It was 45 years ago that I first began watching Wycombe Wanderers and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would lead to an adventure like the one that begins at Adams Park tomorrow.

I was born and raised in Liverpool, the most football mad city in the country, and watched from the Kop as Bill Shankly’s mighty Reds swept all before them in that glorious era of the 1960’s.

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Back then, Liverpool was the only team for me and it would have been an act of treason to think of supporting anyone else. That all changed when, as a rookie reporter for the BBC, I was sent to a town and a football club I’d never heard of before.

It was January, 1975, and Wycombe Wanderers of the Isthmian League had been drawn at home to Middlesbrough, then members of what’s now the Premier League, in the third round of the FA Cup.

I was assigned to cover the tie for radio’s famous Sports Report programme and I had to check with colleagues to find out where the town of High Wycombe was on the map!

Venturing into Buckinghamshire for the first time, I followed the crowds from the railway station to Wycombe’s former home Loakes Park, little knowing that I was about to watch the team that would replace Liverpool in my football affections.

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Wycombe earned a well deserved draw that day (losing to a late goal in the replay) and I was immediately hooked on the team in the distinctive light and dark blue quarters. When I moved to the area a short time later, I became a regular at Loakes Park and eventually joined the club’s board of directors. The rollercoaster ride was under way and the rest is history, but you’ll have to wait for my autobiography to get the full story!

It has been an incredible journey. In those far off days, Wycombe’s fixture list included the likes of Tooting and Mitcham, Dulwich Hamlet and Bishop’s Stortford. Now, on the eve of the club’s debut in one of the biggest leagues in Europe, they’ll be playing former European champions Nottingham Forest, English title winners Blackburn, Derby, Preston, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield.

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No fewer than 20 of the 23 clubs Wycombe will face this season have played at the highest level of English football, almost half of them since the Premier League was formed.

It’s such an exciting prospect, especially when you remember that the club’s very existence hung in the balance only a few years ago.

The trapdoor to non-league and probable administration was creaking open before the miracle of Torquay.

Gareth Ainsworth, Richard Dobson and the players have rightly taken most of the credit for this amazing transformation, but the Supporters Trust deserves an enormous accolade for the way they kept the club afloat in the most difficult circumstances.

Without their hard work and dedication, this momentous season would not have been possible.

Now, there are new faces behind the scenes and Wanderers are incredibly fortunate that the Couhigs are the kind of owners most clubs dream of having.

They are honest, sensible and ambitious people who took an enormous financial gamble investing in the club.

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So, the most exciting chapter in Wycombe’s history kicks off at Adams Park tomorrow with their first ever game in the Championship, and this correspondent’s thoughts will go back five decades when the biggest ticket in town was a seat to watch the boys in blue take on Clapton.

Bring it on!