WIMBORNE TOWN had never been beyond the third round of the FA Vase, let alone caught sight of the Twin Towers, when they started their 1991-92 campaign.
The Wessex League side weren’t expected to go far in the competition, especially when they started to pull out clubs from the Diadora and Beazer Homes Leagues. But a side mainly made up of locally produced players started to believe their luck was about to change when they reached the semi-finals.
Wimborne needed replays to see off Hastings United, Newcastle Town and Diss Town respectively in rounds four, five and six.
Alex Pike’s side then booked their Wembley appearance by seeing off Preston-based Bamber Bridge, but striker Tom Killick remembers expectationin the early rounds wasn’t high.
He said: “You started out each Vase campaign in more hope than expectation if I am honest. From a personal point of view, their was no genuine belief you would get to the later stages.
“At that time we were playing in the Wessex League but there were teams in it from what was the step above us. It wasn’t long after that they changed the format and the Wessex League and its equivalent became the highest level in it.
“That is one of the most pleasing things about it; we won it when there were teams in the likes of the Isthmian and Southern Leagues playing in it.
“When we played Hastings they were right at the top of the Southern League at the time. We were quietly confident of winning at home but we went and drew.
“Then when we had to have a midweek replay away I think a lot of us feared that would probably be too much for us.
“But, if I remember, they had a man sent off very early on and they might even have ended up playing with nine men so we had a bit of fortune.
“Hastings were very, very strong favourites to go on and win the whole thing. I think when we won that game it enhanced our belief.”
Whereas Wimborne were the rookies, their final opponents Guiseley, from the HFS Loans League, were the opposite having won the Vase 12 months earlier.
Fears of a real hammering for Wimborne, the first club from Dorset to play in a Wembley final, were raised when they went 1-0 down after 14 minutes.
But Steve Richardson levelled before Jamie Sturgess and Killick put them 3-1 ahead at half time. Killick scored a fourth before Guiseley pulled one back.
Sturgess then added his second before Guiseley rounded off the scoring in one of the best Vase finals and one of the best games Wembley has seen.
“One thing you didn’t want was for it to be a bit of an embarrassment or a humiliation so when that goal went in it stung us into life,” Killick added.
“We suddenly thought, if we don’t really dig in here we could be on the end of something really embarrassing. That seemed to relax us and it knocked some nerves out of us.
“We suddenly felt that we didn’t have anything to lose, so let’s just have a go. The whole game turned on its head after they scored.
“Taffy equalised but, he won’t thank me for saying it, their keeper should have saved it. Get a goal like that and you feel things might be going your way.
“They had a striker, Ian Noteman, who was a real class act but he went off injured in the second half. As soon as we got the fifth it was done really.”
BACK ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
1. Mick Sturgess: He was a traffic policeman based in Gravel Hill, Dorset, for almost 30 years with Met Police and then Dorset before joining Alex Pike in a golfing business.
2. Alex Pike: Spent 15 years in Dorset Police and now runs a corporate leisure wear company. Currently managing his home town club Gosport Borough.
3. Brian Wilkins: A sergeant with the Royal Signals. Since leaving the services he has been the manager of a unit ofcondos in Bangkok, Thailand.
4. Robbie Beacham: Lives in Verwood, Dorset, and spent 27 years working for the Halifax building society, becoming a branch manager and then a risk manager.
5. Mark Allen: Still lives in the Wimborne area and runs his own company, Mark Allen Building & Landscaping.
6. Kevin Leonard: A British Telecom supervisor still working for the telecoms giant in the Dorset area.
7. Phil Langdown: He is still earning a living working as a quantity surveyor and is living in Christchurch, Dorset.
8. Nick Bridle: The left winger was a fleet engineer for the Post Office before becoming the manager of a mail centre in Poole, Dorset.
9. Tom Killick: A striker who is managing Poole Town and has been a litigation executive with Jacob Reeves solicitors in Poole for 24 years.
10. Nick Jennings: The assistant manager settled in Dorset and was working as a probation welfare officer until retiring.
FRONT ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
11. Jason Lovell: Lives in Ferndown, Dorset, and has earned a living as a ground worker in the building industry.
12. Trevor Ames: A central defender with Aston Villa, Hereford United and Crystal Palace. He owns the Trevor Ames Barber Shop in Corfe Mullen, Wimborne.
13. Shane Turner: He still lives in Dorset and continues to work in the building industry, as he did during the Vase run.
14. Steve Richardson: Worked for an engineering company and is now a fireman based at Westbourne Fire Station in Bournemouth. He has just signed for Bashley, aged 47.
15. Dominic Barrett: Was studying for his A-Levels and is now working as an architect in the London area.
16. Jamie Sturgess: The son of Mick, worked for NatWest then GMAC as a sales manager and is now a financial advisor for Scammell Associates. He has coached Wimborne.
17. Simon Lynn: Worked as a management accountant and then became commercial manager for Southern Print in Upton, Poole.
18. Andy Taplin: He was the assistant manager of a supermarket and is now the manager of a building supplies firm.
