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2016 FA Vase Final
Event2015–16 FA Vase
Date22 May 2016
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeLee Mason (Lancashire)
Attendance46,781 (including FA Vase Final)
2015
2017

The 2015–16 FA Trophy Final was the 47th final of the Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested by Halifax Town and Grimsby Town. Grimsby Town were beaten finalists in 2013, but it was Halifax Town's first final and their first visit to Wembley Stadium in 105 years. For the first time the final of the FA Vase was played on the same day at the same venue, contested by Hereford and Morpeth Town. Both matches were televised in the UK on BT Sport.

Halifax Town defeated Tamworth, Barrow, Chester, Gateshead and Nantwich Town en route to the final.

Grimsby Town defeated Solihull Moors, Weston-super-Mare, Havant & Waterlooville, Woking, and Bognor Regis Town en route to the final.

Halifax Town won the match 1–0 thanks to a goal from Scott McManus after 48 minutes.

Club backgrounds[]

Halifax Town had been embroiled in a relegation battle in the National League all season. A good run in the league coincided with the start of their FA Trophy campaign as they put together some impressive results. They defeated National League North side Tamworth 5–0 in the 1st Round, who had only lost two games all season prior to that. They then went on the defeat divisional rivals Barrow and Chester before being paired with Gateshead in the quarter-final, a side managed by ex-Halifax boss of 6 years Neil Aspin. The original tie ended in a boring 0–0 but the replay was far more dramatic as Halifax were 2–1 down equalised in the 92nd minute to take it to extra time. It finished 3–3 after extra time and the penalty shoot-out was won by Halifax. In the two-legged semi-final Halifax faced Nantwich Town who were two leagues below Halifax in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Halifax grabbed the initiative in the first leg at the Weaver Stadium and took a 4–2 lead into the home tie. An early goal in the second leg at the Shay settled fans' nerves but a resilient Nantwich side fought back to take a 2–1 lead on the day and reduce the aggregate score to 5–4. The second half was on a knife-edge but an unfortunate own goal late on confirmed Halifax's place in the Final.

Halifax ended their domestic season being relegated to the National League North on the final day only two years after having made the play-offs. This was Halifax Town's first FA Trophy Final; the furthest they had reached in the competition was the quarter-final in 2014–15, 2012–13 and 2007–08. It was also Halifax Town's first ever visit to Wembley, both old and new, in 105 years.

Grimsby Town had been in the National League play-offs for the majority of the season. The FA Trophy was very much the least of their worries as they fought to return to the Football League. Grimsby's run in the Trophy was favourable as they faced lower league opposition in every round except the quarter-final, although they did face a tricky tie in eventual National League North champions Solihull Moors in the 1st Round, as Grimsby won the replay 3–2. Home ties against National League South opposition Weston-super-Mare and Havant & Waterlooville followed as the Mariners comfortably won them both. A tricky test in the quarter-final against National League rivals Woking was next but Grimsby again won comfortably to set up a semi-final against Bognor Regis Town of the Isthmian League Premier Division. Grimsby edged the first leg at Nyewood Lane 1–0 and managed to sneak a 2–1 win at Blundell Park to book their place in the Final.

Grimsby finished their season by winning in the National League play-offs in their fourth consecutive season of competing in them to earn a place back in the Football League after 6 years away. The FA Trophy Final was Grimsby's third visit to Wembley in little over a year following their defeat in the play-off final in 2015 against Bristol Rovers and the aforementioned play-off final victory over Forest Green Rovers just one week earlier. Grimsby had reached the FA Trophy Final once before in 2013, losing to Wrexham on penalties.

Halifax and Grimsby had met in the league twice and the first fixture saw Grimsby inflict a 7–0 defeat on a depleted Halifax at Blundell Park, their biggest defeat as FC Halifax Town. The return fixture was quite the opposite however as a rejuvenated Halifax side defeated Grimsby 4–2 at the Shay; Halifax were 3–0 up inside half an hour. Following Halifax's relegation and Grimsby's promotion the match was effectively a League Two side against a National League North side and possibly it was Grimsby's swansong to non-League football.

Route to the final[]

Halifax Town[]

1R 15 December 2015 Halifax Town 5–0 Tamworth Halifax  
19:45 GMT James Goal 12'87'
S. McDonald Goal 28'
Wroe Goal 57'
Hughes Goal 73'
Report Stadium: The Shay
Attendance: 439
Referee: Paul Marsden (Lancashire)
2R 19 January 2016 Halifax Town 1–0 Barrow Halifax  
19:45 GMT Tuton Goal 68' Report Stadium: The Shay
Attendance: 673
Referee: Joseph Johnson (Merseyside)
3R 10 February 2016 Halifax Town 1–0 Chester Halifax  
19:45 GMT Burrow Goal 45+2' Report Stadium: The Shay
Attendance: 878
Referee: Michael Salisbury (Lancashire)
QF 27 February 2016 Halifax Town 0–0 Gateshead Halifax  
15:00 GMT Report Stadium: The Shay
Attendance: 1,431
Referee: Steve Rushton (Staffordshire)
QFR 2 March 2016 Gateshead 3–3
(4–5 pen)
Halifax Town Gateshead  
19:45 GMT Gillies Goal 3'105'
Bowman Goal 50'
Report James Goal 22'
Hughes Goal 90+2'
S. McDonald Goal 93'
Stadium: Gateshead International Stadium
Attendance: 724
Referee: Ryan Johnson (Greater Manchester)
  Penalties  
  • Hamilton Soccerball shad check
  • Gillies Soccerball shad check
  • McLaughlin Soccerball shad check
  • Johnson Missed
  • Shaw Soccerball shad check
  • Clark Missed
 
