25th anniversary of Whitby Town winning FA Vase

The Seasiders travelled down to Wembley for the game

Author: Karen LiuPublished 10th May 2022

It is a special anniversary today for Whitby Town as they celebrate winning the FA Vase 25 years ago.

In 1997, players from the football club headed down to Wembley and beat North Ferriby United 3-nil.

It was one of the biggest weekends in Whitby's history as the HM Bark Endeavour also sailed in at the same time.

Peter Graham, who is a supporter and fundraiser for the Seasiders, was at Wembley to celebrate the victory.

He said: "I felt good but I was more relieved when we won the semi-final because we scored a last minute goal in that match, because we were winning 3-nil you sort of get to accept that you're going to win so I wasn't so elated as what I was when we actually got the final.

"The team that played in 1997 at Wembley and the team that played in 1965 in the FA Amateur cup match, or what members are left of that team, attended our last home game and certainly as far as the people who were running the club at the time I know all of them and they still go to matches, even if they're not as involved as they were 25 years ago.

"It's a bit more difficult to get to another Wembley final because we're playing in the FA Trophy now which obviously includes teams in the National League North, South and in the National League Premier so it's a different level.

"If Whitby were to get to the FA Trophy final that would be a major, major achievement. We live in hope. We can still have good games against big teams which they're a bit like Wembley appearances when you turn up at a formal football league ground and there's 3,000-4,000 people watching. It's a 'little Wembley' you might say."

Peter and his family recorded the entire trip to Wembley back in 1997. You can watch the fan cam here:

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