Littlehampton Town at Wembley: Mayor wishes team good luck ahead of Sunday's big game

Jill Long, who became Littlehampton mayor last week, called Littlehampton Town’s match a brilliant start to her mayorship and said she was very excited to have a ticket for tomorrow’s game.

Littlehampton Town, known as the Marigolds or Golds, are the first Sussex club to get to the FA Vase final.

Jill, who has lived in Littlehampton for more than 30 years, said there was a ‘real buzz’ about the town this week, with bunting and posters up in shops and lots of people talking about the big game.

She added: “I think several thousand people are going, so Littlehampton is going to be pretty quiet on Sunday. All week, so many people have been talking to me about the match, there is a real buzz in the air.

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“It is so important for the team, as their success is immense. They have done so well to have got this far, and I’m not saying Sunday’s game doesn’t matter as it absolutely does, but they should just be so incredibly proud of themselves to have even got this far.

"They’re obviously incredibly talented and I just wish them lots of luck.”

Golds’ title clash against Newport Pagnell Town kicks off at 12.15pm. More than 7,000 fans have tickets to support the team.

It will be Jill’s first time watching a game at Wembley, and she said she was excited to experience the atmosphere at the national stadium. She will be going with councillor Billy Blanchard-Cooper and a couple of others.

She said she felt the Golds’ success came at a great time, when people are dealing with the cost of living crisis and said it had brought a lot of positive attention to the town.

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"It’s really captured the community spirit and brought our town together to support our lads. It’s really great,” Jill said.

"It’s given people something really encouraging to think about and this can help bring more attention to the town.

"A lot of people used to come here for their holidays when they were kids and their mum and dads would bring them down. There are so many people who have memories of Littlehampton, and this is just a nudge to remind them that we’re still here.

"Not only are we a lovely town with a great beach, but we have got this really good football club, so it’s an opportunity for youngsters to start to think if this is happening, maybe we can have a go at that.

"Everybody will have heard of us by mid-afternoon on Sunday, which is just a great opportunity for the town.”

Jill added it would be the ‘icing on the cake’ if the Golds won, and said she was keeping everything crossed for them.

The match will be shown on BT Sport for anybody without a ticket to watch at home.