“It really hit home for me the next day though. I ran off the pitch that night, I didn’t really get involved with the fans, I ran straight off, straight down the tunnel, so I didn’t really get involved in that, I was honestly focused on Wembley, the greatest day of your football life, wanting to play in a Wembley showpiece.

“I was thinking ahead, but the next morning it hit home for me. I’d picked up a knock and I remember parking in the car park at Portman Road and getting out and the queue for tickets was out in the street.

“And when I got out it was class, it was brilliant, it was lovely from the supporters. I got out of my car and they clapped and that was unbelievable.

“They were obviously waiting on tickets and they clapped, so that was emotional for me. Alright, the night before was special but the morning after, it was lovely, it was a lovely gesture and I’ll always remember it and it was something I always really considered a lovely thing that they did for me.

“They clapped me in and I was limping and there were a few hangovers that morning, everybody was reliving the night before. But definitely the focus was on Wembley.”

Going into the final Town had a number of injury problems, chief among them the absence of Player of the Year James Scowcroft, who had torn a hamstring in the Bolton game.

“Awful for him, he was absolutely brilliant and it’s horrendous for Scowy not to have played,” Magilton said.

“But George’s gesture for Scowy to walk out with us at Wembley, he’s a Bury St Edmunds boy, it was a lovely thing to do.

“Nothing will every make up for the fact that he didn’t play but he understands and we all, as a tight group, understood, but that didn’t diminish the fact that he’d had a fantastic season.”

Magilton says the day at Wembley was everything he had long hoped it might be: “I think the walk out at the start going on to the pitch you realise, it hits home. The drive in, going into Wembley, up Wembley Way, going into Wembley, I saw my dad and and I saw my brother and brother-in-laws and best friend in the crowd and they’re jumping up and down, they’re obviously having a ball.

“There was a lot of emotion, but you have to keep that in check. I’m a football fanatic and I remember the cup finals and cup final mornings and the whole thing and going into Wembley and then getting off the bus and dropping my gear off and then that walk out.

“The walk out is the greatest walk. I did it at Liverpool when I was in the squad for the Charity Shield but to know that I was playing, it was going to be a huge occasion.

“It was the walk, it was all the things that I dreamt of as a boy. Sometimes you can be let down, but oh my goodness it was everything I’ve dreamed of and more.

“I remember getting on the pitch and seeing the fans, it was incredible. The scene was unbelievable and having a chat with Neil Shipperley was great before the game because we’d played at Southampton together, it was lovely, it was great, there was a really good feel about the game and about the stadium that day, both sets of fans were making so much noise and there seemed to be a real camaraderie there.

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