ALMOST every football fan’s dream is to see the team they support win a trophy at Wembley.

Some are lucky enough to be there in attendance when it happens and the decisive goal is scored.

But certainly not many people see the winning goalscorer go on to become their boss - having made their own pathway in the professional game.

On February 24, 2008, at the home of English football, Jonathan Woodgate headed in the decisive blow to win the 2008 League Cup for Tottenham.

He latched on Jermaine Jenas’s free-kick to seal a 2-1 extra-time victory over Chelsea, in front of a packed crowd of 87,660.

In attendance that day in the capital was an 11-year-old Jack Stacey, supporting Spurs alongside his dad.

More than 13 years on, the Cherries full-back has not yet told his new head coach he was there that day.

But Stacey holds a big respect for what Woodgate has done in the game – and believes it is benefitting the Dorset club at present.

“I was actually at that game with my dad,” he told the Daily Echo, when asked if he recalled Woodgate’s cup final heroics.

“I haven’t mentioned it to Woody yet but me and my dad were in the stands at Wembley for that one, that was a nice moment.

“As a Tottenham fan, it wasn’t something I was used to in winning trophies! It was a great day.

“Like I said, I haven’t mentioned it to the manager, but he made our day that day.

“He had a great career and that’s something we (at Cherries) are all benefitting from now. Being able to learn from the experience he had has a player.

“He has taken quite a lot of back four stuff and helped on the defensive side of things. Obviously, there’s a lot for me to learn and, as a group, for us to learn from him.

“It’s something we can tap into as a group to help us going forward.”

He added: “We’ve had so many games, we’ve not actually had a lot of time going onto the training pitch.

“This week is the first real chance we’ve had to get onto the pitch and fully integrate his ideas into the way we play.

“I think we can see with some of the performances recently that we are a team on the up and that’s something I definitely want to be involved with going forward.”

Stacey is now back in training with Woodgate, getting to know the ideas of the new boss.

He had picked up a thigh problem in the FA Cup at Burnley last month, before making his return to action with a brief cameo off the bench against Bristol City last week.

“It was really frustrating,” said the former Reading youngster.

“We had a really good start to that game (at Burnley), a good first half and it was something where I didn’t want to come off and not do my bit for the team on the day.

“It was recommended by the physios. I didn’t really think it was anything serious but I had a scan and ended up being out for three weeks.

“I had a full week’s training last week and got back onto the pitch. Now again we have another week, so I feel 100 per cent ready to go and 100 per cent match fit.”

There is no bigger game for Cherries to prepare for than Saturday’s clash with play-off rivals Barnsley at Vitality Stadium.

The Tykes are currently the side occupying sixth spot, the sought-after final play-off place Woodgate’s men are craving.

When the sides met back at Oakwell in December, Cherries sealed a 4-0 victory to go back to the top of the Championship table – Barnsley were in 15th.

But a seven-game winning run from Valerien Ismael’s side has seen them launch themselves above Cherries in the promotion race.

That sequence only came to an end during Wednesday’s goalless draw for the Tykes at home to Derby.

Stacey said: “We’ve got some really big games coming up but the only one we can focus on is Barnsley.

“It’s going to be a massive game on Saturday – they are in great form.

“They are a team we can’t take lightly. If we want to achieve the objectives that we do want to as a team, then these are the sort of games we need to do well in.

“We have to prepare ourselves for each and every game as if it was the most important and at the moment, they all are.

“We have been doing a lot of work on the teams coming up and, hopefully, we just need to go out there – perform on the pitch and beat these teams.”

Next up after that, a home encounter with fellow promotion-chasers Swansea on Tuesday.

“Momentum is massive,” said former Luton man Stacey.

“So if we can finish this season in good form - luckily we do play quite a lot of the teams around us, which I would much prefer because it puts things into our own hands.

“If we pick up momentum, then we can get back into the play-off places and use that momentum going into the last few games.”