May 9: Destiny was all in a text

Yes it was nervous, yes it was tense, yes the second half seemed to go on for an eternity.

And yes, we wondered where those four minutes of added time had come from.

There were smiles at the end, as there was no doubt elation at Crewe and despair for Gillingham.

All part of the final day of the league campaign. Always has been.

But, as they re-gather their shredded nerves and plan for more torture next season, at least fans can console themselves that they knew what was going on.

The other tradition of such last-day drama used to be false rumours spreading like wildfire around the terraces, leading to unjustified celebration.

Texts, calls to mobile phones from mates watching on Sky and even laptops among the press fraternity, as well as radios, meant we all knew what was happening elsewhere yesterday.

Things have progressed in that respect, thank goodness.

A few years ago I was on a packed terrace willing West Ham to concede a goal in a game 70 miles away.

Our only source of news was a friend who worked at an electrical shop and had brought with him the latest big thing: a credit card-sized radio.

When rumour spread about West Ham' demise, the pocked-sized device proved totally useless and fully five minutes of celebration had just about fizzled out by the time he was able to murmur: "Actually, West Ham are still winning."

No such fears yesterday. When the info-age South Stand burst into song, you knew they had their facts right.

"You're not going up," to Ipswich fans as Wigan quickly led 2-0.

"There's only one Micky Adams," when his Coventry side went 1-0 up at Crewe.

Forest's goal at Gillingham coincided with Guy Butters' fantastic block of a Shefki Kuqi shot as Ipswich refused to give up on their dream.

Yet those simultaneous happenings at different grounds underlined how tenuous Albion's position still was.

At half-time they needed four goals to go against them to send them down. Two for Crewe, one for Gillingham, one for Ipswich.

But four goals in three lots of 45 minutes is not asking all that much.

It took less than 20 minutes for Crewe and Gillingham to both equalise.

Even as Darren Bent was heading just wide for Ipswich, Crewe were going in front.

A tennis ball was being removed from the pitch (it could only happen at Withdean) as Gillingham went ahead.

Forest's subsequent equaliser meant nothing. Unless you were Gillingham or Crewe, in which case it meant everything.

First-half injuries at Withdean meant we knew the final scores from elsewhere even before stoppage time had started. That, and the moments before, were when Albion's fans scored really highly.

The hardest time to sing is when your mouth is dry and your hands are shaking but the fans roared their team home.

So how much did the players know about other results?

They might hear some of the cheers but can they detect a second or two of worried silence?

Dan Harding said: "None of the players knew Gillingham were drawing and Crewe actually won.

"If Ipswich had sneaked one at the end we would have been down but we didn't know that at the time.

"I think we've come under more pressure from other teams this season, though."

Gary Hart, substituted late on, said: "When I came off with ten minutes to go it was a shock to know Crewe were winning and Gillingham were doing well.

"We knew in the first half who had scored because of the cheering and we got the scores at half-time.

"It was very tense but I think we deserved to stay up."

Massive credit goes to Ipswich, who chased the game like their season hung on it even when they knew Wigan were going to beat them to promotion.

But Harding was right. Other than a comfortable save by Alan Blayney from Bent, when were Albion really troubled in the second half?

Hart was spot on too. The feeling at the end was relief rather than the celebration of Cardiff last year.

Relief is what was written on the face of Mark McGhee when he applauded the fans after the game.

In his programme notes for Saturday's title celebration at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho wrote "These are my champions" and thanked every employee of the club.

Albion could do something similar. Just list every point-winning save or tackle, every equaliser, every moment which contributed to their 13 wins (all by single-goal margins, remember).

Those were the moments that kept them up. It really was that close. Every point counted. Albion fans should give thanks for all 51 of them.

Minutes that mattered
4 mins: Shefki Kuqi puts Ipswich but Crewe are still going down.

10 mins: It looks better for Albion as Adam Virgo makes it 1-1.

23 mins: Coventry go ahead through Dele Adebola at Crewe to leave Dario Gradi's men heading out of the division.

29 mins: It gets even better for Albion as Gillingham fall behind to a Wes Morgan goal at Forest.

54 mins: Substitute Michael Higden puts Crewe level but they are still going down.

61 mins: An own goal from the experienced Andy Melville puts Gillingham level at Forest. It is still looking grim for Crewe.

72 mins: Steve Jones fires Crewe ahead and now Gillingham are going down.

77 mins: Gillingham go ahead through Mamady Sibide and it is Crewe back in the bottom three.

82 mins: Substitute Eugene Bopp equalises for Forest and now Crewe are safe.

90 mins: Gillingham and Crewe are finished but Albion have four minutes' stoppage time to play. An Ipswich goal now would send the Seagulls down but they hold on at Gillingham'expense.