Des Buckingham is one day away from the moment he would have dreamed about when he joined as Oxford United Head Coach in November.
On Saturday at 4.15pm, Oxford United will stride out onto the Wembley pitch in front of 36,000 fans in yellow in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final against Bolton Wanderers.
It’s the cumulation of a season of hard work, with changes in management, dips in results, but in the end a run of one defeat in 10 to set up this chance to reach the Championship.
On Thursday, Des Buckingham spoke to the media ahead of the huge game against Bolton and he discussed his pride in being able to take his boyhood club to this stage.
You can watch the full video HERE.
He said: “My association with the club, I know what this means to the people, not just of Oxford but also Oxfordshire.
“I think there’s a lot of flights that have been booked to come back for this, so I know what it means.
“To be able to lead this team out, bearing in mind it is my hometown club, is a very proud moment for me and the family.
“It's been a 22-year coaching journey and the last six months have been a really good whirlwind.
“There’s a lot of pride in the journey to get myself to this role, but there’s so many people that have contributed and continue to contribute leading into Saturday.
“They (fans) will make a huge difference. I can’t wait to walk out to Wembley and see.
“We had a full-capacity crowd against Peterborough and we will triple that. To walk out and lead that team and have that behind us will be huge.
“It’s not the first time the club have had that and I was one of those in 2010. So, to go out and lead that, they will play a massive role come Saturday.”