If you needed confirmation of just how much a trip to Wembley to play in the Isuzu FA Vase Final means, then you could do worse than speak to Alex Welch, the captain of AFC Stoneham.
Welch now lives in London but travels back to train and play for a Hampshire club that has become a focal point of the sport in the county, courtesy of its state-of-the-art facility a stone’s throw from the home of National League side, Eastleigh.
Every weekend, hundreds of young footballers play for their clubs at the Stoneham facility, with the club’s 4G pitch nestled alongside a host of all-weather surfaces that ensure football continues throughout the winter, regardless of just how atrocious the wind, rain, or snow is.
For the central midfielder, this is about more than football; this is a continuation of a love affair that began in the local Tyro League when he first kicked a ball in competitive football for local side, Colden Common.
Stoneham remain one of the dominant teams in Hampshire’s Tyro League and now run as many as 160 teams every weekend. Many of those involved, as well as their families, will be making the journey to Wembley this afternoon.
“Look, we obviously want to go there to win, but ultimately it’s a day out for the football club,” says Welch.
“You talk about Mark (Stupple, the club’s chairman), but then we’ve got people like Geoff (Smith, the club’s President) being involved with the club for over 60 years from the Ordnance Survey days to now.
“He’s seeing his team at Wembley for the first time. He was very emotional when we got through to the Final but, like I said, it’s not only for people like them and us, it’s the community and everyone involved in the club.
“We’ve got 160 teams or something silly like that. So for all of those kids, they’ve got the dream of watching their football team play at Wembley – it just gives you immense pride to be part of that.”
As Welch alludes to, the club began its existence as a team associated with Southampton-based Ordnance Survey, traditionally one of the city’s biggest employers. Maps have been fairly handy for AFC Stoneham in recent years as the Wessex League Premier Division side have navigated their way through the non-League pyramid.
Currently at Step Five, promotion remains the ultimate goal. But the journey to the Final of the Vase has provided the kind of boost that no promotion campaign could match.
“I’ll be honest, promotion was the overriding objective at the start of the season,” he says. “The Vase was never really a priority.
“So it was very much – and this is going to sound cliche – but taking the run game by game. At the start, it was just another kick-about with the boys in the FA Vase, going to different places, enjoying ourselves, and seeing where we got to. Well, it has worked out pretty well, hasn’t it?”
So what do they know about today’s opponents, Cockfosters?
“Well, firstly we know it’s going to be very tough,” he says. “We know how hard it is to get to this stage of the competition. But our analysts, Ryan White and Jamie Williams, will have checked them out and we’ll be prepared for them.
Just the thought of walking out at Wembley and leading this group out gives me goosebumps. It’s going to be a special day for everyone involved.”
Read the full interview in the official Non-League Finals Day match programme, which will be available at Wembley on Sunday or can be ordered online.
