Whyteleafe's Wembley final is 'once in a lifetime opportunity'
AFC Whyteleafe players are looking to make the most of a "once in a lifetime opportunity" as they seek to clinch the FA Vase final at Wembley.It will be the first time playing in the final of the competition for the Surrey club and their opponents, Whitstable Town FC, from Kent.AFC Whyteleafe have enjoyed a rampant few years since joint-manager and chairman Kelly Waters took over in 2021 after Whyteleafe FC folded.He said: "We started in the parks, in the mud, step-eight football, now we're hoping to go up four leagues in four seasons."
The FA Vase is competed by teams in steps nine and 10 of the English football pyramid.It is known as one of the most prestigious cups for non-professional footballers. AFC Whyteleafe captain Helge Orome said: "We're talking the home of football. This is Wembley we're talking about. As kids, everybody growing up, it's a boy's dream to play at Wembley."Teenage goalkeeper George Hill added: "I don't think I've stopped talking about it for the last few weeks. "There's not a lot of people who can say they've played there. It's something I'll be bragging about for a long time."
Joint-manager Enzo Gonnella added: "What we've done is just given everyone the faith and put happiness back in Whyteleafe."Waters said: "You hold it [Wembley] up there in your dreams and you think you're never going to play there, certainly didn't expect to coach or manage there, and now we get to do that on Sunday."
Orome said that it was a day mainly for the fans and "once in a lifetime opportunity" for the club. "Obviously we'd want to do it again, but for now its never been done in the history of the club," he added.The captain said the players wanted to give the fans more than just a day out at Wembley."We want to actually put our names in history and actually win it, so that will mean something more and it will always be there forever," he added.
'Unfinished business'
Orome, who also played for Whyteleafe FC, said: "The situation we're in right now, never in a million years would I've imagined it, especially going through that heartbreak of the club folding and the fans not knowing where they we're going to watch their football."The captain added: "To have a majority of that squad come back and be a part of this journey, it's unfinished business really."To get back on track and to obviously do what we've done this year is just amazing really, it's just part of the story."
Hill, 17, who only made his debut for the club midway through the current season, is set to start at Wembley on Sunday.He said: "I've enjoyed every moment of it. It's unbelievable to be in this position."I've been to Wembley a few times, I saw my QPR win the play-off final there. I've seen England play there. I never even imagined I could play there."Hill, who has received 150 ticket requests from family and friends, is balancing doing college work and exams with his date with destiny.
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