Kirkham & Wesham - the fans' view

By Richard Bailey

When you’re a fan of a Vodkat League side, a trip to Wembley to support your team does not seem too realistic.

But now fans of Vodkat League Two side Kirkham and Wesham have a day out in the capital to look forward to, after their side booked their place in the final of the F.A Vase through defeating Suffolk outfit Needham Market.

For Ian Weaver, a resident in the town for 35 years and an avid home and away supporter for the last 15 years, the achievement is remarkable, “Personally I’m over the moon about it, and I’m sure a lot more people will be too.”

Fellow fan James Ashbourne agrees, “It’s unbelievable, at the beginning of the journey we used to joke about going to Wembley in the first couple of rounds. At that point we would have never have thought we would actually be going.”

To make the already fantastic achievement better, Kirkham have had to play many teams who are a division higher than themselves as Ian explains. “Most of the teams we have played have been from a higher league than us. I don’t know if this the first time a step six side has got to Wembley, I’m not sure.”

James a fan of the club for four years insists that for him the results in the competition have not been that surprising. “What people need to understand about the club is that we have always had a good side. The reason we haven’t been able to get out of this league is we haven’t had the ground, we have had the team and the management set-up but we didn’t have the ground, so from the point of view of the fans we’re not surprised that we were beating teams from a higher league.”

With the team having clinched promotion and having already bagged the Division Two Trophy, a possible treble is on the cards. James admits he could not have predicted that the team would achieve so much already. “I expected us to be doing well in the league, I didn’t have any doubt about that, but to be perfectly frank I didn’t expect that we would get this far in the Vase.”

Ian agrees when he adds, “I am the same, I would have expected us to go far in the league because we have progressed year by year, but winning the Division Two Trophy, promotion and the Vase final on top is phenomenal.”

Both men are in firm agreement that after the team’s quarter final win, only then did the fans truly begin thinking Wembley was a realistic possibility.

“There are two matches really, the away win at Newcastle Benfield in the third round where we comfortably beat them 5-2. Then another turning point was when we beat Crowborough Athletic away 2-0 and in the second half we were all over them.

So when we beat them we did think, we can go all the way.” Ian adds laughing, “I wished I had backed them all the way they were at least 100-1 maybe 150-1. I could kick myself.”

James agrees adding, “The point where we really started to believe was after the fifth round tie with Crowborough Athletic. We beat them 2-0 down there and that’s when we started to say ‘we can do this’.”

After defeating Coventry Sphinx in the quarters, a team who had already knocked out Vodkat Division One teams Salford City and Glossop North End, a place was booked in the semi final where they met Suffolk side Needham Market. After a closely fought first leg Kirkham took a slender 3-2 lead down to Suffolk.

Ian was one who made the 12 hour round trip. “They didn’t have as many fans there as we had at our place but there was a good atmosphere and you got the impression with what was being said by their committee that they were expecting to claw the deficit back. To be fair we would have thought the same if it was the other way around. In the end we were so solid the defence were unbelievable. So much so that Kirkham managed to book their place at Wembley in style, coming away with a 1-0 win which clinched a place against Lowestoft Town in the final.

Even though Kirkham’s season has seen them do well in both the league and cup competitions, both fans agree that they looked forward to each of the Vase games with a sense of excitement.

James says: “Every football fan likes his highlights. The league season is a long hard slog and it’s a great pleasure to go to those games, but with the Vase, and any big cup competition for that matter, I think you will find most people like that sort of thing.

“The Vase run has also brought more fans in. Slowly but surely the number of people attending the league games are going up so it’s a knock on effect.”

Ian adds, “Once the first few rounds were over it’s such a big day, it’s like a carnival. When we played the Semi-final we had a big marquee and we had over 200 people in the hospitality tent. That happened on two occasions, so it’s definitely been something to look forward to.”

Kirkham’s achievements in the reaching the final mean that two North West Counties teams have reached the Vase final in the last three seasons, the other being Nantwich Town when they lifted the trophy in 2005/06.

James is one fan who believes the Vodkat League is one of the strongest leagues for its level in the country. “One of the things that surprised me is that the level of football at Step Five and Six in the North West Counties is a lot better than other parts of the country.”

Kirkham will be hoping to take a leaf out of Nantwich’s book and both Ian and James are confident they can do. “I’m really confident going into the game. You can’t predict a football match but most of us are quietly confident. I’m expecting us to win but football is a funny game,” says James before Ian adds, “The new players we have brought in this season have been brilliant and I’m sure we can beat Lowestoft Town.”