The difference between Bristol City and Hull City over 46

league matches was one point. When it mattered over 90 minutes

at Wembley, they were separated by one goal. Today the gulf

between the clubs is £60 million, writes chief sports writer

Steve Cotton.

Welcome to the harsh reality of the Championship play-off

final.

Even as some of the 36,000 Bristolians at Wembley were

making their way toward the exits, the stadium announcer was

already inadvertently rubbing their noses in their team's

big-match defeat.

“Hull City! You're going to the Premier League,” he gushed.

“You're going to Old Trafford . . . Stamford Bridge . . .

Anfield!”

It was not supposed to end this way, of course, with Dean

Windass' blond crewcut and brilliant volley replacing Steve

McClaren and his umbrella as the defining image of the new

Wembley.

It was not supposed to end with Jamie McCombe, City's

towering central defender, being so sick and weak on the

morning of the game that he could not line up alongside Louis

Carey and against the wily Windass.

And it was not supposed to end with Bradley Orr's left eye

being swollen shut after an accidental clash of heads, his

cheekbone fractured and him departing on a stretcher with an

oxygen mask strapped to his face.

But then that is exactly the problem with sporting occasions

of this magnitude: two into one does not go and there always

has to be a loser. For 50 per cent of those who reach this

stage, there simply is no dream ending.

That is the world Bristol City woke up to yesterday and the

one they will have to get used to over the coming weeks and

months. City were 90 minutes away from the Premier League but

their world remains the Championship. Harsh but true. And what

happens next for them is almost more important than what has

happened over the past nine months.

For all the talk of a trip to Wembley being a “great day

out“, the national stadium is certainly no place to be a loser.

And, if anything, the touching-distance anticipation of a

previously unchartered world makes play-off final defeat – and

more specifically, Championship play-off final defeat – more

galling than even an FA Cup final loss at the stadium.

For those City supporters who travelled to the capital on

Saturday, the great day out ended at 3.38pm when Windass,

unmarked on the edge of the penalty box, superbly gave Hull a

lead they did not surrender.

The atmosphere in the red-and-white end understandably

struggled to reach its earlier ear-drum-aggravating levels

after that hammer blow as Hull held on for victory.

The Championship play-off final is a peculiar beast because

it has taken on an almost mythical status in the world of

sport.

As a result of the quite incredible sums of money handed

over by sponsors and broadcasters from across the world, it has

grown over the past two decades into this behemoth of a

fixture: The Richest Match In The World and all the rest of

it.

But this was about far more than money. It was about the

possibility of a second successive promotion, the opportunity

to visit some of the best grounds in the world and to watch

some of the planet's best players here in this very city.

For players such as Lee Trundle, Marvin Elliott and Adriano

Basso, it was about an opportunity to prove they could perform

at the highest level of the English game.

For the supporters – those 263 hardy souls who travelled to

Hull for a goalless draw on a bitter Tuesday evening in

November deserve a special mention alongside the 35,744 others

who headed to Wembley – it was about the possibility of

realising a 28-year dream.

There will be no sight of Cristiano Ronaldo or Fernando

Torres at Ashton Gate next season and no televised Saturday

evening banter between Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson about

City's back four.

There will be no father-and-son Conference-to-top-flight

snippet for the football trivia enthusiasts to file away, and

no opportunity for the cynics – and, oh yes, they exist – to

make their matter-of-fact “they'll get fewer points than Derby”

declarations before a ball has even been kicked.

Instead, what are City left with? That is ultimately up to

Steve Lansdown, Gary Johnson and the players to determine.

Johnson undoubtedly has the nucleus of a squad to repeat

this season's feats; City's fourth-placed finish over a

46-match period proves as much.

There was little between the sides on Saturday – one moment

of expert finishing proving the £60 million margin.

But City's plus-one goal difference at the end of the

regular campaign highlights a deeper issue that surfaced

several times on Saturday: they need a goalscorer. The Robins

did not have a single player who broke into double figures over

the course of the season.

While Hull have the pace of Fraizer Campbell and the guile

of Windass to trouble defences, City have no such luxury. Even

one frontman with nuisance-making qualities and an eye for goal

would be a start.

City did have their chances, though, notably in the 85th

minute, when Michael Turner threw himself in front of Trundle's

goal-bound effort and deflected it over the bar and to

safety.

City had built good momentum by that point, but ultimately

they could not find a way through and were left to ponder a

fifth play-off exit from five attempts.

The positives of this remarkable season may not be at the

forefront of Johnson's mind just yet, but they will come. In

the cold light of day, they will show themselves to him and his

players.

Promoted from League One only a year ago, City, their

manager, players, staff and supporters have plenty to feel

proud about today – even if their budget for the coming year

does not include that additional £60 million.