English football’s elite have never felt so far removed from the everymen further down the pyramid, but there remains one bit of common ground: Wembley Stadium, a place that defines seasons and sometimes careers. At non-league finals day, the double header that has become a rich addition (spiritually if not financially) to the English football calendar, Kai Walters of Ascot United and Jamie Cooke of FC Halifax Town were carved on to the list of players who have lived the ultimate childhood daydream by scoring a winning goal at Wembley.
Non-league finals day, which started in 2016, is an opportunity for four teams from outside the English Football League to see how the other half live. It combines the finals of the FA Vase, the knockout trophy for teams in tiers nine and 10 of English men’s football, and the FA Trophy (tiers five to eight). There’s none of the entitlement and ennui you sometimes see when the biggest clubs return to Wembley, and the mood around the stadium is subtly different: eyes are a little wider, smiles a little broader, songs a little lustier.
