"WEMBLEY MEMORIES" SCARBOROUGH F.C 1973-77

I have just been browsing through my old programmes and have decided to write a post covering our trips to Wembley back in the 1970's, hope this post brings happy memories back for any of you older 'seadogs' out there.

Scarborough F.C reached the F.A Trophy final on 4 seperate occasions between 1973 and 1977, this competition really was the non-league equivalent of the F.A Cup, and Boro in those days were regarded as one of the best non-league sides in the country.


first stop on the journey to wembley was 'leicester forest' services on the M1.

our first view of the famous towers.

To begin, I am going back to 1973, and our first Wembley appearance, our opponents were to be old foes 'Wigan Athletic', Scarborough had never seen such an exodus of fans before as special trains, coaches and hundreds of cars made their way to the famous old stadium, the Boro team boasted such names as Alan Franks, Goeff Barmby, Jimmy Shoulder and Colin Appleton.

just a few of the many boro supporters coaches parked at wembley stadium. 1973.



It was indeed, a Colin Appleton penalty which had ensured 'Boro's' first ever appearance in the final, as he scored the only goal of the semi-final against Ashford, played at Peterborough's home ground 'London Road'.
In the final itself, it took Boro only 12 minutes to open the scoring, with a Malcolm Leask goal, the game was an entertaining one and it looked as though Boro were going to be 1-0 winners, but in the very last minute Wigan grabbed an equaliser and forced extra time, but the Boro fans need not have worried as Malcolm Thompson scored a brilliantly taken goal with only 5 minutes remaining of extra time.The Boro fans returned home in happy mood, not having any idea that this journey would be repeated on another three occasions in the very near future.



happy fans after the boro v wigan final of 1973. boro won 2-1 to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.


The next occasion was to 1975, Boro were favourites to win the trophy for the second time, the opposition this time was Matlock Town.
Boro had a difficult journey to reach the final, they had to overcome a very confident Wimbledon side who had previousely knocked Burnley out of the F.A Cup and taken the then mighty Leeds United to a replay and were in fact unlucky to lose to them.
Over 8,000 fans turned up at the Athletic Ground to see Boro win the game 1-0 thanks to a goal scored by local youngster 'Tony Aveyard', a two legged semi-final followed against Bedford which resulted in two 3-1 victories for the Boro.


The final was a strange affair, for me to say that we were the far better team, despite losing 4-0 will sound like sour grapes, but it is the truth, we dominated the game, played attractive football, but strange decisions, penalty claims turned down and a couple of defensive errors all went the way of Matlock and they ended up 4-0 winners on the day.
Boro put this defeat behind them and the following season found themselves back at Wembley again, this years opponents were to be 'Stafford Rangers', who had also won the trophy once previousely, they had beaten Barnet 3-0 in 1972, the year before our victory over Wigan.
Things did not start well for Boro as Stafford took the lead on 5 minutes, but Boro pressed throughout and their persistence finally paid off as John Woodall got the equaliser just before half time, but as the second half got under way, Stafford got an early goal again, after only two minutes of the restart, an entertaining contest followed and local player Derek Abbey grabbed the second equaliser for Boro and at the end of 90 minutes the score remained 2-2.
Extra time followed, Boro had a penalty saved by Rangers 'keeper Jim Arnold but later still, with only 2 minutes remaining,my all-time favourite Boro player (in my living memory) 'Sean Marshall' took another penalty, awarded for a handball by the Rangers defence , Ever dependable Sean made no mistake, and Boro again lifted the trophy.3-2 winners.
The year now 1977, and we see yet another final as Boro fans, it proved to be a long and difficult 12 match journey for the team to reach this final, the journey began with a 3-1 victory over Frickley Athletic, a 0-0 draw at Walthamstow followed and then a 2-1 home victory in the replay, next was a 0-0 draw at Hitchin followed with a 3-1 win at home, next we had a home match with Nuneaton, played in terrible conditions and the referee had no choice but to abandon the game at half time with Boro 2-0 up.The replay ended 1-1 and meant another re-match, this time at Nuneaton,Jeff Barmby scored and we progressed to the semi finals.
Semi final opponents were Altrincham, it seemed we were home and dry as we won the home leg 2-0, but the away game did not go to plan as Boro crashed to a 2-0 defeat, so it was off to neutral ground 'Belle Vue' Doncaster and the result, a 0-0 draw, so we had to try again, this time at 'Millmoor' home of Rotherham. The result-Boro 2 altrincham 1. Back to Wembley for a fourth appearance.
This final was to be Boro v Dagenham, It was Dagenham who took the lead in the 23rd minute and it was late in the game when Boro got an equaliser, a penalty taken by Harry A Dunn and it stayed 1-1 until the closing minutes and it was looking like extra time was on the cards, when that man 'Derek Abbey' broke the hearts of the Dagenham players and fans by grabbing the winner for Boro with about 90 seconds remaining on the clock.
So that was to be Boro's 4th appearance at Wembley Stadium and they were victorious on three of those visits.
Great teams, great memories, fantastic players, a good time to be a Boro fan, I can still picture the faces of these players some 30 years on, and I still cannot believe what has happened to our football club now, it really is sad to see the decline of the stadium and the silver chain firmly fixed to the main gates, Athletic have a long way to go, but I think given time, then the new trust run club could succeed, It is criminal what has gone on at our once great club, all the history and tradition just allowed to disappear. If we do become a success again, I hope the club will be run in a proper and proffesional way and that past mistakes will not be repeated.



UP THE BORO.................






HERE ARE THE "BORO" PLAYERS COMING ONTO THE WEMBLEY PITCH FOR THE 1973 FINAL AGAINST WIGAN ATHLETIC.