“Ambitious…but brilliant! I don’t believe it, I swear I do not believe it!”

There's little doubt what Alex Revell's defining moment for Rotherham United was.

His breathtaking second goal in the League One play-off final last May sent him into club folklore and helped the Millers win promotion from the depths of despair.

Here's the story of that goal, taken from Reliving The Dream, a book telling the story of the club's rise back to the second tier.

For a split second Wembley stood still in silence. He was miles out but it looked like it was going to be close from the moment it left his boot. 

The ball flew at a rate of knots, it had a chance. Jamie Jones, the Orient goalkeeper, was desperately back-pedalling. He was in trouble. It’s in, it’s in, it’s in. 

The ball dipped over the out-stretched hand of Jones and finally, after what seemed like a lifetime in the air, bounced into the net. 

And then the silence was broken, the hordes of red behind the goal erupted into ecstasy and Alex Revell’s life changed forever.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Revell has never scored a better goal than his 40-yard volley which drew Rotherham level in their biggest game in 10 years.

No matter what he goes on to achieve in the rest of his career, it’s unlikely he will score another one as good as that. 

It was a simply stunning strike and not one you would necessarily expect from the big man. 

It would have been worth cherishing whatever circumstances, but for Revell to deliver that at the moment he did and on the stage he did – wow!

The Millers had been in need of something special. The game looked dead and buried at half-time as Orient had taken an even first period by the scruff of the neck with two goals in five minutes. 

But after a Churchillian Steve Evans told his side to go out and ‘do it for their families', they took notice. 

Revell, fired up by his young son Charlie who he had seen crying at the interval, got his side back into it with a poacher’s finish 10 minutes after the restart, but he saved his best for the crucial leveller.

After Ben Pringle’s long ball was knocked down by Kieran Agard, the former Orient striker controlled on his thigh and then let fly from distance with a right-footed volley that ended up in the back of the net. 

All of Revell’s goals this season were celebrated as if they had been once-in-a-lifetime stunning efforts at Wembley to haul his side level in the play-off final so he’d had plenty of practice at what he was going to do when it actually happened. 

He sprinted off to the far corner in utter delirium, whacked the corner flag and was mobbed by his team-mates. 

With the Millers eventually going on to win promotion, Revell had written his name into club folklore and doing it on such a big stage with millions watching on TV, he had put himself firmly in the limelight.

“Revell. Ambitious…but brilliant! I don’t believe it. I swear I do not believe it,” was the soundbite from Sky TV commentator Daniel Mann and it’s a piece of iconic commentary that will be put alongside Brian Chapple’s famous description of Alan Lee’s promotion-winning goal in the vault. 

We know how you feel, Daniel, we couldn’t believe it either! 

It was not something that had been seen too often from the former Orient frontman, who had no qualms about breaking his old team-mates’ hearts. 

His 13 goals for the season was an impressive haul, but his role entailed so much more than that and he was pivotal to the way the Millers had set up to play during the season. 

He’d worked so hard, often on the end of physical batterings from ruffian centre-halves and was a real team player. Arguably no one deserved that moment more than him.

   

Mann and 20,000 Rotherham fans were not the only people who were in disbelief, though, as Revell himself thought he was dreaming. “I am still struggling to believe what happened,” he said in the immediate aftermath. 

“As a kid, you dream of playing at Wembley and having your family watching and it was an amazing day and what dreams are made of, and mine have come true. It still feels as if I can’t put into words the feeling.

“When it broke to me, it was just an instinctive thing. Maybe it was something I haven’t showed enough of since I have been here. 

"I know it sounds funny but it was probably the easiest goal I have ever scored because it was just there, it was instinctive. I don’t remember it, it was just a dream. 

"I didn’t even see it hit the net, I just saw the goalkeeper struggling. The crowd just went quiet for that split second and things like that you take in. I just remember running to the corner. It’s amazing.”

It was a moment that every Rotherham United fan will remember for the rest of their life. Lee’s strike against Brentford has been known for much of the last decade as ‘that’ goal, but Revell could be laying claim to the title for the next few years.

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Rotherham's 2001 promotion-winning team: Where are they now?

April 28 2001 goes down in history as one of the most famous days in the Rotherham's history.

