As Newport County and Swansea City prepare for playoff finals, Ryan Jewell looks at what County’s last heartbreaking exit in 2019 tells us about the emotional fan experience of the playoffs.
How would you explain something to someone for the first time?
There is not much to compare the playoffs to. You can explain it as a mini tournament, consisting of four teams, with two semi-finals each being played over two legs before the victors meet for one final time. This decides who goes up to new beginnings and who returns to the rest in the mediocrity of the familiar.
But to understand something means you need to be aware of its emotional value. To explain the emotions surrounding the playoffs is a task only capable of completion by those who have experienced it themselves. With fear, doubt, joy, optimism and heartbreak coming into my mind.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe last time Newport County were in the playoffs was back in 2019 and I was fortune to have experienced every moment. And consequentially I have suffered those emotions of fear, doubt, joy, optimism and heartbreak alongside others because that is what the playoffs are, an emotional rollercoaster which bashes you from side to side, spinning you around until at the very end of the line where everything stops and you’re never the same again.
The 2019 Journey
That Journey started at the end of another, a final day away at Morecambe. Jamille Matt’s equaliser in the 87th minute was enough to secure a draw which boosted County into 7th, securing the final playoff spot.
We would face Mansfield town in the semi-finals and yet, for some unknown reason, I could not accept the idea that County were anywhere near the top half of the table, let alone battling for promotion. It was only until the very first minute of the first leg where a sense of reality hit me. For here in a packed-out Rodney parade was physical proof that we as a club had a chance of something bigger and better than Stevenage away on a cold Tuesday night.
From memory the game itself was a tense affair. Mansfield took the lead in the 12th minute whilst any attempts for an equaliser were beaten away by Conrad Logan, a 33-year-old goalkeeper whose performance in goal that night would have made Lev Yashin himself weep out of jealously.
The night appeared as though it would end in disappointment until in the 87th minute when County striker Ade Azeez went down in the box after a challenge by the keeper. Looking back the penalty was a soft decision but on the night that was of no concern to us. Podraig Amond stepped up to take the penalty and whilst his initial effort was saved, he put away the rebound with little concern. Sending the home crowd into pandemonium and getting the club one step further into dream land.
Second Leg to Penalties
The second leg was perfectly poised, with the aggregate score 1-1. There was still a chance for both teams to book their spot at Wembley.
The match was more akin to a great boxing match than a football match, with shot after shot following after each other as both teams took it in turn to strike at one another’s defences. Looking for an opening that would give them victory.
Somehow, despite the efforts of both teams, the game ended in regular time goalless and after extra-time failed to produce any goals. The dreaded penalty shootout beckoned.
For many fans, a penalty shootout is akin to the worse kind of torture imaginable. Whilst a 90-minute match can be decided simply based on skill alone a penalty shootout requires the luck of the devil.
Nothing in a penalty shootout, similar to life, is ever decided solely by its participants. A man can choose his path, but it is down to fate to decide whether he is successful.
Embed from Getty ImagesPlayoff Joy
Thankfully, fate was on our side that day. With Matty Dolan slotting away his penalty to finish the shootout 5-3 in favour of County and just like that, we were off to Wembley.
It felt like it did not happen, a grand illusion born out of fantasy. I question whether we even did get into the playoff spots let alone playing in the final at Wembley. As if for a month I sub-consciously blocked out reality in favour of living in a dream state. But from the photos I took that day and the over-priced programme I paid for in a panicked state where financial sensibility was ignored in favour of securing a souvenir, I have physical proof that the experience was real.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd if I were living in a dream state it would be safe to assume that by the end of the day I was ripped out and thrown back into harsh reality.
Playoff Pain
The final passed in a blur, a mixture of colours from the crowd and the green of the pitch paints a backdrop to Tranmere’s winner in the last minute of extra-time. The flight of the ball into the box, it’s trajectory off of a faceless figure and into the net. It all moves in slow motion and the agony of that moment strikes across my body in a flash.
I started this off by asking a question and I intend to answer it. The playoffs are football in its purist form. From its emotional value to its storytelling, there is truly nothing else like it.