In the summer of 1992 Tiverton Town Football Club had just completed their most successful season ever, reaching the dizzy heights of 3rd in the Western League Premier Division, and with the intentions to further this achievement by gaining their first league championship the following season. The now legendary ‘five year plan’ was unveiled during the off-season, and there was a buzz about Ladysmead that here was a club that was really going places. Martyn Rogers had taken over the managerial reins from John Owen, and continued the on-pitch development in a remarkable series of continually progressing seasons, and had assembled a squad who were about to embark on a mesmeric season of unparalleled success. Two players, ultimately both now stalwarts of the club arrived in the form of Phil Everett and Jason Smith, and blended perfectly with the stable squad to push Town to levels they could only ever dream of.

Through the early part of the 1992-93 season the FA Vase was just another cup competition, and thoughts of Wembley Stadium were far away as the early rounds passed by with victories over local teams such as Torrington and Falmouth. After Almondsbury Picksons were beaten 2-1 at Ladysmead there grew a vibe at the club, that although still four games away from the famous Twin Towers, there was half a chance of the trip to London in May, and Tiverton’s form was such that an immense team spirit had been built up on the success of the league campaign.

This is where our story really takes off now. Barton Rovers were knocked for four, Forest Green Rovers, former FA Vase winners for six, and Buckingham Town for another four, all away from home. I remember these games well, and recall that feeling amongst the fans that ‘our’ team had an air of invincibility about them. Matthew Scott, scorer of 12 goals that season has happy memories of Tivvy on their travels. “It was a real big adventure, and every time we went away we were scoring three or four or five”. Scott confirms that the feeling on the terraces was reciprocated by the playing squad. Tiverton simply couldn’t lose - they would arrive at the match, score a hatful, and leave while their often more illustrious opponents licked their wounds and went away with their tails between their legs.

Phil Everett has fond memories of the away day in Buckinghamshire despite not seeing his own name on the score sheet. In fact his final goal of the 1992-93 FA Vase campaign came in the previous round at Forest Green Rovers, but the game against Buckingham was confirmation that Tiverton had stamped themselves onto the non-league football scene, Phil describing the experience as “incredibly exciting”, a masterpiece of understatement if you don’t mind.

With Canvey Island dispatched, just, the scene was set and the realisation of a dream was upon a squad of players whose togetherness was remarkable. Maybe one of the most delighted players in the team was Steve Hynds, who had reached the semi-finals with Exmouth Town in 1990.”I didn’t think I’d get there again” lamented Hynds, a player and man with more passion for Tiverton Town than is probably healthy. ”This club has been such a big part of my life; I’ve really loved my time here.” Steve went on tirelessly about how much he loved the club before discussing the big game itself. It was the feeling of the masses that whoever netted first would take the win, and sadly for the Yellows it was little Alan Radford of Bridlington Town, skipping away from Jason Smith who netted that solitary goal. Even then though the players knew they were still in with a shout - a team doesn’t score 134 league goals in a season by luck. “We only needed one good chance to equalise though” recalls Hynds, but that one good chance never materialised, and Tiverton were a beaten team.

Beaten on the pitch, but long after the Bridlington team had retired to the dressing room, and their supporters had returned to cars, coaches and trains, the ‘beaten’ team were the ones partying. It says a lot about the character and friendship in the squad that they could gather in front of their fans and lead the choruses from the touchline. It was an outstanding memory - the outstanding memory of the day for many, players and fans alike. For deadly marksman Kevin Smith the fun had only just begun. When quizzed on his greatest ever FA Vase memory ‘Smudger’ was quick to recall the after match party, the disco, the absolute feeling of freedom and relief that Wembley had Tivvy stud marks on it, that despite the loss the day itself was fantastic, and that now was the time to take it all in - well, after an excessive amount of alcohol anyway!

Pete Rogers, meanwhile, ever the sensible member of that squad of 1993, reflected on what the experience meant to him. “I didn’t think that at the age of 40 I would ever get the chance to play at Wembley. But with half an hour to go Martyn asked me whether I wanted to go on. I said ‘No!’”. In the darkened bar where I was conducting this mini interview with Rogers I actually bought this! “Really?”. “No, I said, yeah, get me on!”. So on came the elder statesman of the Town team, and he nearly scored too. He played well, changed the game, and by his own modest opinion he later confided that had he been brought on at half time then Tiverton would have won. By this time I didn’t know whether to believe him or smile politely and leave. So I left.

