A is for ALTRINCHAM who first won the competition in 1978 beating Leatherhead 3-1. Prior to their victory they reached the semi-final in 1977 losing to Scarborough in a second replay at Rotherham United's ground. They reached the final again in 1982 losing to Enfield FC before lifting the trophy again in 1986 when they beat Runcorn. They have also reached the semi-final in 1985 and 1991 along with being knocked out at the quarter final stage in 1988, 1989 and 1995.
B is for BARNET who have never won the competition. The closet they got was back in 1972 when they reached the final but were beaten 3-0 by Stafford Rangers at Wembley Stadium. In the first season of the competition (1969/70) they reached the semi-final losing to the eventual winner's Macclesfield Town. Since 1972 the best they have done is to reached the quarter-final stage in 1986/87 where they lost 0-1 at home to then Southern League Premier Division side Fareham Town who lost in the semi-finals to Kidderminster Harriers. Fareham's home leg of the semi-final was played at The Dell.
C is for CHAPPELL (Geoff) who can be known as "Mr FA Trophy" as he won the competion managing Woking in 1994, 1995 and 1997. He returned with Kingstonian winning again in 1999 and 2000.
D is for DARLINGTON who won the Trophy in 2011 thanks to a Chris Senior 120th minute goal against Mansfield Town. Just a year later following financial difficulties DARLINGTON 1883 were formed and entered the Northern League Division One (Step 6 on the non-league ladder). What a difference a year makes?
E is for ENFIELD FC. Winners of the competition in 1982 (1-0 v Altrincham) and 1988 (3-2 in a replay at The Hawthorns against Telford United) as well as semi-finalists in 1976, 1985, 1986, 1994 as well as the quarter-finals in 1979, 1983 and 1995. A fact is that in 1974/75 The E's played 11 games in the competition to reach Round Three and in 1982 they played only 7 games to win the competition. The last game the now defunct club played in the competition was in their last season in 2006/07 when they lost away to Salisbury City in the third qualifying round. ENFIELD TOWN's best season in the competition came in 2012/13 when they were knocked out by Billericay Town at the third qualifying round stage. It's been too long that the name of Enfield has featured at the business end of the competition - Maybe it could be our year this season?
F is for 50%. Some fans, players and pundits think the Trophy has been devalued due to many clubs concentrating on promotion from the Conference since the advent of two up two down in 2002/03. However 50% of the finalists since 2009. F is also for FOREST GREEN ROVERS who are the only side to compete in both a Vase and Trophy final. They won the Vase in 1982 as a Hellenic League side followed by Trophy final appearances in 1999 and 2001 as a Conference Club.
G is for GOALS - Only two finals have ended without any goals. In 1987 Kidderminster Harriers drew with Burton Albion and a year later in 1988 Enfield FC draw with Telford United.
H is for HOLKER STREET where 6,002 people watched the 1988 Semi-Final first leg between Barrow and Enfield FC.
I is for ISTHMIAN LEAGUE who have had eight finalists. Dagenham (1977) and Leatherhead (1978) were runner's before The Daggers returned in 1980 and won versus Northern Premier League side Mossley. 1981* saw Bishops Stortford (Division One Champions) beat Sutton United (5th in the Premier Division) in an all Isthmian final. The league wasn't represented in the final until 1997 when Dagenham and Redbridge lost to Conference side Woking after extra time. Canvey Island are the only other side to represent the league in 2001 when they won the trophy with 1-0 victory over Forest Green Rovers and in 2004 when they lost to Hednesford Town.
* The semi-finalists in 1981 came from the Isthmian League (Bishops Stortford), Southern League Southern Division (Dartford) and the bottom club in the then Alliance Premier League - Bangor City.
K is for KICKS FROM THE PENALTY MARK. Only in 2005 (Grays 6-5 Hucknall Town) and 2014 (Wrexham 4-1 Grimbsy Town) has the competition been decided on penalty kicks.
M is for MARTIN O'NEILL. The current Republic of Ireland manager was Wycombe Wanderer's boss when they lifted the Trophy in 1991 and 1993.
N is for the NEW WEMBLEY where the final has been played since 2007. The record crowd came in 2007 when 53,262 saw Stevenage Borough beat Kidderminster Harriers 3-2. N is also for NORTHWICH VICTORIA who were the first ex football league side to win the Trophy in 1984. Since then Barrow (1990 and 2010), Colchester United (1992), Darlington (2011), York City (2012), Wrexham (2013) and Cambridge United (2014) are all ex football league sides to win the Trophy.
O is for OLD WEMBLEY where the final was played from 1970 to 2000. The record crowd was 34,842 who witnessed Wycombe Wanderers beat Kidderminster Harriers 2-1. The lowest crowd was in 1996 when only 8.672 saw Macclesfield Town beat Northwich Victoria 3-1.
