As his former club Charlton Athletic prepare for Sunday’s League One play-off showpiece against London rivals Leyton Orient – for their second Wembley final in six seasons – the Waltham Forest-born player will no doubt recall the thrilling finale to the last one in 2019.
That saw the Addicks beat Sunderland – another club at the home of football this weekend – courtesy of a winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
A shot from substitute Lapslie took a nick off Antoni Sarcevic to ensure a scarcely-believable promotion for City in the sixth minute of added-on time.
It was the prelude to an outpouring of joy as Bradford avoided the nerve-shredding end-of-season lottery.
Lapslie said: “I feel like I’ve played a part in helping this club get back to League One.
“We all wear our hearts on our sleeves. Not many teams would have carried on going and scored in the 95th, 96th minute with everything going on.
“When I got promoted with Charlton in the play-off final, we scored in the 95th minute to make it 2-1. That was similar but I wasn’t actually on the pitch at the time.
“Credit to all the lads, the gaffer. I think we deserved it but you don’t always get what you deserve.
“We got promoted, it didn’t matter how it happened. Whether it came in the first minute or the 96th, it’s the same feeling.
“The expectation on the club brings pressure itself.
“It’s probably why we maybe stumbled over the last couple of months.
“But the lads really wanted it and you have to look at the flipside, how good was it to get it done how we did..”
Following his time in the third tier with Charlton, Lapslie is delighted to return there with the Bantams, having joined on a two-and-a-half year deal from Gillingham in the winter window.
A haul of four goals in the second half of the season with City – including a brace in a key home victory over Colchester – displayed his happy knack of finding goals from midfield and it’s something that should come in useful next season.
With City’s fixtures due to be released in just over a month’s time, many followers are already counting down the days ahead of a renewal of some old rivalries. Chief among that number is a ‘reunion’ with Huddersfield Town, who the Bantams haven’t faced at league level since way back in 2006-07.
Lapslie added: “Obviously I’m new to the club, but I’m buzzing that we’ll have a local derby against Huddersfield.
“There are loads of big clubs in League One now – the top end of League One is really like the Championship. It will be a tough test for us.”
