Having spent the weekend at Wembley, it's taken me around 24 hours to digest exactly what I witnessed.
There's no escaping an obsession with the outcome of one game when so much is at stake, but no one should forget the nine months that preceded it.
And the teams that leave with absolutely nothing.
If ever there were a perfect example of a weather cycle summarising a club's season, then I give you Walsall.
A Bank Holiday Monday that started in glorious sunshine ended in rain so heavy it left Saddlers fans seated towards the front scurrying up gangways to take refuge; it would appear it doesn't rain when you're a Walsall er, it pours.
Their team began the campaign so well that they built not so much a gap atop League Two, but rather a 15-point canyon between themselves and the play-offs.
Ultimately their season ended in a cruel, dripping wet 1-0 defeat by a distinctly average Wimbledon at Wembley.
A lonely place to be. But they were far from alone.
This season's play-offs delivered the full, stark range of emotional experiences for ers, players and managers. From shock, frustration and desolation, to unparalleled joy.
And no shortage of pride.
For Walsall specifically, pride was difficult to find after an especially gut-wrenching campaign, but arguably of all 12 teams contesting the end-of-season showpiece, they ought to be most full of it.
It's more than understandable to be upset with the loss of a commanding position, but also fine to appreciate a side leading the charge when given less than a 4% chance of doing so by the bookmakers at the start of the season.
They made a mockery of mid-table predictions.
"We certainly have moved the football club forward and I won't be swayed at all with that," was the verdict of boss Mat Sadler.
That is objectively true given the club has failed to break into the top 10 of the division in any of their previous five campaigns, but focus will inevitably be on their inability to cope with the loss of top scorer Nathan Lowe and subsequent run of three wins from their final 21 games.
Having swung from title-charging form to that of relegation fodder, and then ultimately fail to salvage the season at the national stadium, finding positives will be hard.
But they should be proud.
Just as Leyton Orient's Richie Wellens should be, although his club's situation feels altogether different.
"At the end of the (2021/22) season I lost two or three of my best players," he said after their loss to Charlton at Wembley. "The next season, we got promoted. I lost a few more. It's the same every season. Potentially we're going to lose six or seven now."
No wonder he was frustrated. Reaching the play-off final was a phenomenal achievement for a club of Orient's size, with Sunday's defeat feeling like a significant missed opportunity.
And they've been here before.
Defeat to Rotherham at the very same stage in 2014 triggered a downward spiral that saw them lurking at the foot of the National League just four years later.
And fears will begin to creep in again as the current group are torn apart. The league's top scorer Spurs to work out his own future.
We can't even be certain Wellens will be in the dugout come August. There's only so much adversity you can battle before seeking opportunities elsewhere.
The best way to respond to a missed opportunity is to put yourself in the situation to get another chance. In Orient's case, they may well have to wait a while for it.
Oddly they ought to be the happiest with what their club achieved this season, but their future feels most uncertain.
The other beaten finalists, Sheffield United suffered the cruelest outcome of the three, but they may just have most cause for optimism.
Beaten by a last minute strike entirely of their own doing. A season-long battle against expectation undone with one loose touch.
But when calm reflection comes, their place at the EFL's showpiece weekend was far from confidently predicted at the start of the season.
The Blades battled a points deduction and uncertainty off-the-pitch to finish third, collecting 92 points in the process. It was ultimately one week of bad results just before Easter which gave Leeds the opportunity to secure the top two places.
The summer transfer window limited their ability to build following relegation.
They were involved in a dragged out takeover process with the general belief being that they'd need a season to establish themselves before mounting a promotion charge.
Tom Watson has put Sunderland in the lead in the 95th minute of the Play-off Final š„š± pic.twitter.com/E7gm18kknC
ā Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 24, 2025
And yet when new ownership took control in December, they inherited a side top of the league. Four points clear of third. They'd lost just two of their opening 22 games and looked set to outperform the 6% implied probability previously given that they'd win the title.
Leeds sat at 25% in the summer; Burnley on 13%. Chris Wilder had his men battling alongside them throughout the campaign.
They know they have a manager who stays if they want him to. They know they have a squad which isn't as vulnerable to being plundered by those above.
A core group will likely remain together. But the early going makes them a 10% shot at the title; 29% they reach the Premier League this time around. They won't become a bad team overnight just because the end result wasn't what they wanted this time around.
And there'll be no Leeds and Burnley next season.
"There's no better way to be promoted they tell me," said Wilder after Sheffield United's semi-final win over Bristol City. He either declined to mention that there's no worse place to lose, or no-one had told him.
We'll never escape the one-off game obsession. The drama of the day (or three) undoubtedly captures the footballing imagination.
Yet we can't disregard the nine months which preceded it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is having heard plenty about the winners, as we always do after these weekends, this one's for the losers.
Don't give up on that hope just yet, as hard as that is right now.
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