Barry Fuller gets the celebrations under way by lifting the League 2 play-off Trophy Picture: Matthew Walker

by Matthew Panting

Barry Fuller admitted he was playing out a childhood dream after lifting the trophy at Wembley.

The Gillingham captain was proud to lead his team to victory and admitted his afternoon had been capped off after he made the long walk up the steps to receive the League 2 play-off trophy.

"It was an honour and a privilege," admitted Fuller, who was in the crowd when Gills won the Division 2 play-off final in 2000. "It’s every boy’s dream to play at Wembley, be on the winning side and be captain.

"I’m honoured that the manager gave me that opportunity when he gave me the armband.

"I didn’t really think about it until Thursday when we had a look around Wembley. I saw the steps and thought that could be me collecting the trophy.

"I thought I might struggle to get to sleep but I tried not to think about it too much and slept quite well the night before.

"It’s a young squad but none of the boys got nervous and that showed."

Fuller admitted it was the fear of losing and being unable to collect the trophy that was driving him on.

"I’m lucky enough that I haven’t come away as a loser," he said. "It hurts any footballer to lose but to lose a game like that at the national stadium will hurt.

"We always believed that goal was going to come. We always said that if we kept a clean sheet we’d win, we just had to keep going to that final whistle. We got the goal and we’re back where we belong.

"It’s brilliant here – if we could turn it into our home ground we’d be okay. You have to come here and do your best, and maybe we showed that we wanted it just that little bit more."

Don't miss the 16-page Wembley souvenir special supplement in Monday's Medway Messenger