ON Saturday, around 4,500 Spennymoor supporters descended on Wembley to watch their team beat Tunbridge Wells in the FA Vase final. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson travelled to London to soak up the celebratory scenes.

PRIOR to Saturday, Vicky Walker had never been to a football match.

But if you're going to start anywhere, it might as well be at Wembley with your hometown club playing the biggest game of their history.

“To be honest, I've never really been that bothered,” said Vicky. “I'm not going to tell you how old I am, but that's a fair few years where I've never even been tempted to watch a football match.

“But I've lived in Spennymoor all my life and in all that time, this is the biggest thing that's happened to the town. I couldn't miss it could I? I just hope I don't start cheering for the wrong team.”

It's safe to say Vicky was not alone. At their Northern League matches, Spennymoor play in front of an average crowd of 450. On Saturday, they were cheered on by around 4,500 travelling fans, more than a quarter of the population of the County Durham town. As a result, the day was like a giant family reunion, just with a bit more in the way of face paint, replica shirts and pints of Carlsberg in plastic glasses.

“There's three of us come down – all brothers,” explained Ian Hull, in the beer garden of The Green Man, the pub a decent goal kick away from Wembley Stadium that had been commandeered as the coach park for the Spennymoor supporters' coaches. “We all set off at 6.30am, but somehow managed to end up on different buses. God knows how we'll find each other.

“It's fantastic to see so many people down here you recognise. The atmosphere in the town has been great ever since the semi-final. I had to queue for an hour-and-a-half on Thursday night to get a cup final top, and all anyone could talk about was how they were getting to Wembley.”

If the pre-match excitement was palpable, the mood became even more celebratory as Spennymoor's supporters began to file into the ground.

“I can't believe we're at Wembley,” said Chris Priestley, who had more reason than most to marvel at the transformation that saw Spennymoor claw themselves from the verge of non-existence in 2005 in order to evolve into one of the most successful non-league clubs in the North-East.

Ten years ago, Priestley was a goalkeeper with Evenwood Town. Two years later, and after Spennymoor United folded, Evenwood moved to the Brewery Field and became Spennymoor Town, a new club that now boasts an FA Vase to go with its three Northern League titles.

“It's a fairytale story really,” said Priestley. “The first few years were tough, but the last few seasons have been incredible. It's putting Spennymoor on the map.”

Those last few seasons have coincided with the arrival of Brad Groves, the Easington-born businessman who has invested a six-figure sum in Moors and always viewed an FA Vase final as a key staging post in his club's development.

In the previous four seasons, the competition had been something of a North-Eastern monopoly, with Whitley Bay claiming three successive victories before Dunston saw off West Auckland in an all-Northern League final in 2012.

Spennymoor had been like the child with their face pressed against the sweet-shop window in those years; Saturday was the day when they were finally allowed inside to fill their face.

The omens were good, with the Spennymoor fans situated to the left of the Royal Box, in the same section that had been filled by Darlington supporters as their side won the FA Trophy in 2011 and jubilant Dunston fans last season.

Would the sun also be smiling on Spennymoor? Literally it certainly was, with the North-East contingent able to bask in glorious sunlight while the Tunbridge Wells fans at the opposite end of the ground were shivering in the shade.

Things reached fever pitch when Spennymoor's black-and-white-clad players left the tunnel, led by their injured skipper, Daniel 'Bobby' Moore, who had broken his ankle in a game with Ashington nine days earlier.

Outdone numerically, the Moors fans were in good voice from the off. “Shall we sing a song for you?” they asked the southern contingent from Tunbridge Wells, who responded with a chorus of, “We pay your benefits”. So much for David Cameron's assertion that we're all in this together.

The Spennymoor cheers became even louder when Gavin Cogdon headed in Keith Graydon's cross in the 18th minute, and while Tunbridge winger Josh Stanford briefly put the game in the balance when he volleyed home with 12 minutes left, Graydon's fierce 80th-minute shot ensured the Vase remained in the North-East for a fifth successive season.

“It's been an incredible journey,” said Moors boss Jason Ainsley. “When I first took over, I wouldn't even dare take a new player to the ground because it was derelict. There were weeds on the pitch and the clubhouse didn't even have a carpet.

“Now, we have a ground we can be proud of, a team that gives everything and we've won a major final at Wembley. Not bad for a bunch of lads from Spennymoor.”