SUTTON UNITED chairman Bruce Elliott has praised the progress of the club over the last couple of years ahead of a trip to Wembley.
In the club's first-ever campaign in the football league, The Us have stunned many with their form in their debut campaign in the EFL League Two.
So far in the league, Sutton have been challenging for a spot in the play-offs and still have a chance of promotion to League One. Their victory on Tuesday night against Oldham Athletic saw the club climb to 8th in the league, an astonishing achievement for their first-ever time in the division in their 124-year history.
Despite the amazing season in the league, the highlight of the campaign is the qualification to the final of the Papa John's Trophy, which will be played at England's iconic Wembley Stadium.
Sutton have beaten former Premier League and FA Cup winning sides, Wigan Atheltic and Portsmouth on the club's route to the final against Rotherham.
Bruce Elliott has been chairman of the club for the past 26 years and has admitted that the journey to Wembley started when the club was promoted to the National League for the 2016–17 season.
Fans of other clubs will remember Sutton's historic FA Cup run in 2017, when they were the 8th non-League side to reach the 5th round since 1945. The Us were eventually knocked out by Arsenal.
Speaking to The Sutton Guardian, Elliott said: "Well, we found that when we were promoted to the National League and playing against sides like Tranmere Rovers and Wrexham, you know proper football clubs that are capable of getting big crowds.
"Then we found ourselves, maybe unexpectedly last year, winning the National League and finding ourselves for the first time in 123 years of history in the football league, which took it up a level.
"A penalty shootout at Wigan on a Tuesday evening with Wembley as the prize is not for the fainthearted.
"It is hard to narrow down when the real starting point was, probably with Paul Doswell when he came to us as manager and he was responsible for that marvellous cup run that put us on the map, when the whole world watched us take on Arsenal."
The chairman has admitted he is "proud" of the achievements of the team and glad that the people who work for the club will be able to reap the rewards of the success.
He said: "We are very proud, I have been involved in the club since I was a teenager and coming to the club with my father.
"It is going to be a special day for everyone involved in the club and a special day for me being at the club.
"It will be a huge thank you for all the volunteers and lovely people who have been at the club for years by giving them the opportunity to see their club at Wembley."
Sutton's home ground, VBS Community Stadium, holds a capacity of 5,032, 765 seated of which are seated. Elliott, however, is determined to take as many fans with the team to the final as possible to the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium.
He said: "We are all pinching ourselves if the truth been known. We want to make a really special day of it for everyone.
"We want to give the town a day to remember at Wembley, and we have sold over 11,000 tickets already, but we are hoping to take a good percentage of the London borough of Sutton with us and see how we get on.
"Some fans will never get this opportunity, so we understand how lucky we are.
"It is such a special venue, and there will be plenty of interest in it."
The match against League One's Rotherham will be on April 3 and will kick off at 3pm. The match will be televised on the Sky Sports Football channel.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here