By Howard Borrell

At the time of the semi-final I used to write a weekly column in the, then, independent Chesterfield Gazette (reproduced here separately is the following week's summary). I'd always tried to capture the flavour of much more than the game and attempted to encapsulate the general mood of the town during this historic cup run. .

Initially, and not surprisingly, when a Mark Williams header against Bury took us through to round two there was little expectancy and even after a relatively straightforward canter past Scarborough there was more cynicism in the air than optimism.

Bristol City will contend that the referee was against them in the third round as Jonathan Howard bagged a brace and then on to Kevin Davies' near perfect performance in the last FA Cup tie at Burnden Park. To notch a hat trick in such a big game defied belief and triggered in me the greatest emotion since our 4-4 draw at Anfield - just a pity there wasn't much pub time left to enjoy it!

Most fans went to Bolton hopeful but not confident. After waltzing past the Trotters all of a sudden logic went out of the window and anything was possible. A win against Forest was now expected rather than a possibility and, in all honesty, Tom Curtis' strike from the penalty spot was poor reward for a dominant performance.

On the day of the quarter final I had the pleasure of going straight from the game to a christening - the parents were Welsh and they were as pleased as I was that Chris Beaumont had clinched a semi-final berth. In fact the poor child didn't really get any attention at all!

The next few weeks are best summed up as "the period when blue and white car aerials dominated every carriageway". It wasn't possible to walk 100 yards without counting a dozen or more vehicles proudly displaying their allegiance. The mood was exciting, bubbly, cheerful, buzzy. Poor league showings failed to dampen the, by now, ludicrous optimism that had swept across North Derbyshire.

Everyone from toddlers to pensioners supported the Spireites and as many as possible were going to make the journey to Old Trafford. I remember speaking to David Meek (ex-Manchester Evening News and Manchester United Press Officer at the time)  on the day and he was almost speechless "I've never seen or heard as much support in Old Trafford for one side before" he advised. Everyone employed at the Theatre of Dreams was as spellbound as we all were. Quite rightly, despite being disgracefully robbed of a place in history, we went home so so proud. The whole world had taken Chesterfield to their hearts and the noise in pubs and homes when Jamie equalised must have been almost as monumental as the deafening cacophony created by those fantastic fans present at the ground.

Wonderful memories