The FA Vase run of 1993 was to become a heavy influence on Tiverton teams for the next five years. It was the intention of Martyn Rogers and his merry troops to make a winning return to Wembley, and the manager’s intentions were certainly not wasted on his charges. A few years of Vase disappointment followed, with frustrating defeats to Diss, Stamco and Whitby, and, if I recall correctly, a loss to a Bideford team including Kevin Nancekivell and Paul Edwards. But come the early season of 1997-98 everything was in place and Town embarked on a season that they will probably never come close to matching. The league campaign was a formality, with just two games slipping out of the win column - draws at Bridgwater and Paulton. The FA Vase almost escaped Tivvy at the first hurdle too as Dave Leonard recalls. “We were 1-0 down at home to Mangotsfield at half time, and in the dressing rooms we just looked at each other and said ‘come on, we want to win this thing, this is the FA Vase for Christ’s sake’”. Needless to say, that determination to prevail was not only held by the left winger. Tiverton regrouped and blasted five past Mangos in the second half.

Wimborne were beaten convincingly, Oadby Town just, Spalding put up a fighting effort, and Kidsgrove surrendered in the first leg of the semi-final, so a return to the home of football had finally been achieved after five years of trying, and a match against Tow Law Town awaited.

In fine contrast to the squad half a decade ago, this time Tivvy weren’t going to Wembley for the occasion, this time they were going to win, and nothing else mattered. “We are going to win this thing” quipped Neil Saunders, fully aware of the task that lay ahead. “Playing at Wembley messes people up, that’s why cup finals are poor. But we were there to do a job” And job they did too, beating the northern side by a solitary Pete Varley strike.

Paul Edwards, straight out of the goalkeeping school of eccentricity as a straight A student, and donning a newly acquired tattoo on his posterior summed up nicely the atmosphere in the Tiverton camp that year. “Being at Wembley with Tiverton was amazing. The team spirit, the will to win, it was second to none. We were like a family, we wanted to be there for everyone else.” Success breeds success, and on the back of such a marvelous season it was hardly surprising that the friendship and togetherness in the squad was so strong, and that the belief was there that this Tiverton team would win the game.

Match winner Peter Varley was remarkably unpretentious when recalling his winning goal that sweltering afternoon in London. Immediately after the game, in an interview for the local television channel he said that he had reached the top, that it just doesn’t get better than this. For a striker to score the winning goal in a cup final at Wembley is the ultimate achievement, and Varley had become the first Tivvy player to do this. But nearly six years on he has come down a few notches, and with plenty of time to consider and format such a high, Pete is stunningly modest. “Then, I thought ‘wow! I scored’, but now I see the goal as a team goal. The team was much more important than any individual player, and it was an awesome team that should have played at a much higher level”.

Meanwhile, Jason Smith is quick to point out how much of a team effort it was. “Everyone was really good friends, and it’s great to win it with mates, that makes it even more special. What’s more, without that group of players around me in 1998 I would never have become the player that I did.” He turned out all right didn’t he? That teenager and prodigy of the ‘93 final had become the defensive rock in a team that simply didn’t concede goals. Jason was soon on his way to the Vetch where a series of injuries didn’t stop him being voted as the Swansea City fans player of the season, and also saw him being made into the club captain during what ultimately proved to be his last full season in South Wales.

There was a controversial incident at the death of the game, as Graham Waters, who had replaced Dave Leonard just 60 seconds earlier threw himself into a tackle with Tow Law skipper Tony Nelson. Now playing at St. Blazey in the South Western League, Waters doesn’t care to recall that incident in depth, but the fact of the matter is that Nelson hurled a punch, in frustration as much as anger, and was sent off. But Graham has happier memories than the one that could have tarnished the game. “I wasn’t playing regularly, but just to get on and play on the Wembley pitch was a big achievement for me. It was something I had always dreamed of and a great feeling when I got the chance.”

If Nelson made an impression on Waters then it was for the wrong reasons, but Kevin Nancekivell recalled how he was determined to make an impression himself, and I think he did that with his typical effervescence and high energy driving from midfield. “We had no doubt we would win in ‘98, and I look back at it now and think how lucky I was to play with such great players”. Nance was the goalscoring midfielder in the team, playing alongside Pete Conning and Steve Daly in the middle. “Dales is without doubt the best player I have ever partnered”. Which says it all really. Steve Daly was indeed a phenomenal talent, so much so that Paul Tatterton went on record as saying he is the most influential player he had ever seen at that level.

Dales himself if a refined type - the attention doesn’t suit him and he takes a back seat allowing the likes of Edwards, Nancekivell and Everett to soak up the limelight. But as a key player, perhaps the most important player in the squad at the time, it would only be right to give him some time. “It really helped the team that there were a few of us who had played at Wembley before. Although the 1993 final was the best for me personally, there was something about 1998 that was very special. We had played at Wembley and that is something that nobody else can do again.” He is, of course referring to playing beneath the twin towers, the days when Wembley was a special place. Soon enough the stadium will reopen, but sadly for the traditionalists amongst us it just wont be the same; no towers, the vibe and charisma will be gone, and all that will be left is a mundane ‘modern’ style stadium where cup finals and internationals are played.

