As Littlehampton Town prepare to go to Brighton & Hove Albion, relive the day they invaded Wembley

It’s three years since Wembley turned gold – or to be more precise, Golds. May 22, 2022 – the day Littlehampton Town made history for the town and for Sussex by going to football HQ and playing in the FA Vase final. And as they prepare for another big occasion, we make no apologies for turning the clock back to that great day.

Mitch Hand and George Gaskin’s team are at the Amex Stadium on Thursday (May 8) evening to face new Isthmian League champions Horsham in the Sussex Transport Senior Cup final.

It’s not Wembley but it’s not a bad place to play a final, and the game will for Golds players, staff and fans, bring back memories of that 2022 FA Vase final.

The then SCFL premier division champions took 7,000 fans to the capital to see them take on Newport Pagnell – and become the first Sussex team to play a non-league final at Wembley.

Thousands more watched on TV back at home and it was a day that will be spoken out by those who were part of it for many, many years to come.

The result was a disappointment – they ended up well beaten 3-0 by Newport Pagnell – but that should not take away from their achievement in reaching HQ.

On this page and the ones linked you can see many of Martin Denyer’s superb gallery of pictures of fans on their way to and at Wembley, and some of the players, staff and even the mascots. Great memories!

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