Alan Lee wrote himself into club folklore as he scored a last-minute winner against Brentford to seal back-to-back promotions for Ronnie Moore's side against all the odds.

Here's what the 14 players who played that day are doing 15 years later.

Paul Pettinger

The goalkeeper was in and out of the side during the promotion campaign, but was in possession of the gloves for the Brentford clash and made a vital save off Lloyd Owusu. He was released at the end of the 2000-01 season and headed into non-league. He had his own building firm and now works in plant hire.

Marvin Bryan

Bryan was a versatile option for Rotherham and was deployed in the right wing-back role in this clash. He stuck around for the Millers' first two seasons in the second tier but left the game after his release in 2003. He worked as a driving instructor but recently worked in private security in the Middle East.

Rob Scott

The striker-turned-defender played a key role in the Millers' promotion and subsequent stay in Division One before leaving post-relegation in 2005. He went into management after retiring, forming a fruitful partnership with Paul Hurst. The two parted ways a couple of years ago and Scott, whose brother Andy managed the Millers, works as a radio summariser and also has business interests.

David Artell

Rotherham-born Artell was living the dream as a figurehead of his boyhood club's promotion season in his debut year. The central defender had a solid lower league career and amazingly is a current international following Gibraltar's emergence in the last 18 months. He works for Crewe's academy and also has studied for a degree.

Guy Branston

A bona fide cult hero, Branston is a key figure in the club's history owing to his antics over his five-year stay. He left the club in 2004 and enjoyed a journeyman status throughout the rest of his career. Now retired, the centre-half is Notts County's chief scout and also has two online businesses.

Paul Hurst

Hurst is Mr Rotherham United as no one has made more appearances in a red and white shirt than the left-back. He is currently the Grimsby manager, trying to win promotion to the Football League.

Kevin Watson

Watson has the honour of captaining a double-promotion-winning side and he was majestic throughout the campaign. But things turned sour for the midfielder, who was hounded out by boo boys the following season. Post-retirement he has worked as a pundit for Sky Sports and was recently sacked as Stevenage's assistant manager.

Paul Warne

The striker is a fans' favourite owing to his long service to the Millers. A key figure in both promotions, he stuck around in the second-tier days too before returning to see out his playing days at Don Valley. He is currently the fitness coach having worked under the last four management teams.

Stewart Talbot

The hard man of the Millers side, Talbot scored the equalising goal against the Bees before going off injured at half-time. A mainstay of the side following promotion, Talbot worked in childcare after hanging up his boots, but is now employed as a railway engineer.

Alan Lee

Lee's ecstasy-inducing goal which secured the rise won him a place in the hearts of all Rotherham fans and he was the star asset in the next two seasons, eventually being sold for close to £1million. A strong career followed before a knee injury forced retirement. He currently works for Ipswich's academy.

Mark Robins

It was Robins' goals that put Rotherham in with a chance of promotion after a fine campaign. He followed that up in Division One and stayed at the club, eventually going on to manage them. Success looked on the horizon until Barnsley turned his head in 2010. He recently left Scunthorpe.

Jeff Minton

Minton was a late-season arrival on loan following injury and suspensions and he came on for Talbot at the break. He headed into non-league not long after his Millers exit and played as recently as 2012.

Chris Sedgwick

Coming through the ranks at Millmoor, Sedgwick was a firm favourite with the crowd. Like Lee, he impressed in the second tier and was sold to Preston in 2004. The right winger is currently on the coaching staff at Bury.

Richie Barker

Barker largely provided back-up for Lee during his first spell at Millmoor but made his own entry into the history books at Hillsborough the following season. He returned for a second spell late in his career. Barker has had several jobs as a manager but currently is the MK Dons' assistant manager.

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1996 Auto Windscreens Shield final: How the Rotherham players rated

Rotherham are 1995-96 Auto Windscreens Shield champions after a 2-1 success on the club's first ever visit to Wembley.

A brace from Nigel Jemson led the Millers to glory, but it was a team effort that got the men in red and white over the line.

Here is how the players rated on a glorious day at the national stadium.

Matt Clarke 7 - Clarke will go down in history as the man who lifted the trophy for the Millers and in truth, that's the most work he had to do. Was barely tested by the Shrews but stood up well when balls were being thrown into the box.

Paul Blades 6 - The right-back tried to join in attack, but his biggest involvement was a crucial interception in the frantic final 10 minutes.

