What a way for Huddersfield Town to introduce themselves to the world of Premier League football last Saturday.
I could use an endless supply of superlatives for the 3-0 result against Crystal Palace but instead I will just share my thoughts on how the reality of Huddersfield Town being a Premier League club is slowly sinking in.
Casting my mind back to the opening fixture against Brentford last season, there was the usual first game excitement - nothing will ever change this opening game buzz from a fan's perspective.
However, the same cannot be said from a club point of view.
Last season saw us complete the signings of several players either on free transfers, nominal fees or on loan deals combined with the club record £1.8m capture of Christopher Schindler from 1860 Munich.
Although this summer we have brought in a similar number of players we have repeatedly smashed this previously-held transfer record fee in the process of spending near £40m.
Last season was business as normal at the John Smith’s yet before a ball has even been kicked this campaign the stadium has seen major development work in what I would already consider a modern ground.
Last season saw an odd media snippet or local TV interview, this season the media hype has gone into overdrive with the constant TV references to Huddersfield Town above and beyond anything previously known.
Although all these have made me stand back and wonder if this is really happening, what really drums home our meteoric rise is the opening away day win.
The reason not that it was our first game in the Premier League but the very fact the last time I visited Selhurst Park was May 2001 to watch a 1-1 draw with Wimbledon.
A result which gave us a brief hope of staying in the Championship – only to be dashed a game later with defeat to Birmingham City sending us down.
So when I am asked if it feels real Huddersfield Town are a Premier League club, I still have to stand back and pinch myself before answering but less so with each day that passes.
It has been a long journey to a destination I never thought the club would arrive at back in 2001 – of course I dreamed but football was already becoming a money mad circle that our little club just couldn’t compete with.
Now however, the dream is a reality as Michael Hefele would say - Saturday has shown we can compete on the football field and, we now have a new financial base on which to compete and grow our future.
Whatever this season brings the reality is ... We ARE Premier League!
Darren, 45, resides in Golcar with his wife Mary and seven children who are all avid Town fans as well. Season-card holder Darren grew up in Deighton, mesmerised by the floodlights of Leeds Road, which he could view from his bedroom window.
From his very first game in the 1980-81 season he was hooked, and these days he can be seen around Huddersfield driving for Streamline Bus Company wearing one of many Town shirts.
