"Ladies and gentlemen!! Fellow fans!! Welcome to Wembley!!!" From the commentary box, Wright Kingston roared into the microphone, overlooking the stands filled with over ninety thousand fans.
"The 2008-2009 season!! The FA Cup Final!! Is about to begin in this wonderful stadium!!!"
"Now, both teams are standing in the player tunnel, ready to enter the field!!"
Dressed in crimson jerseys, Liverpool fans cheered loudly, trying to overwhelm Luton's fans with their momentum!
However, their voices had barely begun when Luton's fans erupted in response.
The fans, wearing their orange home jerseys, were beaming, shouting loudly from the stands.
"Luton!!! Luton!!!"
With over ninety thousand fans in the stadium, and supporters of each team numbering around forty thousand, with the remaining ten thousand being neutral fans who came to watch the game, the rivalry between the two sets of fans plunged the entire stadium into a frenzy.
Luton's fans were clearly more excited and more frenzied. For this team, which had been languishing in the lower leagues, without any glorious past, and with almost no presence in England, this FA Cup final was the highest point in the entire history of the Luton team!
They were fortunate enough to witness the team's peak, so the fans were naturally enthusiastic and crazy.
Compared to Luton's fans, Liverpool's fans were actually relatively calm. Liverpool had already won the FA Cup seven times. Their number of FA Cup titles ranked fourth among all English teams, second only to Manchester United, Arsenal, and Tottenham.
.....
The players from both sides stood in the player tunnel, waiting to enter the field.
Luton's players stood tall with their heads held high, staring ahead as if they were participating in some special ceremony.
Compared to Luton, Liverpool's players seemed more relaxed.
Some were chatting with each other, while others were slightly bouncing to relax or stretch their muscles.
Kevin Keane stood at the very front of the team. He stared ahead, the FA Cup trophy at the end of the player tunnel radiating a sharp light under the stadium lights.
The light shone on Kevin Keane's rough face, and he tried hard not to let himself focus on the trophy.
In the realm of football, there has always been a final curse: the side that touches the trophy before the game will lose in the final and miss out on lifting the cup.
The curse is unfounded; it is merely passed down through word of mouth.
Kevin Keane was not a superstitious person either, but with the team having reached this point, at this time, he did not dare to do anything that seemed detrimental to Luton.
The side that touches the trophy will lose?
Kevin Keane simply didn't even dare to look at it, afraid that by looking at it, he would let the trophy slip away.
With the great battle imminent, even Kevin Keane was a little unsure of himself.
He didn't know if the team could defeat Liverpool. Now that the match was about to begin, they had to fight hard on the field no matter what.
"Get ready!!"
When the referee made a gesture, Kevin Keane shouted. The Luton players behind him collectively straightened their bodies, while on the other side, Gerrard also issued instructions.
Now the players from both teams seemed to be in the same state.
Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee took the lead and walked forward, followed by the coaching staff and the players from both teams.
The FA Cup trophy was getting closer and closer, the light reflecting on the faces of the players from both teams, but the players from both teams turned a blind eye to the trophy.
Everyone knew about the "touching curse."
...
The players from both sides began to appear in the fans' view.
Liverpool fans prepared their traditional ceremony to welcome the players onto the field.
The fans held up Liverpool scarves, from every era, but the main color scheme was the same. A wall of red scarves appeared directly opposite the player tunnel—that was the gathering area for Liverpool fans.
"When you walk through the storm, Hold your head up high, And don't be afraid of the dark..."
The song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' rang out, and Liverpool fans sang loudly.
This was Liverpool's team anthem, but the song was not originally written for Liverpool.
Before becoming Liverpool's team anthem, the song had already been sung far and wide, but no matter what the song's past and present were, in the world of football, when people heard this soothing and spiritual melody, the only thing fans thought of was Liverpool.
This English powerhouse team can be called great.
However, for Luton fans, they didn't care whether Liverpool was great or not.
In the eyes of Luton fans, Liverpool was their opponent in this game, the enemy competing with them for the FA Cup title.
No matter how lofty your status, no matter how great your history, no matter how intimidating your reputation. You are just our opponent!!
It's that simple!
So Luton fans immediately drowned out the Liverpool fans' singing with boos.
They were arranged on the other side of the stands, which prevented them from creating a scene as soon as the players came out, so they didn't let the Liverpool fans have it easy either.
Liverpool's singing and Luton's boos intertwined as the players from both sides entered the field, like a symphony, played in the air above Wembley.
Perhaps this was just the prelude to a wonderful feast.
When the players lined up on the field and turned around, what the players saw was a microphone and a little girl.
The little girl was a singer, Barry Smith, a female singer who stood out after participating in the second season of Britain's Got Talent last year. This year, she was only fourteen years old.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let us all stand up!"
At this time, the fans' voices quieted down. Luton and Liverpool fans did not continue to compete at this time.
Under Barry Smith's lead, the entire stadium began to sing 'God Save the Queen'.
This is the British national anthem.
Gao Bo and his coaching staff also stood up.
John and other Englishmen placed their hands on their chests and sang loudly in unison, only Gao Bo, Lin Sen, and Qingzi, three foreigners, stood in place.
Gao Bo couldn't sing the British national anthem, and even if he could, he wouldn't sing it on such a politically charged occasion.
He also didn't look around randomly. When others stood up to praise their country, as a foreigner, it was best to remain respectful.
The singing ended quickly. At this time, Luton fans slowly pulled up a huge tifo!
On it was a person wearing a hat, whose face could not be seen clearly, but it could be clearly seen that they were wearing a Luton orange jersey. People could only see his broad back, and in front of him was a trophy, an FA Cup championship trophy!
Above the pattern, there was also a set of numbers: 2008-2009!!!
This would be a season for Luton to create miracles. This season would be mentioned countless times by Luton fans in countless years to come.
Luton, a team that had been mired in the lower leagues for more than a hundred years, now finally had the opportunity to take the first championship trophy in their team's history!
Luton's players also saw this pattern, and the fans on the scene also saw this pattern.
Even Liverpool fans did not boo at this time.
No one would laugh at a team that had created so many miracles on the road to pursuing their dreams.