Neil Richardson 7 - Richardson was solid throughout and stood up to the challenge of Shrewsbury's late onslaught as they looked for a way back into the game.

Ian Breckin 8 - Continued to enhance his growing reputation with an imposing display. Coped especially well with the introduction of Steve Anthrobus at half-time.

Paul Hurst 7 - Was a solid presence on the left and was energetic in getting up and down to join in attack.

Trevor Berry 7 - A constant threat with his pace and trickery on the right, but his final ball often let him down.

Shaun Goodwin 7 - Looked classy on the big stage and his bombing forward runs from midfield made him dangerous.

Darren Garner 7 - The midfielder provided vital protection for the back four and controlled the middle of the park.

Andy Roscoe 7 - Let no one down, but similarly to Berry, Roscoe found himself in some good positions on the left only to waste his delivery.

Nigel Jemson 10 - The star of the show, Jemson played himself into Millers folklore with his two goals that earned glory and he was inches away from a Wembley hat-trick.

Shaun Goater 9 - Another impressive performance from the Bermudan who is forging a fine partnership with Jemson. Close to scoring in the first half, it was his fine play that set up the opener.

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Bittersweet Wembley memories for Gary Bowyer

For every Nigel Jemson and Alex Revell, there is a Gary Bowyer.

Wembley only tends to remember winners and that’s why Jemson, with his brace in the 1996 Auto Windscreens Shield win and Revell, with his ambition and brilliance in 2014 etched their name into Rotherham United folklore following their heroics at the national stadium.

It rarely remembers losers, indeed, even Ryan Taylor’s two-goal salvo in the 2009-10 League Two play-off final cannot sustain itself in the memory alongside the truly great moments in the club’s history.

But what about players like former Millers full-back Bowyer?

Look up the word bittersweet in the dictionary and there is likely to be a picture of the Scot next to its definition.

Bowyer was part of that 1996 squad that created history by becoming the first Millers squad to play – and win – at Wembley.

The victory over Shrewsbury Town was the culmination of a superb run in the competition, in which Bowyer more than played his part, with the Area Final second-leg win over Carlisle United often spoke about as one of the great away days in the club's history.

The glory at Wembley, in front of almost 25,000 fans from Rotherham, was sealed by Jemson’s two goals and led to scenes that go down in history.

That was the sweet part for Bowyer.

The bitter part – he was left out of the side by joint-managers Archie Gemmill and John McGovern and was an unused substitute, something that no matter what brave face is put on it, must overshadow the day slightly.

But to his credit, there was no sulking from the former full-back and he put his obvious disappointment to one side.

“Unfortunately for myself I got left out on the day which wasn't very good from a personal point of view," he said.

“Everybody wants to play but the managers at the time made the decision that I didn't play so that was that.

“You just have to quickly accept it and get around the ones that were playing.

"I remember going straight up to Paul Hurst, who had taken my place, and wished him all the best and then at the end of the game I congratulated him because it was a team effort.

“I had played my part in getting us there and I was really delighted to go as winners.

“It was great to go there and be a winner at Wembley. It's a special place - and to go and win is a fantastic achievement.

“I can remember the Rotherham fans came out in their thousands, it was brilliant to see in terms of the level of their support. It was a great day out for them and fortunately we helped that.”

Unfortunately, things did not get much better for Bowyer, or the club, after the Wembley win and both endured horror seasons in 1996/97.

Bowyer suffered a career-ending back injury while the Millers went through arguably their worst-ever campaign which resulted in relegation to the fourth tier following the appointment of the eccentric manager Danny Bergara – who later claimed to be the trailblazer in allowing English clubs to appoint foreign managers.

Bergara resided over some of the darkest times at Millmoor, but Bowyer insists the Uruguayan, who passed away in 2007 aged 65, wasn’t all bad.

“I can remember the first day he (Bergara) came in and he got introduced as the new manager and he started speaking in Spanish,” he added.

“He addressed us in Spanish for a couple of minutes and we all kind of thought, 'Oh my god - we might have a problem here!'

"But he was a good bloke; he was very, very passionate about football and would talk football all day long. I loved listening to him.”

When Bowyer exited Millmoor in 1997, just prior to Ronnie Moore’s arrival, it would have been unthinkable for the club to be where it is now, playing in the second tier in a fantastic new stadium.

