GRIMMER ON DAY DREAM CAME TRUE

● Former Don recalls tears of joy after play-off success with Wycombe Wanderers

The moment was captured perfectly. Jack Grimmer, phone in hand and tears in his eyes, overcome by the storybook ending to a tale few would have seen happening.

The Aberdonian was standing in an empty Wembley Stadium, having just won promotion to the Championship with Wycombe Wanderers, with team-mates around him going through the same highs.

Relative after relative was being Face Timed from the pitch, as he struggled to take everything in.

“Because it was so quiet, you could Face Time your families on the pitch and it made it such a special moment,” said Grimmer.

“Your family could be involved. You’re walking round an empty Wembley Stadium, covered in champagne with a medal round your neck. There’s no words to describe what I felt.

“I Face Timed my fiancée Sammy, and as soon as she cried, I cried. A photographer managed to capture the moment and these photos are priceless.

“I went on to my mum, my sister, my mates and even my granny got a Face Time. You want to involve as many people as possible.

“I had to contact Sammy again because all I did the first time was cry. It’s something for months that you’d envisioned, what it would feel like, all those emotions come flooding into you.

“Weirdly, it was a year to the day that the gaffer asked me to join.”

Their 2-1 win over Oxford United had been built on stories of players being discarded and having to find new paths in the game. Matt Bloomfield, the Wycombe captain, has lived the club for 16 years and 500 appearances. The day was for people like him.

The players have rallied behind manager Gareth Ainsworth, a figurehead with rock-star looks but rock-solid principles, who has invested in the project at Wycombe since 2012.

The aftermath became characterised by a Sky Sports graphic that showed Oxford as first in numerous passing categories, with Wycombe 23rd. “We did it our way” was the response from the club’s Twitter account.

“We found our way of playing and credit to the manager, he doesn’t sugarcoat it,” said Grimmer.

“He knows what we’re good at. During the game, even their players were saying ‘all you do is kick it’ and I’m like ‘we’re winning 2-1, I don’t care’. We found what we were good at. If you’re that much better than us, beat us.

“Since the game, I’ve screamed about how good a man manager he is. But tactically, he got it spot on.

“People maybe don’t see the little things because we put (Adebayo) Akinfenwa on and we just pump the ball up to him.

“There’s so much more goes into it. We’re quoted as a band of brothers that will fight for each other and I think, in modern football, that’s rare.”

The infectious joy from Akinfenwa in front of the cameras after the game was enriching. You could not help but smile. His shout out to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was reciprocated by the Premier League-winning boss.

“He got the video from Jurgen Klopp and he played it through the speakers on our bus, so everyone could listen to it. We all sang him a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone. These memories, no one can give you this.”

Grimmer, who left Aberdeen in 2012 as a teenager, had stopped off at Fulham, Port Vale, Shrewsbury and Coventry on his way to the Chairboys.

He scored in Coventry’s League 2 play-off final victory two years ago. But this one, even with thousands of empty seats around him, felt so special.

Grimmer said: “It is one of those modern-day fairytales. All of these things added together just makes you want to do it so much. To see the captain (Matt Bloomfield) at the end, I’d never seen so much emotion in my life.

“The one at Coventry was expected. It was a lot of relief in the celebrations. This one, I had to try pick my jaw up off the floor.

“To do it with such a special group of guys, each with their own individual stories, makes it even more special.”