LANCASHIRE Evening Telegraph reporter Ian Singleton has been a Blackburn Rovers fan since he was four.

Here he explains what it was like for a life-long fan to see the team lift the cup...

IT'S 74 years since Rovers won a major cup, so this is an unknown feeling for me.

I am hoarse and drained because I ran every yard with them and because I have been through 90 minutes of adrenaline, joy and jubilant excitement.

Now I have got cup final memories - and I tried to savour every memorable image of the journey to the Millennium Stadium and the match itself.

Like the motorway service stations miles from home filled with blue and white. Like the people merry with a beer in their hand at 8am. I bet they feel rough now! Like walking through Cardiff - usually a bustling city - and finding it shut to everyone but football fans who filled the streets singing.

The stadium was awe-inspiring. The roof was closed, which made it seem like the game was taking place in its own world. The match flew by as the fans went through fits of shouting, singing, tension and passion. Spurs are a good team so we could never relax.

But it was magic at the end, especially after enduring the nail-biting finale.

After 74 years it seems bizarre seeing a Rovers player lift the cup and after experiencing this day I don't really care if another doesn't come again in my lifetime.

I am just praying Rovers stay up now.