Steve Evans led this particular rise, following in the footsteps of Moore, and Bowyer has watched on from a distance with admiration.

"When I left, the club had just got relegated and attendances had dropped," he added.

"But you always knew that there was support there for the club, as was proved when we went to Wembley.

"But the turnaround of the club over the last couple of years has been nothing short of magnificent.

"The stadium is an unbelievable stadium.

“There's no slope on the pitch like there was at Millmoor like when we used to play. That makes it easier for the players because they don't have to run uphill!”

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Rotherham's managers of the month since 2000

Neil Warnock has been rewarded for leading Rotherham away from the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone with the March manager of the month award.

It's the seventh time he has won it in the last 10 seasons, but becomes the first Millers man to win a monthly gong since Andy Scott in August 2011.

Here's a look at other Millers winners over the last 16 years.

Ronnie Moore - Division One October 2000

The foundations of an unlikely promotion were being laid in the autumn of the 2000-01 season when Moore's men hit their straps, winning five and drawing one of their six games. They beat Oldham, Bournemouth, Oxford, Swansea and Northampton - famously with 10 men - and drew at Bristol Rovers.

Alan Knill - League One October 2006

The Millers had to wait six long years before being recognised again and Knill's award was thoroughly deserved. Starting the season on -10 points, October saw them pull away from the bottom of League One with four wins from four games. There were 3-1 away victories at Port Vale and Bournemouth, a home success over Brentford and then also a 5-1 spanking of Crewe at Millmoor.

Mark Robins - League Two November 2007

In their final season at Millmoor, Robins' side were looking to win promotion and they did themselves no harm with a scorching November, which saw them win four out of four. The month started with back-to-back home wins over Grimsby and Bury and after an interlude for the FA Cup they won at Accrington. A home success over Shrewsbury completed a 100 per cent month.

Mark Robins - League Two August 2008

Making a mockery of a 17-point deduction and starting life at their new Don Valley Stadium, the Millers again under Robins hit the ground running in 2008-09. They won their first three games against Lincoln, Morecambe and Chester while also drawing at eventual champions Brentford. Aside to that, they also dumped Championship Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves out of the League Cup.


Ronnie Moore - League Two November 2009

Nine years after his first gong, Moore won a second for delivering a 100 per cent month. Owing to the FA Cup, though, the Millers only played three games, but had enough to earn away wins at Port Vale and Torquay and then a win at Don Valley against Lincoln.

Andy Scott - League Two August 2011

For a short period of time things were going well under Andy Scott and there was hope he could be the man to lead the Millers out of League Two after an electric start to 2011-12. They won four of their first five games, drawing the other as they were the front runners. The season started with a win over Oxford before commanding away wins at Plymouth and Crewe. They then drew against Barnet before walloping Gillingham 3-0.

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Rotherham 1 Leeds 0: The great Millmoor robbery

There are some games that teams just seem destined to win.

No matter what the form book says or how the match pans out, if it’s written in the stars then there’s no changing it.

And, luckily for Rotherham, fate determined that they would beat the mighty Leeds United in their first league meeting in over 20 years when they visited Millmoor in 2004/05, though how they did remains something of a mystery.

After all the Millers had no right to be beating their illustrious rivals.

Although in the same league, Ronnie Moore’s men were in dire straits having endured a shocking start to the campaign and the end of an epic journey for the club was nigh.

Moore had masterminded a miraculous rise at Millmoor, lifting the club from the depths of the bottom tier to within a few wins short of the Championship play-offs – all on a shoestring budget and against the odds.

But the club was on their way back down from their 2002/03 peak and everyone could see what was on the horizon.

The side that had performed so admirably for three years in the second tier had been broken up, along with the fabled team spirit which went with it, and it showed in the results on the pitch as 20 games into the season Moore’s men were still waiting for their first win.

But the footballing gods are always keen on a Roy of the Rovers type story and a former Champions League semi-finalist coming to a club who had yet to win for a televised game was just too good to turn down.

Admittedly Leeds, who played in the last four of the European Cup only three years previously, were fresh from relegation from the Premier League and a far cry from the side that had gone on that adventure.

Boss Kevin Blackwell had a rebuilding job on his hands, but his team still arrived at Millmoor as huge favourites.

