ONE of the surviving members of the last West Auckland team to play at Wembley hopes Sunday’s finalists will be more lucky than he was.

Colin Summerson played centre-half for West Auckland Town when they travelled to the national stadium on April 22, 1961, for the FA Amateur Cup final against Walthamstow Avenue.

And he will make the journey south again this Sunday for West Auckland Town’s FA Vase final against fellow North-Easterners Dunston UTS.

Mr Summerson was the only local lad in the 1961 final team, and said he has fond memories of the day despite his side’s 2-1 loss.

He said: “It was a very big occasion – there must have been 50,000 people there.

“It all went so quickly, once the game started that was what we were focused on. I still don’t know how we lost, we had 80 per cent of the possession, but still didn’t win.”

Mr Summerson, who now lives in Weardale, County Durham, and other members of the 1961 squad have been treated to complementary tickets for Sunday’s final, and he said the modern-day team’s achievements are just as important as the past glories.

He said: “I think the current team is very good. A lot of people think the game is not as good as the old days, but I think you’ve got to forget about the past.

“Today’s players are equally as hard-working and skillful as we were, they may even be a bit faster.”

West Auckland have a strong footballing history and the club’s main claim to fame to this day is winning the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in 1909, and retaining it two years later.

They were invited to take part in the international tournament, dubbed the first World Cup, by tea maker and philanthropist Sir Thomas Lipton, and players and families sold their possessions to fund the trip to Turin, in Italy.

Despite being underdogs, the West Auckland team – made up of miners – beat German side Stuttgart 2-0 before winning the final by the same score against Swiss side FC Winterhour.

They then returned to Turin in 1911 and retained the title, hammering hosts Juventus 6-1 in the final.