THE WITTON COLUMN - By Paul Harper

LAST weekend, over on the club’s social media channels, we looked back on Witton Albion’s trip to Wembley for the FA Trophy Final in 1992.

As someone who is relatively new to the club, having began volunteering as recently as 2018 as a ‘foreigner’, it’s been great to look back on some of the history of this great club and share some great times enjoyed by the club.

Not too many clubs get the chance to play at the national stadium, so for Witton to have done that is a great achievement.

Despite the result, a 3-1 loss to Colchester United, it remains a memorable day and occasion in the history of the club.

We asked supporters to share their memories and stories of the day and it was brilliant to read all of them and see how much it meant for fans to follow their club to the big stage. Hopefully, we can get back there one day.

Here's the highlights of Wembley and the homecoming:

 


 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 

 

 

The game itself was an uphill challenge from the opening few minutes, with Albion conceding twice inside the first 20 minutes.

But the team kept going and going, and brought a goal back in the second half with a fantastic header by Mike Lutkevich.

Whilst pushing hard for an equaliser, and with Colchester having a man sent off in the final 10 minutes, Witton got done with a sucker punch and conceded in the final minute.

Nonetheless, it was a great achievement, a superb cup run to get to Wembley and a proud performance to get so close.

Colchester went on to move into the Football League and one of the names which stands out from the teamsheet of that game was a 19-year-old Mark Kinsella.

Kinsella was beginning to make his name in the game and he went on to play in the top flight with Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa, not to mention 48 international caps with the Republic of Ireland and appearances at the 2002 World Cup.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t obtain a digital copy of the full match, but I managed to find some key clips to share with our supporters and followers and I hope everyone enjoyed the little look back on the events of that day.

We’ll look at converting old DVDs and VHS tapes into digital format when the world turns to some sort of normality again.

To finish, and a thank you to those who have contributed to our crowdfunding campaign in the last couple of weeks.

With no income coming in to the club, the generosity of our fanbase is really helping us and is very much appreciated by everyone at the club.

We’re looking at doing one or two things to coincide with the crowdfunding, so please keep an eye on our social media channels and website for further information.

Stay safe everyone.