The Social Media account FA Vase Factfile has created a list of the Top 50 clubs in the competitions 52 year history.
Just last weekend, AFC Stoneham in Hampshire were the latest side to win the FA Vase at Wembley, beating Cockfosters 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw in normal time.
Run by Phil Annets, the FA Vase Factfile account is an offshoot of the celebrated FA Cup Factfila, and has two separate Top 50 rankings, one by Rounds Reached, and one by Cumulative Points.
The account explains the rankings in the two lists as follows:
By round reached – Multiple winners ahead of single winners ahead of finalists ahead of clubs making semi-finals etc.
By cumulative points – one point for each Qualifying Round 1 exit, two for Qualifying Round 2, up to 11 pts per win.
The ‘Round Reached’ rank features four time winners Whitley Bay at the top with Ascot United and Thatcham Town both included in the Top 50 as 21st century winners of the competition.
That’s all fairly self-explanatory. The table, perhaps of more interest, is the one that ranks teams by cumulative points and rewards both consistency and longevity in the competition.
Tunbridge Wells lead the way in this metric, but it is Hungerford Town in 10th who rank as the most successful Berkshire side in the competition – even more impressive considering the Crusaders haven’t featured in the competition since the 2008/09 season.
The West Berkshire side have never been in the Final, but have reached the Semi-Finals three times, most recently in 88/89 when the lost our to eventual beaten finalists Sudbury Town.
Fellow West Berkshire side Thatcham are the only other county club in the list, coming in 50th after returning to the competition this season following a break of seven seasons after winning the Final at Wembley in 2018.
Berkshire’s FA Vase history
Until Thatcham’s win in 2017/18 from a Shane Cooper-Clark penalty, Berkshire’s record in the FA Vase was pretty uneventful.
The three Semi-Final appearances for Hungerford, one for Windsor & Eton (80/81) and a Quarter Final for the original Newbury Town in 93/94 are about all we have of note.
Thatcham’s win changed everything, but that same season, Windsor FC and Bracknell Town both reached the Quarter Finals – the former a Barry Hayles-inspired run ended by losing finalists Stockton Town, while the latter’s best ever run was derailed by Marske United at Larges Lane.
“He always scores” will be a phrase that goes down in West Berkshire football history. Binfield followed them with an emotional rollercoaster of a journey – reaching the Final in 20/21 when most football was covered by Covid restrictions. The Moles were beaten by Warrington Rylands 3-2 despite two outstanding goals from Liam Ferdinand.
Ascot United though did lift the trophy in the Royal Box. Jamie Tompkins men beating defending champions Newport Pagnell Town 1-0 courtesy of a Kai Walters goal in 2023.
We eagerly await the next Berkshire finalist!
