Over the past couple of months we have taken the opportunity to catch up with a number of the players involved in our Play-Off win, exactly five years ago today.
And we were delighted to be able to speak to Neil Kilkenny from his Perth home in Australia this week, to reflect on his own experiences of the Play-Off Final victory over Swindon Town.
The former Arsenal man and now Perth Glory midfielder says the group were confident going into the game against Mark Cooper’s Robins: “We had a strong defence, a goalkeeper who was very good and our midfield had goals and Welshy who could break up the play and the manager put me in to settle down the game when it could be passed and then we had people who could score goals.
“We had people on the bench who could make an impact and we were really confident going into it. We were an experienced squad and we were relaxed going into the game and really looking forward to it,” he told iFollow PNE.
The game itself went exactly to the script and ‘Killa’ admits he was able to take in the occasion during the second half and enjoy the occasion, a rarity for Play-Off Final experiences.
“We had nearly half an hour to soak in the atmosphere and enjoy the moment,” he continued. “It was a fantastic day, a great memory for myself, the team, Preston North End and the fans.
“I knew they had been in difficult places in the Play-Offs before in the past, so to do it this time and put that to bed was something we could take in.
“It was a dream come true. When I was young, I remember thinking ‘I would love to walk up the steps at Wembley’ and when I was living in Australia I remember coming back to visit and doing the tour at the old Wembley and what I can always say now is that I did that with a fantastic team and a fantastic club, because I really enjoyed my time there.”
The full, extended interview with the Australian international can be found by clicking on the video at the top of the page and don’t forget to check out our previous Vodcasts and interviews from the Play-Off Final success.