Comment: Why the Championship play-off final might be Aston Villa's biggest game since 1982 European Cup win

May 26. The date when, 36 years ago, Morley, Shaw, Withe, Spink and other heroes took the club to the summit of the European game.

Saturday’s Championship play-off final has none of the same prestige.

Yet the financial rewards on offer, of the like simply unimaginable in 1982, mean it may well be the most important game for Villa since that famous night in Rotterdam.

Of course, there has been no shortage of drama in the intervening years: A nail-biting final day promotion under Graham Taylor in 1988, two Wembley triumphs in the League Cup, two disappointments in the FA Cup, to name but a few.

Yet rarely has so much rested on a single game. Never have the potential consequences of a single result been so sharply contrasting, or had the potential to shape so many futures.

There is of course no guarantee victory – and a return to the Premier League – would eventually lead to owner Tony Xia realising his lofty ambition of once more making Villa a force in Europe.

It would, however, allow the club to continue building on the groundwork laid by Steve Bruce in recent months, strengthening foundations which, due to current financial reality, remain fragile.

And it is certainly preferable to the alternative. Quite what defeat would mean for Villa is hard to precisely quantify, chiefly because the club’s current financial health is known only to those responsible for looking after the bottom line.

But the board – and Bruce – have hinted enough on the difficulties a third season in the Championship would deliver.

At the very least, it would see the breaking up of a team which, over the course of the season, won back the trust of a fanbase which had been missing for at least five years and possibly longer. Tomorrow’s result won’t change the fact this has been the most enjoyable Villa campaign for more than a decade. Yet it will, ultimately, have all been for nothing if Bruce’s men do not now complete the job and clinch promotion. That is what this season has always been about and everyone connected with the club has known it, whether they be player, manager, supporter or journalist.

“This is the season on which we will all be judged,” declared Conor Hourihane, at Villa’s pre-season training camp last July. Nearly 11 months on, we are still awaiting the verdict.

Many of the seeds for this potentially decade-defining match were sown during the decline, which led to the club exiting the Premier League in such an horrendous state two years ago.

A failure to then secure an instant return only further raised the stakes.

The club’s most recent set of accounts, made public in February, revealed the serious dart Villa had at getting back at the first time of asking.

Nearly £90million was spent on player signings in the first two transfer windows following Xia’s £72million takeover in June 2016.

Villa finished last season 13th, with the implications of falling short quickly seen in the drastically-reduced sums available to Bruce in the most recent two windows.

The accounts gave an indication of the challenges Villa would face if they remain in the Championship, with revenues already down by more than a third after just one year out of the top flight.

Reduced parachute payments mean those figures only fall further the longer they stay away.

Miss out at Wembley and Xia would be forced to pull the purse strings even tighter still. In addition to the nearly inevitable exits of key players like Sam Johnstone, Robert Snodgrass and John Terry, Villa would likely be faced with some tough decisions over several others. In such a climate, not even Bruce’s future can be completely guaranteed. It could be some time before Villa are so strongly equipped to challenge again.

Win, however, and the outlook is completely different.

Promotion is worth an estimated £132million to Villa, meaning there would a good chance of keeping the current group largely intact and building on the feel-good factor developed in recent months.

Further significant investment would undoubtedly be required for Villa to survive in the top flight. No-one is questioning that.

Yet they would at least be relieved from the immediate financial pinch and in a position to grow.

If supporters are looking for encouragement, they should find it in the fact this is a match players are approaching with their eyes wide open, well aware of all potential scenarios.

They are also a team which has become accustomed to playing under pressure. It has been with them throughout the campaign and was at its greatest during the two-legged semi-final against Middlesbrough, when they did not blink once over the course of 180 minutes.

Tomorrow is the ultimate challenge and Villa will have to produce their best to stand any chance against a young and hungry Fulham.

But based on the evidence of the campaign to date, it is also a setting in which you would expect them to thrive. They certainly boast an advantage in terms of experience and it is this know-how Bruce has banked on time and time again.

This has not been a season without its disappointments. At one stage, Villa were serious contenders for automatic promotion.

Yet whatever their route, they stand now with, as Bruce would say, a wonderful opportunity to reach their goal.

Now’s the time to grasp it.