The 1991âÂÂ92 FA Trophy Final, known as the 1992 Vauxhall FA Trophy Final for sponsorship reasons, was the final match of the 1991âÂÂ92 FA Trophy. It was the 23rd season of the competition for teams from the Conference and other semi-professional teams below this level. The match was held on 10 May 1992 at Wembley Stadium, London, and was contested by Colchester United and Witton Albion. Both were appearing in the final for the first time.
Each club needed to progress through five rounds to reach the final, which included a two-legged semi-final. En route to the final, Colchester defeated Kingstonian and Merthyr Tydfil after replays, Morecambe, Telford United, and Macclesfield Town. Witton needed a replay to beat Billingham Synthonia in the first round, then saw off Aylesbury United, Stalybridge Celtic, Wycombe Wanderers, and Marine.
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Colchester United were held to a 2âÂÂ2 draw with Kingstonian in the first round of the FA Trophy at their Layer Road ground. Three goals in the opening ten minutes of the match had given Kingstonian a 2âÂÂ1 lead, but a 90th-minute equaliser from Tony English sent the tie to a replay. Colchester then scraped through the replay with a 3âÂÂ2 victory at Kingsmeadow. They were then held to a goalless draw at Merthyr Tydfil in the second round, but a late Roy McDonough goal secured a 1âÂÂ0 win for the U's in the replay. Colchester beat Morecambe 3âÂÂ1 in their third round match, before a resounding 4âÂÂ0 win over Telford United in the fifth round. In the semi-final first leg, Colchester made the most of home advantage and beat Macclesfield Town 3âÂÂ0, before guaranteeing a trip to Wembley with a 1âÂÂ1 draw at Moss Rose to win 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
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Witton Albion drew 2âÂÂ2 with Billingham Synthonia at Wincham Park in the first round. They won 2âÂÂ1 after extra time in the replay at Belasis Lane. In round two, Witton beat Aylesbury United 1âÂÂ0, followed by another 1âÂÂ0 victory at home to Stalybridge Celtic. In the fifth round, Witton overcame Wycombe Wanderers 2âÂÂ1 at Adams Park. In the semi-final, they were held to a 2âÂÂ2 draw at home by Marine, before winning 4âÂÂ1 at Rossett Park to win 6âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Prior to this match, the two sides had only met on three occasions. The first meeting had only been in March 1991, when Witton beat Colchester 2âÂÂ0 at Layer Road in the 1990âÂÂ91 FA Trophy. The two remaining meetings came in the 1991âÂÂ92 Conference, which featured a 2âÂÂ2 draw at Wincham Park, and a 3âÂÂ2 win to Colchester at Layer Road.
The attendance for the match was 32,254 at Wembley, with an estimated 20,000 Colchester United fans in attendance. The match was also televised on Sky Sports. Colchester, who had just won promotion back to the Football League from the Conference, took the lead after five minutes when Mike Masters became the first American national professional footballer to score at Wembley. After 19 minutes, Nicky Smith doubled Colchester's lead, and the score remained 2âÂÂ0 until after half-time. Witton got themselves back into the game through Mike Lutkevich on 57 minutes, before Colchester were reduced to ten men after Jason Cook was sent off ten minutes from full-time. However, Steve McGavin sealed a non-League double for Colchester in their first visit to Wembley with an 89th-minute goal to win 3âÂÂ1.
Following his sending off, Jason Cook was ineligible to receive a winners medal, but unused substitute Eamonn Collins handed his medal to Cook.