The 1994/5 F A Vase campaign opened with a resounding 5-0 win at home to Washington followed by a goal fest at home to Willington who were eliminated 6-4 after extra time.

The Nailers were rewarded with another home tie, this time it was South Shields who were put to the sword with a resounding 4-0 home victory.

With Belper's success in the competition generating interest in the town, the Nailers were drawn away against Falmouth Town.

The 310-mile journey still holds the record for the longest distance that Belper have travelled for any competitive fixture, and a superb weekend was topped by a crushing 5-1 victory over a Falmouth team who had been super confident of victory.

A quarter final draw away to the Metropolitan Police provided a stiffer test and an untidy game played on a hard pitch saw Paul Galloway score the only goal and send the Nailers one step away from Wembley.

In front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 at Christchurch Meadow it was Galloway who gave Belper the slenderest of leads with a goal in the 89th minute, and it was to be an even tougher task in the second leg at Oxford.

Mike Taplin got the Nailers off to a great start with a 3rd minute strike, but City ended Belper dreams when they ran out 3-2 winners on aggregate.

Promotion 2 years later meant that Belper had to leave the F A Vase behind them and compete in the F A Trophy, and to date they haven't been able to replicate that success.

Each of the players in the starting line up (apart from Andy Womble who couldn't be present) were given a glossy booklet commemorating the F A Vase run with pictures, match reports and much more as a souvenir of the event.

Thanks go to the club for organising the event and in particular to Dave Laughlin and Chris Nelson and everyone else who played a part in making the evening so enjoyable.