Ebac Northern League club North Shields know what it takes to win the FA Vase – and that’s why current manager Brian Smith has handed a warning to his players ahead of Saturday’s first round tie at Wakefield.
Whickham chairman Ross Gregory is hoping for more of the same from newly-appointed manager Tony Fawcett as he returns for a second spell in charge of the Ebac Northern League Division One club.
It was the story which thrust Thornaby FC into the national media spotlight for all the wrong reasons – but now it has inadvertently given the club a new lease of life.