So in the end the only tears being shed were tears of delight – well perhaps not all but 90 per cent of them.

We’re football people you see and at some stage the game takes over. It did last night and as we staged the comebacks of comebacks – and there have been a few this season – Upton Park went into near meltdown.

This was as extraordinary as the game ever gets and that it was Manchester United on the receiving end only made it all the sweeter.

In the context of life experiences last night was just about as superb as it gets because we all saw everything we could have ever wanted from a West Ham team – an unforgettable move for the first goal, passing and movement of the highest quality and then the amazing determination and resilience of our team.

Too often we have let ourselves down…too often we have promised much and then gone missing but last night was different and I felt that it marked the start of a new West Ham era. This squad is of different stuff to what we’ve seen before.

And for the Boleyn to be the hostess to the most sumptuous display of West Ham Way football before she disappears forever was ideal – just perfect.

So thank God the tears were tears of delight not sorrow and sadness – defeat on such a night was unthinkable and I’m so thrilled that the football took over and was responsible.

We move on with the perfect closure to a wonderful heritage behind us and thank God it will be years before the word “emotional” is heard so frequently again!

COYI