Hebburn Town's Wembley dreams remain alive as the Football Association's FA Vase stance revealed

Hebburn Town’s dreams of walking out at Wembley in the FA Vase Final remain alive.
Hebburn TownHebburn Town
Hebburn Town

The Football Association made contact with key figures at The Energy Check Sports Ground and Northern League rivals Consett on Thursday morning to reassure them that they are determined to complete all of their national competitions for the 2019/20 season.

Hebburn had made their way to the last four of the FA Vase for the first time in the history and they were preparing for the away leg of their semi-final against Southern Counties East League club Corinthian FC when the coronavirus epidemic brought a premature end to the season for clubs in steps three to seven of the non-league system.

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An FA Council decision to ratify the move to void the season led to fears that Hebburn’s hopes of securing a first ever visit to the national stadium had been ended.

However, the club’s director of football Stephen Rutherford told The Gazette that the Football Association have informed the clubs that they will keep the situation “under constant review” as they outlined their intention to play the competition to a close.

He said: “The club received a very promising phone call from the Football Association on Thursday and they gave us an update on the FA Vase situation.

“We have been told that they are determined to host the rest of their national competitions for the season but could not confirm when that would be.

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“They advised they know the importance of what these competitions mean to clubs, players and supporters at our level.

“They have agreed to keep in touch when further information is available and consult the semi-finalists when further decisions will need to be made whether that be going ahead or not.

“They also did share an expectation that we cannot wait forever and in the future, a decision may need to be had where it’s not economically viable to continue the competitions, but that was a last resort”

“As a club we are really pleased with the update and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we get a positive outcome.

“For now, we remain focused on keeping everyone safe.”

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Consett have also confirmed that they have received notice from the Football Association as they look to contest their own two-legged semi-final tie against Western League club Bitton could still go ahead at some point in the future.