FEATURE: Looking back on Kettering Town's road to Wembley 20 years on

It was 20 years ago yesterday (Wednesday) when Peter Morris’ Kettering Town team and more than 14,000 supporters descended on the home of English football to battle it out with Kingstonian for the FA Trophy.

It wasn’t the club’s first visit to the famous old stadium, of course, after the Poppies had reached the Trophy final in 1979 only to be beaten 2-0 by Stafford Rangers.

Twenty one years later, they were back under the Twin Towers after an incredible run that had taken them up and down the country.

Indeed, they almost didn’t make it through their first game in that season’s competition.

Starting in the second round, they trailed Thame United 2-1 at Rockingham Road before Stuart Storer popped up with a last-gasp equaliser to force a replay which was won 1-0 courtesy of a Dale Watkins strike.

That set the tone for what was to come. The Poppies drew 2-2 at home twice more with Walton & Hersham and Bishop Auckland respectively, only to go and finish the job on the road in the replays.

A key figure in the squad was legendary defender Craig Norman, who made up one part of a three-man back-line alongside captain Colin Vowden and current Poppies squad Paul Cox, who missed the final due to injury after playing all the way through the rounds.

Norman still remains one of the most loved Kettering players in the modern era.

The penalty kick king made 370 appearances, scoring 78 goals – six of which came during this Trophy run.

And he conceded the Poppies made their road to Wembley a lot harder than it probably should have been.

“We were favourites to go through in the majority of the games we had,” Norman recalled.

“The likes of Thame United, Bishop Auckland and Walton & Hersham, we ended up having to do things the hard way by going to their places and win.

“There was also the game at Workington and there was a diesel spillage on the M6 so that was a very long day but I didn’t mind too much because I was winning in my card school that day! I could have done with being stuck another couple of hours!

“But I think once we got to the quarter-finals to play Bishop Auckland was the point it dawned on us.

“There was a build-up of pressure and expectation because we were expected to beat them at home and before we even realised what had happened, we were 2-0 down.

“But we got to grips with it and managed to salvage a draw and, for some reason that season, we were set up to be a better away team.

“When we had to take it to teams at home, we often got caught a little bit but when we sat in with our back three and wing-backs we always had a bit of pace.

“And when we went up to Bishop Auckland on that Tuesday night, I felt confident we could win and we did a good job in what was a really hostile environment.”

That quarter-final replay win in the north-east sent the Poppies through to the two-legged semi-final where then-Conference rivals Telford United were waiting.

What followed were two nail-biting contests with Kettering winning the home leg 1-0 courtesy of Gary Setchell’s header before an outstanding defensive display secured a 0-0 draw at The Bucks Head.

The memorable scenes of celebration at the final whistle and the intervention of a certain well-known local barber certainly remain with Norman today.

“With Telford, I think we were two well-matched teams so it was always going to be close over the two legs,” he said.

“It was crucial to get the win at home just so we could take something there but it made the second leg harder because you weren’t sure whether to go and try to get another goal or just sit in.

“But we were always quite solid away from home, we believed we could keep a clean sheet and the last 20 minutes of that second leg were extremely nerve-wracking. I think they hit the bar late on but thankfully that was our day.

“The support that day was amazing. I can remember the final whistle going and the first thing I had was Vince ‘The Barber’ hanging off my back. He was the first person I saw!

"But getting back and celebrating around the town that night was unbelievable.”

And so the stage was set and the buzz around the town could begin – Kettering Town were heading back to Wembley.

There, they would take on a Kingstonian side who were looking to win the Trophy in back-to-back seasons having defeated Forest Green Rovers 1-0 12 months earlier.

And Norman believes that experience might have just worked in their opponents’ favour.

The Poppies were slow out of the blocks, Kingstonian led at half-time thanks to Eddie Akuamoah’s goal.

But, after a half-time dressing down, Morris’ men arrived for the party.

They levelled through captain Vowden, then half-time substitute Lee Hudson had a goal disallowed before the ice-cool Norman stepped up to put them 2-1 up from the penalty spot after

Brett McNamara had gone down under a challenge from Tarkan Mustafa – replays showing the Kettering man had tripped over his own feet.

Nonetheless, the Poppies were 25 minutes from glory but with the energy running out of their legs, Kingstonian staged a comeback of their own and Kettering hearts were broken as Akuamoah struck again before Amara Simba seized on a rare error from goalkeeper Adam Sollitt to seal a 3-2 win.

A tough one to take both on the pitch and in the stands.

“The anticipation between the second leg and the final was incredible, it was hard to focus on anything else,” Norman, a huge Queens Park Rangers fan, recalled.

“It was pretty much the only thing people in the town were talking about.

“We went down there a couple of days earlier and we had the tour of Wembley the day before.

“I hadn’t played there before that. I’d been down there virtually every Friday night to watch greyhound racing when it was empty!

“But the other times I went there were to watch QPR in the FA Cup final in 1982 and then the 1986 Milk Cup final and we got beat both times.

“Walking out there the day before the Trophy final, it was nerve-racking and on the day itself I just think that Kingstonian doing it the year before worked in their favour. They had that bit of knowhow of being there before.

“I just remember my legs had nervous energy in them, they felt so heavy at times.

“On the day, I thought we played alright but it wasn’t to be for us.

“We didn’t really come out in the first half and the gaffer had a few choice words at half-time but we knew we had to come out and give it a go and we did.

“We were dominant for 25 minutes, we scored, then we had a goal disallowed and then we got the penalty.

“I just had a feeling we would get a penalty because we seemed to get a lot that season thanks, mainly to Lee Hudson with the way he used to go over!

“Looking back, it was never a penalty but from where I was standing it looked an absolute stonewaller.

“To be fair, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. Their goalkeeper was a huge guy and he took the whole goal up.

“But, at the time, I was scoring regularly with my penalties and I was confident I would score.

“We were 2-1 up and it felt like we were the only winner

“Looking back, I think their second goal would have been a foul in this day and age because there was an arm across Chris Perkins’ face and then there was a mistake for the third. I didn’t think we deserved to lose.

“The support was the thing that stood out the most that day.

“Walking out the tunnel, it was incredible to see that much red and black in the stands.

“But the support was great all the way through the run. The day at Telford was phenomenal and even on a Tuesday night at Bishop Auckland, we had incredible backing.

“To be fair, during my time there, the support could never be questioned.

“Whether you were down the road at Stevenage or up in Gateshead, you could always guarantee there would be a big support.

“But at Wembley, it felt like the whole town was there.”

On that given day, it just wasn’t to be for the Poppies but the memories of that run and that day in the glorious Wembley sunshine will last forever.

Norman still lives locally and can often be seen at Latimer Park with his son when he isn’t watching his beloved QPR.

It’s clear the club and that period between 1998 and 2000, in particular, still mean an awful lot to him.

“The whole experience of that season was just incredible,” he added.

“My young lad doesn’t even believe I played football so it’s nice to show him the video of Wembley every so often!

“We had a great set of lads and we never used to mind those long journeys because we had a good card school with me Carl Adams, Gary Setchell and Brett McNamara so we never minded away days at Workington or anywhere else.

“They were great times but we were winning a lot of matches after finishing as runners-up in the Conference the season before so the camaraderie was great.

“In that run, there were a couple of occasions when it looked like we were out. Even in the first game against Thame, it took a late goal to keep us in it and then we had to go and win the replay.

“It was a good set of lads, a great gaffer and it was just a shame we couldn’t get over the line.”