]

I had the misfortune of attending a conference at The Riverside recently. I was led to the trophy cabinet by a gleeful Boro supporting colleague of mine, where the following were on display.

Is it really 10 years (and 1 month) since we suffered the indignity of losing to this small town club?

Is it possible for something to seem so recent, yet a lifetime ago?

[bobo the clown]

There should be two marks on them .... one where he struck the ball .... and the other being onto where, on the other foot, he kicked it. Thus him touching the ball twice.

Mike Riley later admitted to seeing that but said it wasn't intentional so allowed the goal.

Mike Riley is a tit.

[jaffka]

There should be two marks on them .... one where he struck the ball .... and the other being onto where, on the other foot, he kicked it. Thus him touching the ball twice.

Mike Riley later admitted to seeing that but said it wasn't intentional so allowed the goal.

Mike Riley is a tit.

Riley will forever be known as a cock for that, intentional or not, the laws of association football don't allow what happened.

[Hoboh]

I never spoke all the way back from that one, felt worse than at any other away day to be honest, I was really convinced that day was going to be ours!

[Riviman]

I never spoke all the way back from that one, felt worse than at any other away day to be honest, I was really convinced that day was going to be ours!

Coming back after the play off finals against Tranmere and later Watford were also pretty dismal journeys.

[Hoboh]

I never spoke all the way back from that one, felt worse than at any other away day to be honest, I was really convinced that day was going to be ours!

Coming back after the play off finals against Tranmere and later Watford were also pretty dismal journeys.

Never did seem, a playoff, to have the magic of a 'Cup final', still I guess thats just me.

[BWFC_Insane]

A play-off is worse than a cup final. Cup finals are great but ultimately they often don't decide your season.

Play-off finals define your whole season that has just gone plus the next one.

They are absolute gutters to lose in. Especially the ones that are now worth £(insert silly tens of millions number here).....

[Hoboh]

A play-off is worse than a cup final. Cup finals are great but ultimately they often don't decide your season.

Play-off finals define your whole season that has just gone plus the next one.

They are absolute gutters to lose in. Especially the ones that are now worth £(insert silly tens of millions number here).....

Some of us do have sentimental bones in our bodies and don't just argue the 'business path' for everything Phil.

[BWFC_Insane]

A play-off is worse than a cup final. Cup finals are great but ultimately they often don't decide your season.

Play-off finals define your whole season that has just gone plus the next one.

They are absolute gutters to lose in. Especially the ones that are now worth £(insert silly tens of millions number here).....

Some of us do have sentimental bones in our bodies and don't just argue the 'business path' for everything Phil.

It isn't the business path I was arguing. I don't care about the money except that as a fan if the club wins a play-off to the premiership it is more likely an indicator that we will have some sustained success than winning a one off cup final.

I'm not saying that I wouldn't trade a cup final for a promotion either. But a play-off final result reflects a whole seasons efforts, ambition and the prospects for the next season. Whereas a cup final is fantastic and a piece of history but in reality is fairly short lived. Either of course would be great. But in the short and medium term I'd be more gutted losing a play-off final than a cup final. When I'm 85 and looking back the answer will probably be totally different.

[ChrisC]

Cup finals come very very rarely. Playoffs could be a recurring thing year after year if you are an oh so nearly club who can't win the final but qualify each season.

Cup final for me every time!

[Nicko58]

Cup finals come very very rarely. Playoffs could be a recurring thing year after year if you are an oh so nearly club who can't win the final but qualify each season.

Cup final for me every time!

Me too. I've seen us win a play-off final, but I've never seen us win a proper trophy.

[Riviman]

Cup finals come very very rarely. Playoffs could be a recurring thing year after year if you are an oh so nearly club who can't win the final but qualify each season.

Cup final for me every time!

Me too. I've seen us win a play-off final, but I've never seen us win a proper trophy.

Are you saying the famous "Sherpa Van Trophy" isn't a proper trophy !!!!

[Bruno3]

Some of us couldn't get tickets for that Middlesboro final despite being season ticket holders thanks to the club's cock-up. In retrospect they might have done us a favour - but it still sticks in the throat. (OK I'll have a good cough now).

[Nicko58]

Cup finals come very very rarely. Playoffs could be a recurring thing year after year if you are an oh so nearly club who can't win the final but qualify each season.

Cup final for me every time!

Me too. I've seen us win a play-off final, but I've never seen us win a proper trophy.

Are you saying the famous "Sherpa Van Trophy" isn't a proper trophy !!!!

No, merely that I am a young whippersnapper.

[TANGODANCER]

Cup finals come very very rarely. Playoffs could be a recurring thing year after year if you are an oh so nearly club who can't win the final but qualify each season.

Cup final for me every time!

Even after all this time, seeing Stanley Mathews turn Blackpool's defeat into last-minute victory and the F.A. Cup snatched from our grasp is a painful memory. Oh, yes, five years later we won it and beat Manchester United in doing it....but that 1953 defeat still lingers in the background. I was fourteen and it felt like the end of the world......What made it worse was the fact there was no avoiding it. Sports Report was full of it, the papers were full of it ( The Green Final, People and Sunday Empire News,they were then) and even when we went to the cinema as a consolation, Pathe News blared it out....Blackpool the great....It was truly awful.

[Bruce Rioja]

Cup Finals are a day out. Seeing us lose play off finals and watching our entire season count for shit is the worst feeling in football. Tranmere was the worst.

[Harry Genshaw]

Cup Finals are a day out. Seeing us lose play off finals and watching our entire season count for shit is the worst feeling in football. Tranmere was the worst.

+1. The nearest I ever came to crying at a footy match

[BWFC_Insane]

Cup Finals are a day out. Seeing us lose play off finals and watching our entire season count for shit is the worst feeling in football. Tranmere was the worst.

Exactly....

[Prufrock]

Be interested to hear what TD and the others around in 58 reckon on it.

I was gutted when we lost to Boro, but, in the immediate, I think I'd be even more gutted by a playoff loss for the reasons mentioned. That said, I want to be able to tell any grandkids about how I was there when we won our first major trophy for how ever many years. As good as Preston was, it doesn't quite cut it.

[LeverEnd]

Cup Finals are a day out. Seeing us lose play off finals and watching our entire season count for shit is the worst feeling in football. Tranmere was the worst.

+1. The nearest I ever came to crying at a footy match

My worst day as a football fan. Seriously considered not going to the Reading one after that. Watford was gutting rtoo, causing me to miss the Preston victory in Cardiff. it all depends on expectations, didn't mind so much losing to Liverpool in 95 but the Boro game was winnable and we were shit. Thankfully I watched it in the Brown Cow in Horwich!