Beers, tears and Tuk Tuk FM: A night in the big smoke with Sheffield Wednesday

You couldn’t blame them for thinking Sunday evening in central London was a promotion party - not the mere precursor to this afternoon’s League One play-off final at Wembley.

Arriving at Covent Garden and taking on the 193 steps up to air (the second-highest set of tube station steps on the Underground, we’re told - congratulations Hampstead), the noise got louder as the light got brighter.

A hum, then a din. Walking into the plush surroundings of designer shops and boutiques; a cloud of blue and white, a cacophony of noise. It was 4pm and the party had long since started.

Whatever happens on the pitch at Wembley, there’s a knowledge that Wednesday do weekends such as this right. There was a sense of humour to the occasion and through the eyes of this reporter at least in several hours bouncing between three scrums of thousands of supporters in Covent Garden and Leicester Square, no hint of trouble.

The irony of two young Arsenal fans walking through the tube station scrum to a chorus of “Top of the league and you..” was not lost. A local resident hanging out of the window watching down on the crowds as serenaded with “You’ve only come to see the Wednesday..”

Then there were the tuk-tuk drivers. With the streets clogged with Wednesday, some made panicked u-turns, others had clearly swallowed their tablespoon of ambition. The tuk-tuks with ghetto blasters were encouraged to scroll through their music collection to deliver Jeff Beck - and were handsomely compensated for their service.

There were flares - opinion spreads on those of course - but there were smiling faces. Conversations were had with Owls fans from Denmark, from New Zealand and from Canada. Folk shared stories of their journeys to London, elders told youngsters of 91, 93 and 16. Locals joined in chants they had never heard before.

They had to close the pubs and mini-markets of Covent Garden, such was the overswell of bodies in the roads. A Wednesdayite marathon runner did shuttles to the next borough to bring crates of beer back to the masses.

There’ll be a few sore heads down Wembley Way this morning.