Coaches, minibuses and camper vans are converging on Wembley – Colin Young reports
Some 20,000 people live in the County Durham town of Spennymoor – and most of them converged on their club’s Brewery Field ground today before making another pilgrimage to Wembley tomorrow, Sunday, May 11.
Spennymoor Town are FA Trophy finalists and they meet Aldershot on England’s most hallowed turf this weekend, aiming to become only the second team, after Fylde, to lift the FA Trophy and FA Vase – the two most prestigious cup competitions in non-league football.
The FA Trophy involves teams in levels five to eight in the football pyramid, with clubs from levels nine to 11 entering the FA Vase.
This Saturday, the town turned out in their thousands to bid farewell to Graeme Lee’s squad before they all head south for the second time in 12 years in a convoy of 25 coaches, minibuses and camper vans.
They know they go to London as underdogs – but manager Lee and the entire town is unfazed at this stage and he is taking inspiration from his dad Tony, himself a Moors legend.
Graeme said: “It’ll be a special day; I remember coming to Spennymoor Town when my dad – who passed away two years ago – was the club’s manager. For me to be managing the same club as him, and then achieving something like this to go to Wembley, and knowing I’ve been in the same changing room, the same dugout as him, it’s a special connection”.
“He’s with me every day, and every game I go to I have some ashes in my pocket. If it’s a new ground, I’ll sprinkle a few of his ashes, because this club is his family, and his life was football.”
“Hopefully nobody stops me, but I’ll be sprinkling some of his ashes at Wembley.”
On the road to Wembley, Spennymoor, who finished ninth in National League North, have knocked out Boston United, Sutton and Rochdale – all, like Aldershot, from the National League one rung above.
Nearly 1,000 supporters made the trip to Rochdale last month for the dramatic semi-final penalty shoot-out win – which saw the hosts lead twice before being pegged back by Aidan Rutledge’s equaliser in stoppage time.
On a day of incredible stories, Moors’ emergency loan goalkeeper Rohan Luthra saved Tarryn Allarakhia’s spot-kick to clinch a 5-4 win and take his side to Wembley – sparking a pitch invasion and short-lived confrontation with unhappy Dale supporters.
Lee said: “We’re a National League North team, we’re part-time and we’ve had to play a lot of full-time clubs”.
“It probably feels easier to come into this game as underdogs, because we know we’re at our best when it’s like that. It has served us well on our run so far.”
“I know Aldershot will be well organised and they’re a very good footballing team. They’re expected to win, but we know who we are and what we need to do. We have an intensity and a work ethic but we’ve also got quality all round the pitch. If everyone’s on their game, we can beat anyone. This team has character and belief, but we know we have to perform.”
“It’s going to be a different occasion in a special arena, but I’ll tell the players not to get too caught up in the emotion, and just concentrate on the game.”
Spennymoor lifted the FA Vase back in 2013, beating Tunbridge Wells in the final when another club legend, old boy Jason Ainsley, was in charge.
Known as ‘Mr Spennymoor’, Ainsley is now head of football at a club which still has Football League ambitions, having competed with the likes of Harrogate, Salford and Stockport County, and seen them make the leap into The 92 over the last decade.
For now, Ainsley is enjoying the FA Trophy run like a fan, hoping they can achieve one more upset on their incredible journey and bring the cup – won by Gateshead last year – back to the North East.
“At Rochdale, I got a car park space at the ground and they put flyers on our car doors about transport to Wembley,” Ainsley said.
“I think they just expected to turn up and win but we equalised with the last kick of the game and then stood up under pressure and scored all five penalties. That game just summed up Spennymoor.”
“There are probably a lot of teams punching far less above their weight than we are. They don’t want to come here on a Tuesday night. Our pitch has a slight slope and our players never give up and have that North East fighting spirit.”
“We get crowds of 1,200-1,300 from a population of 22,000 so the football team is a big part of what the community is all about. For a club the size of ours to get to Wembley twice in 12 years, it’s phenomenal really.”
Spennymoor Town v Aldershot, FA Trophy final, 4.15pm, Sunday, May 11, Wembley Stadium. Ticket details here. For more on Spennymoor Town, see our previous story here.
