Retaining The Vase

Whitley Bay are still on course to become the fourth club in history to retain The FA Vase. Winners last May against Glossop in front of a 12,000 crowd at Wembley, The Bay travel down to Surrey for a Fifth Round clash with Chertsey Town on Saturday and if they negotiate that tie successfully, they’ll be in this season’s ‘last eight’.

Billericay Town were the form team in the early years of The Vase, a competition that effectively replaced the old FA Amateur Cup. They won the Finals of 1976, 1977 and 1979, progressing during that period from the Essex Senior League to the now-defunct Athenian League.

Halesowen Town, then in the West Midlands Regional League, became the second club to retain The Vase after victories on sunny Wembley afternoons in 1985 and 1986. More than 18,000 saw them beat a Southall side that included Les Ferdinand in ’86. Moving up into the Southern League in that year denied them a chance to make it a Vase hat-trick.

The third was Tiverton Town, Wembley winners in 1998 and 1999. They beat two clubs from the north-east in those Finals, Tow Law Town and Bedlington Terriers, and it was 1-0 on both occasions.

There’s still some way to go for Whitley Bay to join that select band. As of today they have to win four ties, including The Final.