How Blues reached Wembley...

LEEK Town made it to Wembley the hard way, playing a total of 11 matches stretching over seven months during qualifying.

Clubs such as Telford United, Stafford Rangers and Darlington entered the competition at the first round stage, whereas Leek had to battle through qualifying rounds before they could start thinking about Wembley.

Their first match in the competition was at home to Beazer Homes League side Hednesford Town.

Leek won 3-1 that day in front of a crowd of 279 with goals from Gary Pearce, Chris Mcmullen and Trevor Russell.

Then it was off to Moor Green, another Beazer Homes League side, but in front of almost 300 people, Leek beat them 3-1. Neil Pestridge, Dale Mallaburn and Dave Sutton getting the goals.

In the next round, Leek were draw away to fellow HFS Loans League Division One side Newtown on December 2 and a single goal from Carl France was enough to give Leek the victory.

A trip to Spennymoor, from the Skol Northern League, greeted Leek on January 13. Just 814 people turned up to watch the game, but Leek won 2-1 with Paul Clowes and Dave Sutton scoring.

Trophy fever suddenly hit the town for the first time when they were drawn at home to Nuneaton Borough on February 3. A big police operation swung into operation to deal with a crowd of just under 1,000 but there was no trouble and Leek were held to a 1-1 draw, Dave Sutton cancelling out an own goal from Chris Mcmullen.

The replay was scheduled for the Monday night and in front of a crowd of 1,350 partizan home fans, Leek went on to win 1-0, centre-half Paul Clowes scoring the all-important goal.

Leek eagerly awaited the draw and found themselves up against the mighty Telford United, the Trophy holders. Although Leek had to soak up a lot of pressure they held on for a 0-0 draw.

Four days later, Telford came to Leek for the replay, it attracted 1,622 fans and they witnessed a superb performance as Leek went on to win 3-1 with goals from Gary Pearce, Alan Somerville and Ivan Lodge.

It was now down to the quarterfinals and out popped the game of Darlington - the tournament favourites - who were then managed by Brian Little and had just dropped out of the Football League in the 1988/1989 season.

Few people gave Leek a chance, but Trevor Russell scored three minutes from time to take Town in the semi-finals. A record crowd of 2,350 watched the game.

The semi-final draw was made and Leek were drawn against Stafford Rangers.

The first match attracted 3,236 spectators to Marston Road, where again Leek had their backs to the wall, but in the second leg the following Saturday, Town scored the only goal of the game.

The record books were written once again as 2,773 packed into Harrison Park to witness a great day in the club’s history.