On the morning of the 2020 League One play-off final, Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth delivered an emotional address to his team at the Hilton Hotel near Wembley. It included video messages from the players’ friends and family, as well as fans who had lost loved ones during the season, and it moved some in the room to tears.
As then-captain Matt Bloomfield told The Independent: “At the end he told us to picture me, ‘Mr Wycombe’ who’s been at the club for 16 and a half years, at Wembley lifting the trophy and to picture how much that would mean to me. I had hairs stand up on the back of my neck, I was emotional, I had to get out of the room. We were ready to go out and play the game right there and then.”
