On Monday afternoon two North East teams faced off in the FA Vase final at Wembley, a cup competition similar to the FA Cup but for teams in step 5 and 6 of the football pyramid.
This years final is actually from the 2019/20 season, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the semi-finals for this seasons FA Vase will take place on Saturday 8th May 2021 with Hebburn looking to keep their title.
The final is set to take place at Wembley on Saturday 22nd May 2021.
North East teams have had great success in the competition, out of the last 13 finals only one did not feature a team from the area - last years final against Chertsey Town and Cray Valley Paper Mills.
Whitley Bay, a club in North Tyneside are the most successful club in the competition winning it four times in 2001/02 and three straight years between 2008 and 2011.
It is a real shame that no fans could be at Wembley to support their teams but there was a large backing as they game was showed live on BT Sport.
Consett took the lead early on in this years final through Ali Al Shabeeb who rounded the Hebburn keeper and fired into the roof of the net.
But it took just 90 seconds for Hebburn to find an equaliser and it came from Amar Purewal who was played through on goal.
Consett striker and former Hartlepool man Jake Orrell suffered a nasty injury to the head and had to be replaced around half an hour into the game.
Dale Pearson fired Consett back into the lead in the 41st minute but two minutes later Hebburn fired back, equalising through Michael Richardson.
The game calmed down a bit in the second half until substitute Olly Martin scored what was the winner in the game in the 82nd minute.
Football at its best and a really great game, congratulations to Hebburn Town on the victory but well done to both teams setting a fantastic example for Non-League football and making their towns and the area proud.
The Beautiful Game spoke to Adam Webb, Consett AFC's videographer who was covering the game at Wembley on Saturday he said:
"The game was great, if you needed an advertisement for non league North East football that was it. We threw it away in the second half unfortunately missing our chances but as a fan I couldn’t be prouder of Consett yesterday.
"The players you heard about in the build up delivered for both teams. You had Purewal and Pearson scoring goals, Richardson getting MOTM for Hebburn and Carr coming on for Consett creating chances doing what he does best. Alshabeeb’s opening goal as well, how about taking your chance at Wembley!"
It's not just the players that should relish the opportunity but the fans did too, despite not being allowed to travel and support the team at Wembley. Webb said:
"If fans had been allowed in the game would’ve been even better. The fact hundreds of people showed up to see the team away on Sunday showed how much it meant to he people.
"In the weeks building up teams were decorating their shops in club colours and all of the merchandise we had on sale was gone very quickly!
"Everything about the experience of the Fa Vase is massive it gives players and fans alike a chance of their dream of playing at the national stadium.
"Clubs that have such a tight fan base get to have a vip professional experience as volunteers doing their regular tasks e.g. kitman but on the biggest scale in the country at Wembley!
"It was great to see all these people who work tirelessly for their club get rewarded with a big day like yesterday making memories they’ll pass on to next generations."
Non-League is the beating heart of football in England and this is no different in the North East.
Competitions like the FA Vase creates great opportunities to give something back to all the people who put many hours in to helping run a Non-League team for little to no wage in return.
This years final lived up to its name and further proves why football fans should get behind their local non-league club and support them.
Thanks to Adam Webb for his help with this piece.
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