PLAYERS and officials of the Sudbury Town side that reached the FA Vase final were reunited together for the first time in 20 years on Saturday.The reunion was organised by Martin Head, who along with joint manager Don James led Sudbury to the 1989 final at Wembley, where they drew 1-1 with Tamworth before losing 3-0 in a replay at Peterborough United's London Road ground.

Nick Garnham

PLAYERS and officials of the Sudbury Town side that reached the FA Vase final were reunited together for the first time in 20 years on Saturday.

The reunion was organised by Martin Head, who along with joint manager Don James led Sudbury to the 1989 final at Wembley, where they drew 1-1 with Tamworth before losing 3-0 in a replay at Peterborough United's London Road ground.

Sudbury were the first side from not only Suffolk, but from the Eastern Counties League to reach the FA Vase final.

Dave Hubbick, who scored Sudbury's goal in the final and was man-of-the-match at Wembley, recalled: “It was a fabulous day for the lads, who worked so hard as a team to get there.”

The 49-year-old, who played professionally for Ipswich Town, Colchester United and Wimbledon, continued: “But my memories are more about how we got there than the final itself, especially winning at Rossendale (in the fifth round) and the semi-final against Hungerford.

“Dean Garnham produced a fabulous performance in the first leg, making several great saves to earn us a draw, and then when we won 6-0 in the second leg, when we knew we had to be at our best and we played really well on the day as a team.”

Head, whose daughter Rebecca - only two weeks old when she attended the final - was also at the reunion, said: “The idea was to get everyone together to talk about their memories of that FA Vase run, and they have all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.”

The reunion was held at Kings Marsh Stadium, home of AFC Sudbury, which was formed following the subsequent amalgamation of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers.

The only members of the squad not present were Nigel Barton, Donnie Davis, Bryan Klug and Steve McGavin.