Southend’s Charley Kendall wants to put smiles back on the faces of fans at the Isuzu FA Trophy Final.
The players and fans will be gutted about the how the play-offs ended, but how much incentive is there to give everyone a day to remember at Wembley?
I think it gives us a lot of incentive, to be honest. It was a disappointing result in the play-offs but we’ve still got a trip to Wembley to look forward to. Our season’s not over… we’ve still got to do the best we can. You don’t want to end the season the way it went in the play-offs, so to go and lift the trophy at Wembley, going into the off-season, that will hopefully give us a good summer.
You’ve played your part in all five of the Trophy matches – have the team enjoyed the cup run?
A cup game is like a breath of fresh air. It takes a bit of pressure off the league, but it’s also another chance to go and progress in a different competition and keep sight on a Final at Wembley. It’s a positive thing to switch your mind towards. I mean, everyone likes a good cup run, no matter what cup it is.
Having reached the play-off final against Oldham last year, this is your second consecutive season at Wembley. What was last year’s experience like?
It was a bit surreal, but at the same time it was an unbelievable experience. The whole lead up to it… doing the stadium tour the day before the match, doing the warm-up on the day of the game, and then walking out, it was a very surreal moment for me. I enjoyed every second of it, to be honest, I just soaked it all up. Both sets of fans were amazing and the noise they produced between them was absolutely incredible. For the fifth tier of English football to pull over 50,000 to a match, it’s kind of unfathomable, but what a thing to experience. It’s a moment that will stay solidified in my memory for my whole life.
The Final will see you play Wealdstone for the fourth time this season, with each team winning at home in the league, and Wealdstone winning in the Emirates FA Cup, after you went down to ten men. Three tight games, so what are you expecting this time round?
Well, I’ve only played them once this season, in the home game when we won and I scored, so I feel like I do quite well against them! They are a very tough side to beat. They don’t make it easy to break them down and at the very least they’ll give you a physical battle. But we’ve been to Wembley in the last 12 months, it’s fresh in the memory and we’ll be used to it. We’ve played a lot of high-stakes games in the last 12 months, so we’re in a good place.
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.
