Non-League Finals Day is one of the crown jewels in the English football calendar as not one, but two, finals will be played under the famous arch at Wembley Stadium.
Fans will be able to enjoy two games of football for the price of one ticket on Sunday 22 May, with Littlehampton Town and Newport Pagnell Town facing off in the FA Vase final before Bromley and Wrexham contest the FA Trophy final. This will be the seventh time that both finals have been held on the same day at Wembley, the first of which was 2016.
The FA Vase is open to all teams playing at steps five and six of the English non-league football pyramid, while teams playing at steps one to four participate in the FA Trophy.
FA Trophy and FA Vase Final on TV
Both finals will be broadcast live by BT Sport, with the FA Vase final kicking off at 12.15pm followed by the FA Trophy final that kicks off at 4.15pm. With Wrexham competing in the latter of the two finals, Welsh language channel S4C will also be broadcasting the FA Trophy final.
BT Sport has broadcast matches from the National League, step one in the non-league pyramid (the fifth tier of English football) since 2013. The channel has also broadcasted previous FA Vase and FA Trophy finals, making last year’s final free-to-air.
FA Vase Final
Littlehampton Town of the Southern Combination Premier Division and Newport Pagnell Town of the United Counties League Premier Division South will both be competing in their first FA Vase final. Littlehampton secured their place at Wembley with a convincing 4-0 win over Loughborough Students, while Newport Pagnell needed penalties to see off Hamworthy United with the match ending 1-1.
That semi-final was Newport Pagnell’s third win on penalties in this year’s competition, also requiring a shootout in the second round against Leighton Town and again in the fifth round versus Buckland Athletic. Littlehampton have, too, also had to rely on penalties in this year’s competition when they hosted Brockenhurst in the fifth round.
As well as the luck that comes with winning a penalty shootout, Littlehampton must consider themselves fortuitous to still be in the FA Vase, having lost their fourth round tie 5-0 at Athletic Newham. That came following the removal of Athletic Newham for fielding an ineligible player in that fixture, handing a reprieve to the Marigolds.
Whatever happens at Wembley it will have been a successful season for Littlehampton’s co-managers Mitchell Hand and George Gaskin, having already seen their side win the league and secure promotion to step four. Newport Pagnell ended their season in a respectable fifth place and no doubt manager Gary Finn will be hopeful of launching a promotion challenge next season.
The winners will receive £30,000 for winning the FA Vase, with the runners-up receiving £15,000 in prize money for reaching the final.
FA Trophy Final
Wrexham will undoubtedly enter as big favourites to claim what would be a second FA Trophy, previously winning in 2013, against Bromley who will be hoping to claim their first. While Bromley will have to settle for at least another season in the National League, Wrexham have their eyes firmly on the prize of returning to the Football League for the first time since their relegation in 2008.
Wrexham defeated their main promotion rivals, Stockport County, 2-0 in the semi-finals through two late Paul Mullin goals at the Racecourse Ground, while Bromley came from behind to see off National League North opponents York City 3-1 at Hayes Lane. Bromley will be hoping to go one better than in 2018 when they suffered an agonising defeat on penalties in that year’s final to Brackley Town, who benefitted from a 96th minute Roger Johnson own goal to take the game into extra time.
Wrexham’s Hollywood owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, will no doubt take much of the headlines heading into the showpiece event. Since the shock announcement of the takeover back in 2020, the expectation of a return to the Football League has grown significantly – especially following substantial investment and the arrival of former Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson – with the club currently the longest occupant in the National League.
Bromley’s end to the league season has been consistently inconsistent but can take heart from the fact they held Wrexham to a goalless draw at Hayes Lane in March, though they did suffer a 2-0 defeat at the Racecourse Ground in November. Manager Andy Woodman does have experience of winning a final at Wembley against Welsh opposition as a player, winning the Third Division play-off final with Northampton Town over Swansea City in 1997.
The FA Trophy prize money dictates that the winners will receive £60,000 with the losing finalists receiving £30,000.
