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From Inverness to Wembley - twice

Paul Adlinton will make two long trips to see Solihull Moors at WembleyImage source, 大象传媒 WM
Image caption,

Paul Adlinton will make two long trips to see Solihull Moors at Wembley

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Solihull Moors have come a long way since being formed in 2007.

And supporter Paul Adlinton will travel a long way to see them in two Wembley finals in the space of six days.

Already through to an FA Trophy final against Gateshead on 11 May, the club secured a place in the National League promotion final by thrashing Barnet 4-0 on Saturday in a one-sided play-off semi-final.

It means they will face Bromley on Sunday for a place in the English Football League in the West Midlands side's first-ever trip to Wembley, before returning to the national stadium the following weekend.

Paul, who lives in Inverness, will therefore make the 1,100-mile round trip twice to support his team.

He is no 鈥榞lory hunter鈥, though. Paul, originally from Marston Green, has made frequent journeys to matches since moving to Scotland.

鈥淚 try to get down to about seven or eight games a year, some home and some away,鈥 he told 大象传媒 WM.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to come down for games and see some of the regular faces. It鈥檚 just like catching up with old friends.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Joe Sbarra scored the fourth goal in the thrashing of Barnet

鈥淚t takes a lot of planning. There used to be a flight that went directly from Inverness to Birmingham but they鈥檝e stopped that.

鈥淭his year for games I鈥檝e had to travel to Manchester, Luton, Gatwick and Bristol airports and then travel north or further south, depending on who we鈥檙e playing.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be resourceful. If there鈥檚 another reason I鈥檝e got to come down then I鈥檒l try to plan a game around that.

鈥淚鈥檝e also got a very good wife and family that put up with my passion. I鈥檓 kind of fortunate that the job I do has flexible hours.鈥

'Embrace and enjoy it'

What makes Paul鈥檚 support of the Moors somewhat surprising is that he moved to Inverness the year after the club was formed when Moor Green merged with Solihull Borough in July 2007.

He nevertheless had no doubt that it was the right club for him.

He explained: 鈥淚 was quite disillusioned with the Premier League and things like that because, for me, it鈥檚 all about the money.

鈥淚 wanted to follow a club that was more community-based for the fans. So I decided 鈥業鈥檓 going to go and watch them鈥.鈥

That support might be about to be spectacularly rewarded, with silverware or promotion - or both.

The victory at Barnet was the Moors鈥 sixth win in their past seven matches - a run which has included four clean sheets - so they will head to Wembley in excellent form.

Paul said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic for the fan base and I know we鈥檙e going to turn out in decent numbers on Sunday and for the Trophy final the following Saturday.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know if or when this will happen again, so we鈥檒l embrace and enjoy it.鈥