When Joe Jacobson converted a penalty kick with just ten minutes remaining history was being produced at Wembley.
When the final whistle was blown, that piece of history could be placed in the history books of Wycombe Wanderers.
Championship
Little Wycombe had been promoted to the second tier of English football. For the first time in their 133-year history the Chairboys will play Championship football next season.
Their victory over a diligent Oxford United side saw wild scenes of celebration at Wembley Stadium.
What makes their feat even more remarkable is nobody gave them a chance of gaining promotion this campaign.
Pre-season woes for Wycombe
Before the season even got under way manager Gareth Ainsworth had problems. He only had eight players at his disposal in pre-season, with three of those trialists.
Gradually Ainsworth put together a side that many people had tipped to go down to League Two.
A mix of ability and stability from England’s longest serving manager has built something special in Buckinghamshire.
When the season had to be curtailed due to the pandemic Wycombe found themselves in eighth place. After weeks of waiting with a decision the EFL decided the season would finish. To the joy of Wycombe the table was decided on a ppg process which elevated the Chairboys up to third.
In the semi- final play off they defeated Fleetwood Town 6-3 on aggregate to book their final place.
Gareth Ainsworth’s highs and lows
A lot of praise for Wycombe’s success this season must go down to the manager Ainsworth. He has been at the club for no less than eight years and has seen plenty of lows.
In the 2013-14 season Wycombe escaped relegation down to the Conference on goal difference. A year later heartbreak for the Chairboys when they lost out to Southend in the play-off final on penalties.
However,two seasons later Wycombe were back in League One after gaining automatic promotion. For the past two seasons Wanderers have held their own in the division until history was made on Monday.
The club have already been dubbed the new crazy gang- not sure if Vinny Jones and co would approve of that. To be classed as the new crazy gang you need characters and Wycombe have one in the shape of Adebayo Akinfenwa.
The Crazy Gang
The 38-year-old was part of the new Wimbledon side before joining Wycombe in 2016. Since then the giant striker has made over 150 appearances for the Chairboys with 46 goals.
This current squad have no real super stars. What they have got is the belief that they can go out and beat anybody. Nobody exemplifies that more than experienced 33-year-old defender Jacobson. The Welshman has been with the club for six seasons now and is a workhorse. He along with others deserve to be on the bigger stage next season.
None more so than the current gaffer Ainsworth who played for Wycombe for six seasons making 114 appearances. His chance to break into management came when he was playing for QPR. The super hoops recognised his potential as a manager where he was caretaker manager three times.
As we look ahead to next season with no doubt people writing off Wycombe in the Championship already. Remember this, never write off this bunch of characters as they will all want to prove the doubters wrong.
