By now you will hopefully have your tickets, made your travel plans, decided what you’re wearing and be all set for tomorrow when Romford take on Great Wakering Rovers in the Final of The Isuzu FA Vase.

The game kicks off at 12.15pm and the entrances at Wembley will open at 10.45am; please use the entrance specified on your ticket.

Please note that Wembley Stadium is a cashless venue. Programmes and refreshments can only be purchased with card payments.

Tomorrow’s game is being televised live on TNT Sports with coverage starting at noon. BBC Radio Essex are also covering the game.

It has been a hectic week for Boro which has seen three games played in six days with the disappointment of defeats in the Play-Off Final and the Errington Challenge Cup Final. In contrast, Great Wakering have not played since their 1-1 draw at Takeley in the league on 29th April.

FA Vase History:

The FA Vase began life in 1974-75 when after amateur status was abolished, the FA Amateur Cup was abolished and the Vase, along with the FA Trophy, was introduced in its place. The first Final was played on 19th April 1975 in which Hoddesdon Town beat Epsom & Ewell 2-1.

Essex Senior League sides to have previously reached the Final are Billericay Town and Stansted. Billericay won the Vase on three occasions, although by the time they last won the Vase they were an Athenian League side. Stansted’s win in 1983-84, when they beat Stamford 3-1, is the last time that an Essex Senior League club won the Vase.

Whitley Bay lead the way with 4 FA Vase Final wins, while Billericay’s 3 wins places them second in the list of winners

Ascot United are the current holders of the FA Vase having beaten the holders, Newport Pagnell Town, 1-0 in last year’s Final.

This is only the fifth time in the competition’s history that both finalists have been members of the same league

The FA Vase 2023-24

A total of 597 clubs from Steps 5 and 6 entered the FA Vase this season; 7 of those clubs have taken part in every one of the competition’s 50 seasons including Essex Senior League side Saffron Walden Town, and Stansted, an ESL side until the start of this season.

The two top 2 scoring teams in the FA Vase this season are Worcester City with 30 goals and Great Wakering Rovers with 25. Boro netted 13 goals. Leading scorer in this season’s competition is Clayd Roach of Hamble Club with 10 goals but Great Wakering’s Calum Boylan is just one behind with 9. Boro’s leading scorer is Ash Siddik, who has three goals to his name; the other 10 have been shared between eight players.

While Romford were exempt to the Second Round after last year’s run that ended in Jersey, Great Wakering Rovers started their campaign in the 1st Qualifying Round. These are the clubs’ respective routes to Wembley.

Prize money in the FA Vase Final is £30,000 for the winners and £15,000 for the losers. Boro’s run to the Final has earned the club £15,775 so far.

Previous Meetings:

Romford have met Great Wakering Rovers on 41 previous occasions, including three this season. Overall, Boro’s record is Won 21, Drawn 4, Lost 16.

This season’s games have all gone Boro’s way. At Burroughs Park in the league, goals from Junior Luke, Jordan Sarfo, and Michael Turner earned a 3-2 win and in the return at Rookery Hill, Sam Deering scored in a 1-0 win. In between there was an Essex Senior Cup tie at Mayesbrook Park which Boro won 4-2 after being 2-0 down; Toheeb Elegushi scored once and Hassan Nalbant grabbed a hat-trick.

Sam Deering scores in the 1-0 win over Rovers. Picture: Bob Knightley

The Officials:

These are the officials for tomorrow’s game. Goal Line Technology will be in use but (blessedly) VAR will not.

On The Day:
Please take the time to go through Wembley’s bag policy, parking restrictions, entry requirements etc which can be found here:

https://www.wembleystadium.com/events/2024/Non-League-Finals-Day-2024

Additional information supplied by FA Cup Factfile and Non-League HQ