The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Skipper recalls Wembley path
As a jubilant Josh Falkingham hoisted the FA Trophy above his head on the hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium, flames erupting from the podium as his team-mates roared with delight, he was living a boyhood dream – for the second time.
The home of English football has become a familiar stomping ground for the Harrogate Town captain, having led the Sulphurites to victory in the National League playoff final last August.
On Monday, the former St Johnstone, Arbroath and Dunfermline midfielder made it a double, scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 triumph over Concord Rangers in the final of the FA Trophy – the showpiece fixture of non-league football, held over from the 2019-20 campaign.
Yet the sense of majesty, awe and achievement was no less great the second time around.
“It was incredibly special,” said Falkingham. As he said: “You don’t know when the next one is going to come – so you’ve got to celebrate them.
“Wembley is the pinnacle. We’ve been so lucky over the past year to play there twice – but you can’t possibly get tired of that.
“As a Leeds fan, I’d be lying if I said I had too many memories of watching my team at Wembley but, as a kid, Wembley was everything. It was where dreams came true and where you wanted to play.
“To have the honour of actually captaining this club and holding those trophies aloft – I can’t put into words what that means.
“You are just desperate to get that buzz back. It has given us even more determination to get back there again.”
Regardless of how many
times Leeds-born Falkingham walks up Wembley Way, there is no chance of him taking the remarkable rise of Harrogate for granted – not after what he experienced at Dunfermline.
“That was the biggest learning curve in my life,” Falkingham told The Courier, reflecting on his four years at East End Park. “I grew up so quickly.”
In the summer of 2012, the diminutive midfielder left Arbroath to join a team seemingly seeking to win promotion to the top flight. Ten months later, the Pars entered administration.
Falkingham still recalls the players being called into the Purvis Suite at East End Park for a meeting with insolvency expert Bryan Jackson.
He said: “I watched friends lose their jobs. I’ll never forget the feeling of walking into that room and waiting to find out whether I would still be a Dunfermline player at the end of the day.
“Hopefully, I never experience anything like that ever again.”
Falkingham was made skipper of a grand old Fife institution attempting to climb off its knees and remains the last man to captain a Dunfermline side to promotion, winning the League 1 title in 2016 under Allan Johnston.
Falkingham is, however, at pains to lavish praise on Arbroath, where he truly made his first steps in the game after leaving the St Johnstone youth ranks.
“When I think to my time in Scotland, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I forgot about Arbroath,” he added.
“The two years I spent there were incredible under Paul Sheerin and I still phone him constantly, asking for advice, guidance or his thoughts on things.
“I won my first ever trophy when we won the Third Division title (201011) and it’s been brilliant to watch them kick on and go from strength to strength.”