In the aftermath of the 1998 FA Vase final the team took a holiday together in Jersey where they were able to reflect on what they had achieved. Perhaps strangely Pete Conning recalls this as one of the most satisfying and memorable moments in that season of success. On the pitch he had already been there and done it, winning the FA Trophy with Altrincham when half the ‘98 team were still wearing short trousers. “My experience probably helped some of the players without me even realising it” was his comment when I casually raised the subject of his status as an senior member of the squad. And he is probably right. There were a few players in the team who still had age on their side, and to have somebody like Conning nearby can only be a positive thing. I’m sure that positive vibe he creates will be influential in his role as assistant manager as Tiverton look to progress in the coming months and years.

Media attention was rife around the Tiverton Town football team immediately after the victory, and Martyn made an appearance on the local news programme where he was asked exactly where the club goes from here. He retorted “We go back and win it again next season”, an answer typical of the man, a huge focus and an addiction to success. Few gave his side much chance, as it is customary for the defending champions to be a team of failures the next season. Tiverton aren’t just any old team though, and Martyn’s wishes were his players commands. Past Ilfracombe, Deal (who would beat Chippenham in the final the following season), Ash United, Bedford, Clitheroe and of course Taunton marched the yellow clad squad, and before we knew it we were in the final again, and once more against a team at the healthy end of the Northern League table, Bedlington Terriers.

After 1993 where it was as much to savour the moment as the game itself, to 1998 where winning the Vase was absolutely top order, the 1999 game had another different atmosphere amongst the playing squad. This time they went into the game relaxed and confident, and this laid back attitude towards the event would ultimately see Neil Saunders lifting the trophy, against the odds of the bookies and pundits.

Neil reflects on the game, and tells of exactly how at ease the team was. “As we came out for the second half the PA system was playing ‘Sit Down’ by James. I just started signing along, and a couple of the lads behind me joined in”. The look on the faces of the Terriers players was priceless I am told, and it is these moments, moments that the fans don’t catch, which are often the defining factors. That relaxed nature, that feeling of calm amid the tension and passion must truly have rattled Bedlington. Steve Daly was at the back of the line of players, Neil at the front, yet Dales joined in with the chorus, as did Edwards, Nancekivell and a host of others. There were no woofs from the Terriers players!

“We knew we were going to win it,” reminisces Daly, “and the moment coming out of the tunnel was amazing.” Bedlington were beaten there and then, the next 45 minutes was a formality, just a case of scoring that inevitable goal, and “proving we were the best team in the country again” as Daly put it.

That inevitable goal once again eluded Phil Everett, who is quick to point out that Tiverton won the FA Vase twice without ever performing in the final. “I wasn’t really a part of the ‘Sit Down’ thing, but we were very confident and relaxed”. Throughout the team there was an ease, but the goal still needed to be scored, and as the game wore on so the chance came for Richard Pears to make an appearance and try to break the deadlock.

He didn’t score the goal, that was left to fellow substitute Scott Rogers, but he played a major part in swinging the game back in Tivvy’s favour. “When we went up to collect our medals Roy McFarland [the guest of honour and medal distributor] told me I changed the game. That made me very proud.” But did Richard himself think he deserved that accolade? “I was very happy with my performance” was the response, which is politically correct for ‘of course!’. But more than the game, that keyword ‘friendship’ rears it’s head again when Pearsy considers the 1999 campaign. “The whole experience brought me closer to some of my best friends, and we went through the highs and lows together.” One of these ‘best friends’ was the unfortunate Stuart Smith, who missed the game through injury, but Richard puts a very high value on their friendship, saying that life is so much more worthwhile, more of a pleasure if you can enjoy the success with the people close to you. Sadly Stuart could only enjoy others’ success, but it was appreciated that he was very much a part of that team of ‘99. However, when quizzed on his recollections of the teams exploits he was reluctant to reply, saying that pretty much anything he could say would be unprintable!

The final word goes to Paul Tatterton. “Collectively, as a unit, we were a great team. All the players knew their strengths, knew their weaknesses, and played to them effectively. The club as a whole was fantastic from the day I joined to the day I left”. Which just about sums up the thoughts of all 24 players that ran out onto the hallowed turf representing Tiverton Town.

The club has moved onwards and upwards since that May afternoon in 1999, with success in the form of two promotions. From the team that played against Bedlington only one remains. In the next couple of years that will become zero, but not a single Tivvy player of the FA Vase exploits will ever be forgotten by the fans. And the colour and support that the fans took, not just to Wembley, but the other grounds across the country on those adventures will never be forgotten by the players. It was a team effort, a family effort, and everyone made a lot of friend on the journey. Oh, happy days!