April wasn’t your average month for Glossop North End’s Sam Hind.
The 30-year-old played a crucial role for the Hillmen as they sealed their place in a second FA Vase Final in just six years, just two weeks before he made his 350th appearance for North End.
The landmark came in a match that sealed the North West Counties League Premier Division title and promotion from the fifth tier of the English football pyramid.
Glossop North End v North Shields
The FA Vase Final 2015
3pm, Saturday 9 May
Wembley Stadium
Buy tickets here
By any footballer’s standards that’s the kind of period that lives long in the memory, but it is events off the pitch, rather than on it, that have left the local lad with the warmest of late spring glows.
“People have been stopping me in the street and asking me for my autograph,” he says.
“The whole thing has been crazy. The club have set up a shop selling scarves and replica shirts. I never thought I would see anything like this here.”
It’s little wonder that Hind is especially proud of the club’s achievements.
His dad is a lifelong season ticket holder and he himself grew up in the town. He also came through the Glossop youth ranks and has spent just two seasons away from the club since he played his first match for the club as a junior.
Sam Hind's Glossop team-mates with the Vase at Wembley
Now he and his team-mates are out to erase memories of their 2009 Vase defeat to Whitley Bay when they face another Northern League outfit - North Shields - in Saturday's Final at Wembley.
“This year I believe we have a really good chance. We’re underdogs with the bookies but we have been all the way through – we’re definitely looking for the win.
"It’s a huge occasion and there will be a lot of nerves, obviously, but I think we’re better equipped to deal with it now.”
You can read the full interview with the Glossop North End striker in The FA Vase Final programme, which is available to buy at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.
If you want to be part of the crowd at Wembley on Saturday for one of non-League football's most prestigious cup finals, you can get your tickets online here priced at £15 for adults, £10 for OAPs/students and £5 children.
