STANSTED had never been past the first round of the FA Vase before the 1983-84 season, despite having played in it every year since it began.
So for the Essex Senior League side, more famous for being in the flight path of an airport, to reach the final and win it was nothing short of a Cinderella fairy tale story.
They weren’t without players with experience in the competition, however. Jamie Reeves was a Wembley winner with Billericay, while Mick Southgate played for Hoddeston in the Vase in the year they won it.
The first five rounds saw Stansted play teams from Essex – Epping Town, Barkingside, Basildon, Wivenhoe Town and Heybridge Swifts – who were to go on and cost them the league title.
“After the Wivenhoe game, we played Heybridge Swifts in the fourth round and it was about pride. They didn’t like us and we didn’t like them,” recalled skipper Barry Simpson.
“Their philosophy was to try and play a little bit, but ours was to play it long to Jamie Reeves and then go and support, which was our strength.
“After we beat them 2-1 we were drawn to play Bristol Manor Farm and at training on the Thursday before the game, Dave Edwards came into the dressing room.
“He said he hadn’t heard any of us talking about progressing in the Vase and that we weren’t doing too badly. I think after that it dawned on a few people that we might just be might be able to win it.
“We had never really thought about getting very far because the previous season we got knocked out at the first attempt and went on to win the Harry Fisher Cup – and you only got into that if you got knocked out in the first round of a competition.
“But before we played Bristol Manor Farm we got that feeling that we weren’t ever going to lose.”
A 2-1 win over Manor Farm set up a quarter-final with Old Georgians, who they beat 2-0 in a home replay after a 1-1 draw.
Whickham were then beaten 3-1 over two legs in the semi-final to set up a Wembley date with Stamford, which Stansted edged 3-2 to complete their unlikely story.
“I was interviewed on television before the final and I said we hadn’t come all that way to finish second and that was the way that we thought,” adds Simpson.
“We were little Stansted from the Essex Senior League playing at Wembley and it was a massive achievement at the time.
“There must have been 9,000 or 10,000 at Wembley from Harlow and Sawbridgeworth. It must have been one of the best days out ever.”
Stansted even had the help of one of the biggest names in the game at the time, Glenn Hoddle, who was the nephew of Stansted’s assistant manager, Dave Hoddle.
“Glenn and Ray Clemence came into the dressing room before the game. Glenn had shown up a couple of times but didn’t really get involved too much,” says Simpson.
“But he had a word with Dave about a couple of things for training, free kicks and throw-ins, that kind of thing.
“They told us it was a two-horse race. Stamford fancied it but we fancied it even more and once we started playing that was it, off we went.
“It was pretty inspirational getting that kind of visit. Glenn Hoddle is one of football‘s real icons.”
BACK ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
1. Dave Edwards: The manager is still living in Old Harlow and is retired after working as a self-employed van driver.
2. Steve Turner: He was a Lloyds insurance broker before spending 26 years at Aon Corp and is now a partner of Jardine Lloyd Thompson in the City.
3. Jeff Hilton: He is now living in the Harlow area and is still earning a living working as a plasterer.
4. Dave Worrell: He lives in Bishop’s Stortford and is a London taxi driver.
5. Lol Williams: Played under Ron Atkinson at Cambridge United, he was a ceiling fixer and has a career as a hugely successful singer with the Lol Williams Band.
6. Eddie Coe: The goalkeeper had a spell at Barnet and worked as a bank note printers assistant and is still working in the printing industry.
7. Steve Cooper: A former Tottenham junior he lives in Meadow Croft and is still working as a work study consultant.
8. Jamie Reeves: The striker is now living in Singapore where he teaches economics and is Head of Humanities at the Raffles Institution and a pundit for ESPN Star.
9. Mick Southgate: A former contracts manager for London Transport, he travels the world working in health and safety.
10. John Reading: Started his career at Fulham then Cambridge United, he is still a director of a printing firm Anchor Press.
11. Dave Hoddle: The uncle of Glenn is now retired living in Haverhill, Essex and was a director of book distribution warehouse Hoddle, Doyle, Meadows.
FRONT ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
12. Peter Fox (physio): Peter lived in Harlow and ran his own business for many years until retiring.?He died in August 2012, aged 74.
13. Gabby Callanan: He was a former leather liner in the furniture trade, he drove for Jewsons and ran his own wall and floor tailing business.
14. Ray Holt: A former West Ham junior he is now retired and living in Loughton, Essex having worked in the printing industry.
15. Robbie Doyle: Based in Abbotsweld, Harlow where he works as a van driver having previously installed electrical equipment.
16. Barry Simpson: The captain lives in Spellbrook, near Bishops Stortford, and has been working as a roofing contractor for 47 years.
17. Dave Williams: An Essex County defender, he works as an insurance consultant and lives in Hainault, Essex.
18. Paul Gillard: He still lives near Bishops Stortford and has spent his career in the banking industry for Lloyds TSB.
19. Colin Krzoska: Started his career at Southend United and worked as a window cleaner before joining Cleanwright Cleaning Services in Sawbridgeworth.
20. John Hitchcock: He worked for Barclays Bank but is now retired and living in Epping, Essex.