  • Burrow Soccerball shad check
  • Wroe Soccerball shad check
  • James Soccerball shad check
  • McManus Soccerball shad check
  • S. McDonald Missed
  • Brown Soccerball shad check
SF 1 12 March 2016 Nantwich Town 2–4 Halifax Town Nantwich  
15:15 GMT Cooke Goal 43'
Kosylo Goal 77'
Report McManus Goal 3'
Fairhurst Goal 21'
Burrow Goal 46'61' (pen.)
Stadium: The Weaver Stadium
Attendance: 2,078
Referee: Graham Salisbury (Lancashire)
SF 2 19 March 2016 Halifax Town 2–2
(6–4 agg.)
Nantwich Town Halifax  
15:00 GMT Burrow Goal 3' Missed 44'
White Goal 89' (o.g.)
Report Shotton Goal 10'
Bailey Goal 31'
Stadium: The Shay
Attendance: 3,009
Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside)

Grimsby Town[]

Main article: 2015–16 Grimsby Town F.C. season
1R 12 December 2015 Grimsby Town 1–1 Solihull Moors Cleethorpes  
15:00 GMT Alabi Goal 66' Report Brown Goal 14' Stadium: Blundell Park
Attendance: 1,071
Referee: David Rock (Hertfordshire])
1RR 22 December 2015 Solihull Moors 2–3 Grimsby Town Solihull  
19:45 GMT Armson Goal 62'
Asante Goal 80' (pen.)
Report Bogle Goal 64'
Alabi Goal 66' (pen.)
Mackreth Goal 68'
Stadium: Damson Park
Attendance: 479
Referee: Derek Eaton (Gloucestershire)
2R 16 January 2016 Grimsby Town 3–1 Weston-super-Mare Cleethorpes  
15:00 GMT Henderson Goal 12'
Bogle Goal 45'
Pittman Goal 61'
Report Grubb Goal 22' Stadium: Blundell Park
Attendance: 1,230
Referee: Ollie Yates (Staffordshire)
3R 6 February 2016 Grimsby Town 3–0 Havant & Waterlooville Cleethorpes  
15:00 GMT Pittman Goal 73'
Nolan Goal 87'
Swallow Goal 89' (o.g.)
Report Stadium: Blundell Park
Attendance: 1,613
Referee: Adrian Holmes (West Yorkshire)
QF 27 February 2016 Grimsby Town 2–0 Woking Cleethorpes  
15:00 GMT Arnold Goal 10'35' Report Stadium: Blundell Park
Attendance: 1,675
Referee: Martin Coy (Durham)
SF 1 12 March 2016 Bognor Regis Town 0–1 Grimsby Town Bognor Regis  
15:00 GMT Report Arnold Goal 75' Stadium: Nyewood Lane
Attendance: 2,629
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
SF 2 19 March 2016 Grimsby Town 2–1
(3–1 agg.)
Bognor Regis Town Cleethorpes  
15:00 GMT Amond Goal 8' (pen.)78' Report Beck Goal 31' Stadium: Blundell Park
Attendance: 2,477
Referee: Mark Heywood (Cheshire)

Details[]

22 May 2016
12:15 BST
Hereford 1–0 Morpeth Town Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 46,781 (including FA Vase Final)
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
McManus Goal 48' Report
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Halifax Town
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Grimsby Town
GK 23 Flag of England Sam Johnson
RB 2 Flag of England James Bolton
CB 14 Flag of England Matty Brown
CB 15 Flag of England Kevin Roberts
CB 6 Flag of Algeria Hamza Bencherif
LB 3 Flag of England Scott McManus Substituted off in the 74th minute 74'
CM 16 Flag of England Jake Hibbs
CM 35 Flag of England Nicky Wroe (c)
RW 17 Flag of England Josh Macdonald Substituted off in the 62nd minute 62'
LW 12 Flag of Wales Richard Peniket Substituted off in the 85th minute 85'
CF 9 Flag of England Jordan Burrow
Substitutes:
GK 1 Flag of England Jordan Porter
MF 4 Flag of England Kingsley James Substituted on in the 74th minute 74'
MF 11 Flag of England Sam Walker Substituted on in the 62nd minute 62'
MF 24 Flag of England Connor Hughes Substituted on in the 85th minute 85'
FW 40 Flag of England Shaquille McDonald
Manager:
Flag of Northern Ireland Jim Harvey
GK 1 Flag of Republic of Ireland James McKeown
RB 2 Flag of Scotland Richard Tait Substituted off in the 81st minute 81'
CB 5 Flag of England Shaun Pearson
CB 22 Flag of DR Congo Aristote Nsiala
LB 3 Flag of Scotland Gregor Robertson
RM 31 Flag of England Jon Nolan Booked in the 54th minute 54'
CM 8 Flag of England Craig Disley (c)
CM 16 Flag of England Craig Clay Substituted off in the 62nd minute 62'
LM 11 Flag of England Andy Monkhouse Substituted off in the 68th minute 68'
RS 9 Flag of England Omar Bogle
LS 10 Flag of Republic of Ireland Pádraig Amond
Substitutes:
DF 6 Flag of England Josh Gowling
DF 23 Flag of England Danny East Substituted on in the 81st minute 81'
MF 17 Flag of England Josh Venney
MF 20 Flag of England Nathan Arnold Substituted on in the 62nd minute 62'
FW 18 Flag of England Jon-Paul Pittman Substituted on in the 68th minute 68'
Manager:
Flag of England Paul Hurst

Man of the match

Match officials

  • Assistant referees:
    • Adam Nunn (Wiltshire)
    • Matthew Wilkes (West Midlands)
  • Fourth official: Ross Joyce (Cleveland)

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Five named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.
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