Coalville Town pre wembley build up

Fans players and coaching staff are all over the moon after one small team made the epic climb to a league title and possible cup win to boot.

Coalville Town made sure of a trip to Wembley in the FA Carlsberg Vase with a magnificent 6-2 aggregate victory in their semi-final against King's Lynn Town.

After winning the first leg 3-0 at Owen Street, the Ravens completed the job with a 3-2 success at King's Lynn to end the Norfolk side's 100 per- cent home record.

The run to the final, which started with a less-than-convincing 2-1 victory against Stratford Town in October, has seen Coalville become the first Leicestershire side and the first Midland Alliance side to reach the final of the Vase in the competition's 36-year history.

Their opponents Whitley Bay are celebrating becoming the first ever side to reach three Wembley FA Vase finals in a row.

On 2 April, the Seahorses beat Poole Town 3-1 at Hillheads Park to win the semi-final 5-2 on aggregate.

They will meet Coalville in the final on Sunday, 8 May in their bid to become the first team to win the Vase three years in a row.

The Seahorses are on a 16-game winning streak in both the league and the cup and a 25-game unbeaten run in the Vase.

Having sold about 3500 tickets a good 10 per cent of the Coalville population will be at Wembley for the biggest day in the clubs history.

Coalville Town's club chairman, Glyn Rennocks said the event would be absolutely fantastic.

After all the hype, the players, who had their final training session on Thursday just want to play the game.

He said: “Everyone is up for it the whole of Coalville and surrounding areas is buzzing, the players are buzzing and as you can see so is the place.”

Coalville town were formed in 1926 as Ravenstone Miners Athletic

 “We set our stall out to win the league at the beginning of the season and the cup run was a bonus a bit of a side show. But it proved to be a big bonus!

“We are a community club so everyone knows each other and those who are involved with the club. Of course on the day there will be some people there we don’t know and we’ll just be happy to see them,”he added.

Team captain Ashley Brown said that the whole team were looking forward to their big day.

The 32 year old right back said: “It’s a great way to finish the season having won the league last week.”

When asked how the manager had been getting the players prepared for the big game ahead he added: “Actually he’s been quite quiet so far, He’s leaving his team talk to the changing room I think.

“He’s a motivator so I’m sure he’ll be screaming and shouting in the dressing room. Saying that we don’t need much motivation to be honest as well know exactly what is at stake.”

Brown has been playing at Coalville for over 10 years.

The ravens bid to finish a fantastic season on a high at Wembley  by completing a Midland Alliance vase double and stopping Whitley Bay winning the trophy for a third successive year.

The  teams other major cup flurry involved a first round trip to Wycombe Wanderers in which they lost by only one goal

He added: “Everyone knows about Wembley putting on a show and hopefully winning and bringing the cup back home.

“Almost all my family will be down there except my young lad who I can’t trust to sit down for two hours! I’m sure it will be a memorable occasion for everyone.”

“It means a lot for the people behind the scenes who have put the work in and it’s a big day for the club. If we win it’ll put the club on the map and make sure everyone takes notice of us.

 Team manager Adam Stevens said after last Saturdays league win going into the final the lads don’t need motivating, its been a great season.

“We’ve set out and did what we wanted to do, which is win the league, so the cup is a bit of a bonus.

“The lads are just chomping at the bit for the big day now,” he added.

Stevens played for Coalville for ten years and was in the side that were beaten in the FA Cup first round by Wycombe in November 2004.

Stevens took over the club as manager for the 2007-2008 season and has already lead the club to the Midlands Alliance title and will be hoping to cap the season off by completing a fantastic double.

He said: “If we play how we can, work hard we can give ourselves one hell of a chance.”

The game is set to kick off at 3pm on Sunday and the whole of Coalville is sure to be bursting with excitement.