We’ll never

For the record, of the 51 matches played so far, Town have won 21, lost 19 and drawn 11.

Three of those draws were the most significant of the lot.

They were 0-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday, 1-1 away to Sheffield Wednesday and 0-0 with Reading.

Not a lot to write home about there, apart from the fact those results came in the richest playoffs on the planet!

So two penalty shoot-outs – which have changed the club for ever – will live on in club legend, as will the names of loan Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward and, particularly, German defender Christopher Schindler.

Ward, of course, famously saved from Fernando Forestieri in the play-off semi-final second leg at Hillsborough, ensuring a 4-3 victory for Town in the shootout and a place in the final against Reading at Wembley.

Then, in the showpiece on Monday, May 29, following 120 goalless minutes and with 40,000 Town fans being put through the wringer of another shoot-out, Town were 3-1 down at one stage before Reading caved in, Ward saved another vital kick and Schindler delivered the decisive blow to take Town to the Premier League.

At that very moment, grown men, many in their 30s and 40s, who never thought they would ever see their beloved team play in the top flight of English football, broke down in tears.

Overcome with emotion, they whirled those blue and white striped shirts – and those with yellow and black hoops – around their heads and celebrated like never before.

It was the high point of a journey started by owner-chairman Dean Hoyle almost a decade ago – he photo-bombed the Examiner’s Facebook Live post from outside Wembley on the big day! – a journey which shows few signs of slowing as the club head into 2018.

That penalty sparked frenetic work at the John Smith’s Stadium, at the PPG Canalside training complex – where Town have downgraded their Academy to re-focus on youth recruitment – and in the transfer market to get ready for taking on some of the biggest names in