When Danny Wilson looks back on his time as Bristol City manager, he'll reflect on that dramatic play-off victory over Hartlepool, the silverware, the supporters, the near-misses and ultimately, the sacking.
It's been over 18 years since Wilson took that call from Steve Lansdown while holidaying in the Spanish resort of La Manga five days after City's play-off final defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.
As Wilson puts it himself, managers have to abide by the owner's decisions during a ruthless but rewarding career but it doesn't mean it still doesn't leave a sour taste. Not just because of the timing of his dismissal but also the nature of it.
"We thought we were on the up, we thought we were putting a good side together, a young side," he told Bristol Live. "We had the likes of Danny Coles, Craig Woodman, Tommy Doherty.
"We had the nucleus of a team who we could keep together and keep pushing forward again. So that was a disappointment to get that news. All managers think the decision is unjust and that time was no different.
"I just felt the circumstances were strange. The prerogative is with the owners, they put the money in and make the decisions you just have to abide by it and that's it. You don't always like it but you get over it."
Wilson is a little more frank in his book: "I couldn't believe I was being sacked over the phone! I felt it was a bit crass, cowardly even, particularly after the positive meeting we'd had just days earlier."
Now kept busy by his two grandchildren, the 62-year-old is happy to sit from the sidelines as the axe continuously swings from club to club. Moments before chatting with Wilson following the release of his new autobiography 'I Get Knocked Down', Chris Wilder became the sixth Championship manager to lose his job in 11 Championship games.
"I don't think it was that ruthless in the early days, but you always have that hanging over your head as manager. It's win at all costs and with the money floating around in football now, everyone wants to get a piece of it."
It's been six years since his last job as Chesterfield manager and Wilson's a realist. He knows managers of his age are becoming a thing of the past as clubs look to younger names with new philosophies and ideas. Although he had his moment in the sun. Promotion to the Premier League with Barnsley will be one that stands out in the memory but it always felt like a case of what could have been at Ashton Gate.
Like many managers who have come before him, Wilson was lured in by City's sleeping giant status. A fantastic city, a passionate fan base and a club with the potential to climb the leagues.
Following the disaster of Tony Pulis' regime and Tony Fawthrop's interim spell, Wilson's Premier League experience and attacking brand of football immediately had the supporters on board.
"We wanted to get the fans on the edge of their seats. We wanted the players more than anything to enjoy the football and create that feeling that they're unbeatable but within that, you have to create that happy medium where you're not conceding left, right and centre.
"We had spells at the football club where we played very well and that was obviously down to a lot of the players we had there and their mentality."
Wilson had the side progressing on the pitch. It was third time lucky to finish in the top six when Scott Murray scored 27 goals in all competitions to fire City within three points of the automatics.
Wilson can't speak any more highly of the club legend and the form he showed during that season: "He was unplayable at times. A terrific, terrific player. Very energetic and one of the best to work within football over the years. He scored 19 (league) goals that season and that's not including assists."
Even Murray couldn't produce the magic to unlock Cardiff's defence in the semi-finals as City faced a fourth season under Wilson in the third tier.
"From my point of view, we were just very, very unlucky. I was gutted for the boys because they put so much into that season and you just felt we were on the brink of promotion and we were just never able to push it over the line like we knew we could do."
Buoyed by an LDV Vans trophy victory over Carlisle, the priority remained promotion but there was never any talk that he would get the sack should it not be achieved.
"We were playing good football again, perhaps not as fluid as we were the season before but we were up there again and we were always challenging which was always great from my point of view considering where we were when I came in.
"Scotty Murray went to Reading and we had to replace players who had done very well and more importantly, scored goals. One or two of the lads who were banging them in left, right and centre were not there anymore.
"It's not easy to replace them and perhaps a different type of player would come in and you have to work with that. It was going to be a case of fitting players in the way you play and it's always up in the air whether you can replace a player exactly with what you've lost."
A 5-0 victory over Notts County on the opening day of the season set the tone for a campaign that fluctuated from sublime to highly frustrating. 11 consecutive league victories over Christmas and into the New Year had the Robins cruising towards promotion before following that up with one win in seven.
Ultimately, it left City one point short of an automatic promotion spot pipped to the post by Queens Park Rangers and set up a tie two-legged play-off affair against Hartlepool. A 1-1 draw away from home was the catalyst to one of the most memorable moments at Ashton Gate as goals from Marc Goodfellow and Christian Roberts sparked a dramatic turnaround with just two minutes left of normal time remaining.
"Incredible," Wilson said as he reminisces. "The fans were absolutely brilliant and they helped us get that late winner. We were in the game, out of it, in the game and then out of it again and we just kept plugging away.
"For Christian Roberts to score that late on the roof came off the stadium and everyone exploded. It was magnificent."
Then came the League One play-off final at Millennium Stadium against Brighton in which a Leon Knight penalty proved the difference to break City hearts.
"We never really got out the blocks that game for some reason. It was a really close game but we didn't play how I knew we could. Whether we froze a little bit I'm not sure and it was very disappointing in that respect.
"It was one of those games where we just didn't rise to the occasion which was really, really unfortunate."
Then came the question marks, including the decision to leave a young Leroy Lita out of the matchday squad. "I knew that was coming," Wilson chuckles when the subject was raised. "I get that all the time. Leroy was a very good up-and-coming young player. But we felt at that time what we had in front of Leroy was enough.
"We had plenty of experience in Lee Miller, Christian Roberts and you have to remember there were only three substitutes at that time. Scott Murray and Luke Wilkshire were also on the bench so we just felt he wasn't ready and it wasn't worth a gamble from that point of view.
"We were very confident with the team that we put out and very excited about the future that Leroy was going to have. We made a decision and that was it, end of story. You don't have to apologise for not picking players."
Rightly or wrongly, it turned out to be Wilson's final hurrah in BS3 before receiving that phone call. Some fans would say he failed, others would say he allowed supporters to enjoy watching City again with an exciting brand of football. Perhaps it was a bit of both.
Wilson's time at the club also raised a debate about a certain drinking culture surrounding the club during those years and whether it prevented them from truly fulfilling their potential on the pitch. It's a topic and suggestion that obviously still irks him to this day.
"I'm not even going to go there. When you've got athletes like we had athletes, how can you say there was a drinking culture?
"I think it's fair to say when the boys went out they enjoyed themselves which I fully back and I would back them again to do exactly the same but they never, ever stepped out of line from my point of view in terms of any of this so-called drinking culture which has been spun from somewhere, I don't know where.
"Absolutely not. They enjoyed themselves, they were a great set of lads in a great dressing room. Yes, they did go out together but I never had one cause to pull them up for anything."
Wilson still follows City's progress closely as his former Sheffield Wednesday captain Nigel Pearson aims to become the first manager to steer them to the promised land.
"A great captain, he was a leader and in that respect, you always fancied him to carry on that mantle of becoming a manager. He was strong-willed and would run through a brick wall for you.
"I don't think anyone knows if they're going to be a manager, it's all about the opportunity. Nigel grasped his opportunity and he's done very, very well.
"I do think Bristol City will come strong as the season goes on. The one thing that might worry Nigel at the moment is how they're conceding goals and being a great defender like he was, he obviously won't be too happy with that stat.
"But I watch City all the time. I keep an eye on them because they were very good to me in the days I was manager there and I really enjoyed myself in Bristol."
Danny Wilson's 'I Get Knocked Down' autobiography is published on October 14, available to pre-order now from publishers Morgan Lawrence. It's available to purchase here.
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