Wins at Wembley, Anfield and St.James' Park for Bay ace.
The FA Carlsberg Vase
The Final
Winning club receives £20,000 Whitley Bay captain Leon Ryan lifted The FA Vase for the second season in a row to round off what has been a lucrative campaign for him.
The 27-year-old had already lifted silverware at both St.James’ Park and Anfield this season prior to Sunday’s game with Wroxham and a 6-1 victory at Wembley completed a unique hat-trick.
Ryan was skipper of Whitley when they won the Northumberland Senior Cup at the home of Newcastle United, before joining all-conquering Sunday league outfit Hetton Lyons for their trip to The FA Sunday Cup Final at Liverpool FC and leading them to a record breaking third title.
"Personally, I've had a fantastic season,” admitted the defender, following Sunday’s win.
“With winning the Northumberland Senior Cup at St. James' Park and then The FA Sunday Cup with Hetton Lyons at Anfield was fantastic, so come to Wembley and win is unbelievable.
"But this was the one I really wanted to go and win and I'm just proud to be captain of a side as good and as dedicated as this.”
Bay also set a new record on Sunday, as striker Paul Chow’s goal after just 21 seconds is the quickest recorded at the new stadium and despite only holding a slender 2-1 lead at half-time, they emerged for the second half in a determined fashion.
"I thought we were different class,” added Ryan.
“In the second half we really put our foot down and went for the jugular. It wasn't easy on Wroxham, but we won the game and that was our intention from day one.
"There were a few harsh words said at half time, so we just went out and were fantastic in the second half.”
Watch a video interview with Leon now, by clicking here.