P is for PAUL FURLONG who scored twice for ENFIELD FC in the 1988 final replay v Telford United. Furlong went on to play for a host of football league sides including Coventry City, Watford, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers.
R is for RUNCORN who can be considered the most unluckiest club. They got to the final in 1986, 1993 and 1994 losing on each occasion. The Linnets also got to the semi-final stage in 1976, 1978 and 1979 along with quarter-final appearances in 1985 and 2000. Runcorn folded in 2006 and a new club Runcorn Linnets were founded. They play alongside Runcorn Town in the North West Counties League Premier Division (Step 5 of the non-league ladder). Both clubs are yet to compete in the Trophy with The Linnet's best performance in the FA Vase in 2008/09 when they reached the third round losing to AFC Fylde. Town's best run came in 2012/13 when they reached the fifth round losing to Walsall Wood. The Linnetts play Shaw Lane Aquaforce in the First Round of the Vase this weekend with Town playing away at West Allotment Celtic after beating Glasshoughton Welfare (11-0) and Athersley Recreation (4-1) in the Qualifying Rounds.
S is for STIMSON (Mark) who managed a hat-trick of victories for Grays Athletic in 2005 and 2006 followed by Stevenage Borough in 2007.
T is for TELFORD UNITED who are the most succesful club in the competition winning it three times (1971, 1983 and 1989) and been runner's up in 1970 and 1988.Since the demise of Telford United due to financial problems in 2004 the new AFC TELFORD UNITED have reached the semi-final in 2008/09 where they were beaten by York City. T is also for Bishops Stortford goalkeeper TERRY MOORE who the FA Amatuer Cup in 1974 and the FA Trophy in 1981
U is for UPTON PARK where the final was played in 2006 between Grays Athletic and Woking in front of 13,997.
V is for VILLA PARK where the final was played from 2001 to 2005 whilst Wembley Stadium was being redeveloped. The top attendance being 18,809 for Yeovil Town's 2-0 victory v Stevenage Borough in 2002 - The lowest attendance 6,635 for Hednesford Town's 3-2 victory over Canvey Island in 2004
W is for WIGAN ATHLETIC who as a Northern Premier League side reached the final in 1973. They are the only team to play in the FA Trophy and FA Cup finals having famously won versus Manchester City in
The best WIMBLEDON done in the Trophy prior to their promotion to the football league was in 1974/75 when they lost in the Quarter Final v Scarborough. W is also for WREXHAM whose victory in 2013 was the first time a WELSH club had won the competition. Bangor City are the only other Welsh side to reach the final losing in a replay to Northwich Victoria at Stoke City in 1984.
TOWN OFF TO NORFOLK ON SATURDAY
Dereham Town are playing their second season in the FA Trophy having been promoted from the Eastern Counties League in 2013. Last season they lost in the 1st Qualifying Round to Ryman Premier Division side Bury Town. This season they beat Hanwell Town 2-1 at home in the Preliminary Round to set up Saturday's tie with Enfield Town. They were formed in 1884 as Dereham FC and first played in the Dereham and District League and the Norwich and District League. In 1920 they adopted their current name after a spell as East Dereham and joined the Norfolk and Suffolk League which later merged into the Anglian Combination. In 1986 they were renamed Dereham Hobbies United after a merger with a local Sunday league side reverting back to Dereham Town in 1991. In 1997/98 they won the Anglian Combination Premier Division and with it promotion to the Eastern Counties League.
The Magpies earned promotion the Premier Division in 2002 and won the Norfolk Senior Cup in 2006 and 2007. The 2012/13 season was the best yet for the Aldiss Park side as they won the Premier Division of the Eastern Counties League and were promoted to the Ryman Division One (North). In their debut season at Step 4 they finished a creditable 7th place and are currently placed in ninth position in the table winning nine, drawing one and losing six of their sixteen league games played. After winning four games in a row which included the Hanwell Town Trophy victory they suffered an unexpected 1-4 home defeat versus Great Wakering Rovers who have been struggling towards the bottom end of the division. It was only their second home defeat of the season having also lost to Cheshunt 0-3. Aside from these results they have a good home record in the league winning 4 drawing 1 and losing 2 of their seven games played.
Luke Tuttle is their current top scorer on 9 league goals (four from the penalty mark). He has previously played for Norwich St Johns in the Anglian Combination.
The FA Trophy always brings back memories from 2012 when Enfield Town travelled to Concord Rangers in the Second Qualifying Round and came away with a brilliant 0-2 victory. Highlights are below -
Prior to this game in the First Qualifying Round The Town recorded a really impressive 4-1 win against Cambridge City. Highlights are below -
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