THE FA VASE FINAL 2013: In sporting terms it's our biggest day any of us have had - Martin Larkin

TUNBRIDGE WELLS manager Martin Larkin has told his players to embrace the occasion at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.



The Kent Hurlimann Football League outfit lock horns with second-placed Northern League outfit Spennymoor Town in the FA Carlsberg Vase Final.

The Culverden Stadium side have sold over 10,000 tickets for their biggest ever game and Larkin cannot wait after playing a gruelling 13 games in 29 days, which put paid to their title challenge and they travel to Wembley in seventh-place in the Kent League with two league games left to play.

Larkin, 32, wants his side to embrace the biggest game of their lives.

He said: “To embrace it and enjoy it.   We’ll go there on Friday and we’ll have a look around the changing rooms and the pitch and that kind of thing to get the players used to it and we’ve got a really nice hotel booked, which will be nice. There’s no point sitting in the room shaking and worrying about it!

“In sporting terms it’s the biggest day any of us have had apart from Brad (Sandeman, who played for Port Vale and Maidstone United in the Football League), so it’s a case of how we enjoy the day. The more we enjoy it, the more we embrace it and the better we play.”

Larkin will lead his club out on to the pitch, followed by Tunbridge Wells resident, skipper Jason Bourne, along with his two children, on a proud day for everybody.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the players embracing the day and playing well,” said Larkin.

“I’m not too fussed about it. It will be nice to lead them out and that kind of thing.  It’s their day. 

“Can they put in place the plans that we’re going to give them and play well and if we do that then we’ll have a good day.

“We need to play well, there’s no doubt about that.  Spennymoor are a very good side, very experienced, got a lot of quality right the way through it, so we need to play well. If we play well, we’ll be able to compete. If we can compete for 90 minutes then you never know what will happen.

“It’s going to be a big occasion and we have to make sure we’re energised from the crowd. We’re going to have the majority of the crowd there. If we just energise on that then who knows?”

Larkin will be fully prepared to face Spennymoor Town on Saturday and will have a box of tricks up his sleeve to bring the silverware back home.

When asked whether he’s done his homework, he replied, “What do you think? Of course we have!  That’s what we pride on, being prepared and making sure we’ve got plans in place.

“Brad and I had an 18-hour round trip to Spennymoor and back a day before the Kent Senior Trophy Final. We’re fully prepared and we have to make sure the players understand what needs to be done and they go and execute it.”

The only Kent League side to have reached this final was Tommy Sampson’s Deal Town side when Roly Graham scored THAT late winner to beat Chippenham Town underneath the iconic Twin Towers in May 2000.

The whole of the Kentish Football family (apart from the club’s in action like Maidstone United and Faversham Town who lock horns in the Ryman League Division One South Play-Off Final) will be supporting Tunbridge Wells on Saturday and are desperate to see Bourne lift the trophy at the end of an energy zapping 90 or more minutes.

Larkin said: “We’re playing in a 90 thousand seater stadium and where hoping 12-13 thousand seats behind one goal are going to be wearing red. It’s fantastic.  We’re going to walk out that tunnel and turn right and sea a sea of red – if that can’t get you energised then nothing can!

“It’s massively exciting. It’s good to play at Wembley.  The changing rooms are amazing, it’s just like a five-star class hotel in there, the tunnel and all that kind of stuff is very, very exciting.”

Spennymoor Town are the only side that stand in the way of Kent’s greatest day since Ebbsfleet United won the FA Carlsberg Trophy at Wembley Stadium in May 2008.

Spennymoor still have six league games remaining, but have chalked up a massive 97 point haul, 22 points adrift of champions Darlington.

Spennymoore have the big-spending tag, Tunbridge Wells travel to Wembley as an amateur club with big hearts.

“They’re a well-run club,” said Larkin. “This is a key pointer, we’ve very proud that we’ve got to a Vase final without a budget because it’s not been done before and it won’t be done again.

“It’s not to say if someone slapped four grand a week for me to spend I wouldn’t say no to it. It would be great to have that as well.

“But we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved and we’re up against a club where they’ve all got a lot of players there all on contract and they pay well and fair play to them and that’s how you want to operate.  I’d like to be in that kind of environment and see what we can do with that.

“It is one version against the other and we’ll see what comes out of the day. We’re confident that once the whistle goes, all the contracts and the money goes out of the window.

“We’re going to have a massive, massive crowd there and that’s going to have a massive impact on the day. We’ve sold a lot more tickets than they have as well so we’re going to use that and seize the day and embrace it.

“The Kent football family is a big one. There’s a lot of clubs in Kent. It’s a shame it’s on the Ryman South play-off Final day so Maidstone United can’t see Richard Sinden on his big day out. 

“It’s going to be a special day.  The more people we can get the better because we want to come out of that tunnel and see an absolute sea of red and turn left and see empty seats where their fans are. If we can do that it will be a massive boost for the players.”

Success at Wembley will put the club on a different level and put pressure on Larkin to win the Kent League title next season.

Erith & Belvedere were crowned champions by two points on Tuesday night in the most dramatic of title races since the Maidstone United/Beckenham Town title tussle on the last day of the 2005-06 campaign, when the Stones overtook Beckenham with victory at Sevenoaks Town, while Beckenham were held to a draw by Erith & Belvedere.

“Everyone looks at it, it’s a Vase run and we’ve earnt loads of money out of it, but some of the teams should go and win a few Vase games and realise how little money you actually make out of it. It’s more the legacy side to it,” said Larkin.

“It looks like we’re going to lose two big clubs from the league this year with Erith & Belvedere and (possibly) VCD going up, so it is there for us now.  We have to do as well as we can at Wembley and focus as a club to make sure that next year is the year that we get ourselves promoted.

“Wembley is a springboard for people.  It can be a springboard for a number of people. It can be a springboard for people like Jack Harris to go on to greater things. It should be a springboard for the club to grow and grow and grow.  People like Josh Stanford and Chris Oladogba, the goalkeeper, it could be a springboard for massive things.  That’s what we want to do, but it won’t be if we don’t perform on the day and that’s all we’re going to concentrate on.”

Tickets cost £15 (adults) and £5 (under 16s) and are available from www.TheFA.com/tickets or by calling 0844 980 0656 and are also available on the day of the game from Wembley Stadium.

Visit Tunbridge Wells’ website: www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk  

Spennymoor Town  v  Tunbridge Wells
The FA Carlsberg Vase Final
Saturday 4^th May 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Wembley Stadium, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 OWS