FA Trophy Final - Sunday 17th May 1998 - Wembley Stadium
Cheltenham's first major final was by no means a classic, but it was a memorable day for Steve Cotterill's team and the 18,000 or so fans who made the trip to Wembley from Gloucestershire.
The build-up to the big occasion created a buzz around the town with tickets selling like hotcakes and interest spreading across the whole of Gloucestershire. The squad even recorded a cup final record 'Cotswold Pride', but with lyrics such as: "Bob won't drop Bloomers, according to rumours", the top of the charts was never a possibility!
The day of the game finally arrived and in true cup final tradition, it was gloriously sunny weather. Southport, who finished 16th in the Conference and 28 points behind runners-up Cheltenham, began the game as firm underdogs. Both teams included a player in their forties, evergreen winger Clive Walker for Cheltenham and Southport's player-manager Paul Futcher.
Big match nerves appeared to have affected some of the players and there were uncharacteristic mistakes aplenty. Bob Bloomer made a fantastic last ditch challenge to deny Sandgrounders' skipper Brian Butler a goalscoring chance and Steve Book's handling was impeccable as Futcher's men controlled large periods of the game.
Brian Ross wasted a chance for Southport in the 63rd minute, when he evaded the challenge of Mark Freeman and was faced with only Book to beat. Book did well to make himself big and gave Ross very little of the goal to aim for and the chance was gone. Southport created the best chances, but they lacked composure in front of goal and as the game wore on, Cheltenham looked more and more threatening.
With 11 minutes to go, Cheltenham made the breakthrough and two substitutes were involved in the lead up to the goal. First Jimmy Smith, who had replaced Keith Knight, teased Ged Kielty on the right wing and after some fancy footwork, the diminutive Scot was fouled by the Southport defender. Russell Milton, on in place of Clive Walker, floated in one of his trademark free-kicks, which was flicked on by Jamie Victory for Jason Eaton to head the ball past Billy Stewart and into the back of the net to send the Robins fans wild.
Despite not performing to the best of their ability, Cheltenham showed fighting spirit and determination to emerge victorious and leave the whole town on a high. The open top bus tour the following day will live on long in the memories of all who witnessed their heroes celebrating the first major piece of silverware in the history of the club.
Cheltenham Town (0) 1 (Eaton 79)
Southport (0) 0
Cheltenham: Book, Duff, Victory, Banks, Freeman, Knight (Smith 78), Howells, Bloomer, Eaton, Watkins, Walker (Milton 78).
Southport: Stewart, Horner, Futcher, Ryan, Farley, Kielty, Butler, Gamble, Formby (Whittaker 80), Thompson (Bolland 86), Ross.
Attendance: 26, 837
Referee: G. Willard (Worthing).