Sunday League football team Tunbridge Wells booked a place in the FA Vase final after beating Shilden 4-3 on aggregate, but it wasn't just the dreams of Wembley that came to mind.
The players that usually play in front of a couple hundred people have to play in the biggest football stadium in Britain on Saturday when they face Spennymoor Town.
The Wells have been in cup heaven after winning the Kent Senior Trophy, beating Lordswood 2-1.
The club currently lie in 7th place in the Kent League Premier Division and have two remaining league matches.
Tunbridge Wells had to play 13 matches in April due to cup matches and postponed games.
They have even opened a merchandise shop in the Royal Victoria Shopping centre due to their cup success.
Six teams were beaten during Tunbridge Wells unbelievable cup run including Shilden.
Spennymoor Town beat Matt Le Tissier’s Guernsey F.C in the semi’s to reach the final that takes place on 4 May.
Tunbridge Wells announced on their Facebook page that over 10,000 tickets were sold and expect to sell a further 5,000 more on the gate. There are no details of how much Spennymoor are bringing but we do know that there are a lot more than expected.
Tunbridge Wells are bringing five times as much as their stadium’s capacity of 3,000.
Premier League strugglers Wigan Athletic failed to sell their allocated seats and ended up with around 20,000 seats for the FA Cup semi-final against Millwall, which is only 5,000 people short of Tunbridge Wells’ supporters.
The only other Kent club to ever reach the FA Vase final was Deal Town in 2000. They won 1-0 against Chippenham Town in front of a crowd of just over 20,000 fans.
References: www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunbridge_Wells_F.C.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/10/wigan-athletic-fa-cup-tickets
http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/countdown_to_fa_vase_final_council_backs_tunbridge_wells_fc_1_2173348
Source: DSG
