'That atmosphere will always stay with me': Ian Hamilton tells West Brom to evoke spirit of '93

Supporters who were at the second leg still reminisce about the electric atmosphere at The Hawthorns that inspired the Baggies to a 2-0 win that sent them to Wembley and, ultimately, promotion.

Ian Hamilton scored the second and deciding goal that night, and he’s urged the Baggies fans to replicate that wall of noise tonight.

“That atmosphere will always stay with me,” Hamilton told the Express & Star. “It gives me tingles down my spine whenever I speak to anybody about it.

“The crowd was unbelievable that night. We had lads who you’d say were strong characters that were sick before the game, but when you’ve got that behind you, you think it can’t go wrong.

“We need the Albion fans to get behind the team like that again. It’s an old cliché, but they are the 12th man, and it helps any club in the world if the fans are behind you.”

Albion had played poorly in Swansea, but they got an early goal at The Hawthorns when Bob Taylor squared the ball for Andy Hunt to draw them level.

Then came Hamilton’s moment. The midfielder scored 28 goals in 266 appearances for the Baggies, but this is the one he is most fondly remembered for.

“It was a short corner, I dummied inside and I’m on the byline, and all I thought was, ‘what do I do?’

“I normally got a nosebleed near the goal. So I just smashed it and obviously it went in. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me on a football pitch.

“To score a goal at any level is great, but that was a special moment because it took us to Wembley. I didn’t have a great game at Wembley, but to get us there was special.”

Hamilton was also involved in another big moment in the second leg against Swansea, and he revealed it ended up costing him a house to live in.

Albion midfielder Micky Mellon had already been sent off for two yellow cards when Swansea’s Colin West, a former Baggie, was also given his marching orders for stamping on Hamilton.

“I was about to rent a house off him in Shenstone near Lichfield!” revealed Hamilton. “He knew Gary Strodder quite well.

“I had signed a new Albion contract and wanted a bigger place, and Westy was trying to rent his house out. I has started chatting to him (before the game), and then the stamp happened.

“I did nothing wrong, it didn’t really hurt me, but the intent was there. I never heard from him again and moved to Sutton Coldfield instead!”

After turning Swansea over, Albion beat Port Vale 3-0 in the final to win promotion under Ossie Ardiles. but the Argentinian left for Tottenham that summer.

“That season was brilliant,” said Hamilton. “Ossie was top drawer, even he said he left too early because Spurs came knocking on the door.”

Hamilton now lives in Wombourne, but he watched this year’s first leg against Villa in the pub surrounded by Albion fans.

“I hardly saw the game we were chatting so much!” he said. “I’m an Arsenal fan but I’m Albion through and through.

“Whatever happens, one of the Midlands team will go to the final. Hopefully it’s Albion.

“After what went on in 1993, I’m going to have a bet on Matty Phillips to score the winner in a 2-0 win.”