FA Trophy & FA Vase Update

Only one issue is outstanding before the full semi-final line-up is settled for this season's FA Trophy after Saturday's last eight ties saw a couple of upset results.

Bognor Regis Town of the Ryman Premier League and Nantwich Town of the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League (both at step 3 of the pyramid) defeated Conference National sides Torquay United and Dover Athletic respectively.

They will be joined in the semi-finals by Grimsby Town and the winners of this week's replay between FC Halifax and Gateshead.

In the FA Vase, Morpeth Town continued the fine record of Northern League clubs by reaching the semi-finals, defeating Bristol Manor Farm in a delayed tie on Saturday while Bowers & Pitsea were 4-0 winners at Kidlington in a quarter-final replay.

The big story in the competition, however, is the semi-final meeting between two sides with big names at Non-League level who reformed as 'Phoenix' teams last summer.

Hereford and Salisbury's quarter-final ties attracted a combined crowd of over 5,000 and they will meet over two-legs for a place at Wembley on the first ever Non-League Finals Day.

The FA, in a bid to boost interest in the two finals and hopefully keep them at the National Stadium for many years to come, have come up with the idea which will see both games played on Sunday 22 May, the FA Vase final at 12:15pm and the FA Trophy final at 4:15pm with supporters able to pass in and out of the stadium to see a host of exhibitions and examples of the FA's work in the wider game.

Tickets are priced at £25 for Adults, £10 for Concessions and just £1 for Under-16's with further reductions for groups.

A Salisbury versus Hereford final would probably have been an ideal scenario but the presence of at least one of them at Wembley will produce a larger than normal crowd for the Vase side of things.

Add in the two Trophy finalists and, hopefully, a good number of neutrals and the day should prove a success.

Thanks, as always, to The Non-League Paper for being the best place to get results and fixtures from for the Pyramid. Out every Sunday, this week's edition has been expanded to 56 pages for the same price of £1.50 and it is always interesting to see how quickly the team put together all of the various reports and results from Saturday's games in time to hit the newsagents the following morning.