And the odds on Moore’s men breaking their duck would have drifted out even further after the lightning fast start made by Leeds as they hit the woodwork four times inside the opening 20 minutes, with Clarke Carlisle denied on three of those occasions.

Mike Pollitt was also called upon to make several fine saves as the Millers miraculously got to half-time on level terms.

   

The opening exchanges of the second period did not offer much respite for the hosts, but when former England striker Michael Ricketts kicked the air with the goal gaping, maybe, just maybe, it was going to be Rotherham’s night.

With time ticking away it looked as if they could sneak a point from a goalless draw until they earned a free-kick on the right in the 77^th minute.

Paul McLaren whipped it in to the far post and when Leeds failed to clear Shaun Barker back-heeled the ball into the six-yard box where Martin McIntosh was perfectly placed to ram it home.

The size of the potential heist was not lost on the Millers players.

“We seemed to have all the luck we had been missing in one night,” defender Robbie Stockdale said in best-selling 2013 book Impossible Dream: The Ronnie Moore Years.

“When Martin McIntosh scored I turned round to Chris Swailes, who I got on really well with, and he just said, ‘How the f**k are we winning this?’.

“It was just unbelievable and we started laughing. There was a massive weight off our shoulders and even though there was 10 minutes to go or something we just knew that we were going to win.

“Even the Leeds boys saw us laughing and sort of said, ‘Yeah, we know what you’re on about’. It was a strange old game.”

   

Leeds were unable to reproduce their creativity in the final 15 minutes and the Millers hung on to cap what was another great night at Millmoor.

The season had been so grim up until that point, but this was a fleeting throwback to what they achieved on a fairly regular basis just a few years previously, adding another big club to the list of handsome scalps.

Having gone 20 games without a league win it was perhaps no surprise that when their first one did come it was in a match where they were thoroughly outplayed and called in a large amount of luck to achieve.

“It was one of my easier ones but I enjoyed it a lot,” McIntosh said of goal. “As long as it is 0-0 you are always going to have a chance.

“Maybe when they hit the bar so many times and didn’t score we started to think it was going to be our night and that proved to be the case, but it was a freak game and one that everyone would say we never deserved to win.

“I have never played in a game so one-sided, it was incredible, we were really up against it.

“It seemed like we only had one or two chances and I remember Kevin Blackwell being absolutely shell-shocked after the game and quite rightly.

“Results like that shouldn’t have been happening, but we’d often beaten big clubs.

“I don’t think any team relished coming to us at all, even that season. It was a huge game for everyone, we hadn’t won in so long and we hoped that would kick-start things but it didn’t really get it going unfortunately.”

As Leeds fans will probably testify, Blackwell is perhaps not the easiest manager in the game to feel sympathy for, but even the most cold-hearted person will have been able to identify with his plight after this match.

His side dominated for 80 minutes, hit the woodwork four times and missed a host of other chances.

Then the bottom-of-the-league side, without a win all season, go up the other end and score a scruffy winner from a set-play.

Understandably the Leeds boss said it how he saw it after the game.

“Can you believe it? We should have had it done and dusted inside the first 10 minutes,” he claimed in his post-match press conference.

“We dominated from start to finish and if that had been in the real world then Rotherham would have been reported for mugging.

“But fair play to Rotherham. They came at us in the second half, and we created our own problems.

“How frustrating is it to be a manager? This is a big blow on the chin for me, but I've got to take it.”

   

Blackwell also had some words for Moore after the game after taking exception to the Millers manager’s continual pre-match comparison of the two clubs’ budgets.

“That was funny,” Moore said. “Blackwell came in afterwards and said, ‘I wish you’d stop f**king telling everyone how much money I am spending!’.

“He threw a right paddy, I just said to him, ‘What do you want me to say?’. But that’s what we were always up against, so although we weren’t having the best time of it, to beat Leeds was fantastic and another great night for us.”

   

Ultimately that win proved a flash in the pan as the Millers sunk without trace and Moore left the club just eight weeks later, with relegation back to League One being confirmed in April of that season.

But it was fitting that their one moment in the sun came against a side with such an illustrious history and standing and most people would not have begrudged them one last hurrah.

Well, apart from a few thousand Leeds fans in the Railway End who saw their side hit the woodwork four times.

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