Matt Forde is far less worried about Nottingham Forest in the Premier League than he was about them at Wembley, as he relied on former Reds players to try and calm him through the tears.
The podcaster and comedian, a huge Forest fan, was in the Royal Box at Wembley, as he watched the Reds secure their place back in the Premier League after 23 years away. Forde was a teenager the last time they were in the top flight and two decades of largely failure meant he was unable to contain his emotions against Huddersfield.
"I couldn't stop crying. Even now thinking about it is bringing it back. Seeing them walk out at Wembley was such a big deal," he said on this week's Garibaldi Red podcast. "There were so many local lads, so I'm so proud of them. I was kind of hyperventilating for five or 10 minutes at the start. I don't really remember the game. Garry Birtles was putting his hand on my shoulder telling me to calm down and Guy Moussi was there, thank God."
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"I couldn't contain myself at the end when there's this explosion of euphoria. In a way, maybe it's generational, but there was a part of me that wondered if we'd ever do it. You could see things were going the right way with the ownership and Steve Cooper, but been so close before. When it finally happened I felt like William Shatner when he'd come back from space, because I'd experienced something so profound!
"The whole thing happened so quickly that it felt like a shotgun wedding. You had to emotionally adjust so quickly after 23 years of pain. There was the semi-final and then you're off to Wembley. It was like, oh, we're going to Vegas, we're getting married now!
"What an amazing way to it do it in the end, to have those three games in the play-offs then the celebration. I don't think we'll have a season like it again. Imagine we'd lost! Oh dear! I don't need to imagine now. I feel like a weight is off my shoulders. Forest being out of the Premier League bothered me.
"People my age grew up thinking we were a big club. The history is used to as a stick to beat us with sometimes. Players are effectively achieving our ambitions for us even though we have no control of it.
"It's not like a job interview or a driving test where the outcome is in your power. Forest is such a big part of our lives but we're pretty powerless. That said, I do think what happened in the second leg at home is one of the most incredible things.
"The fans probably kept Forest in the game, but on the whole you are putting your hopes and dreams on the shoulders of pretty young men. When you achieve it, you feel you achieved something with them.
"Even though I played no part I feel I achieved something, we achieved something together. You wear the shirt with a bit more pride. I don't want this buzz to end. It feels very special right now."
Forest have delivered what Forde and so many fans dreamed off for so long, but there is also an element of reality biting, with plenty of Premier League teams containing world class talent. Nonetheless, he is confident the Reds can survive and potentially thrive next season.
"I just want us to stay up really. I do think we could finish mid-table or a little better. The FA Cup is a different beast, but the way we played against Arsenal, Leicester and perhaps even more so Liverpool as they were a different class," he said.
"Brennan Johnson is a different class, an exceptional talent. I trust them in the transfer market and of course we have Cooper. If we start well other teams might take a while to figure us out. I'd back us to start well, but I'd snap your hand off now for 17th."
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