Town had had no previous experience of a major cup final, especially not of a national competition, culminating in a Wembley appearance. The FA had been planning the last two stages since the quarter-finals had been completed early in March and a brochure was produced for the semi-finals, with full details of all four clubs involved, namely Emley, St. Helens Town, Collier Row and Warrington Town.

Local television in the North West gave much publicity to both Town and Warrington on the build-up to the semi-finals, but in the weeks leading up to the Final, St. Helens Town cut their own record – “Town’s Triumph” - the Wembley kit was sponsored by St. Helens Glass and Pilkingtons cover the cost of the Wembley suits. Warrington Town produced a brochure to mark the occasion.

St. Helens Town had never attracted huge crowds and, when the Saints also qualified for the RL Challenge Cup Final (eventually losing to Halifax by a single point), the hard-pressed fans, in the middle of a recession, had the choice of only one Wembley visit, either to follow Town on 25th April, or the Saints the following Saturday. St. Helens, like Warrington, has always been a rugby town, so the great majority chose to follow the Saints on 2nd May, to the detriment of Town. The crowd, 4254, was to be the smallest in FA Vase Final history.

The squad assembled early on the day before the final, first visiting Pilkingtons’ head office, then on to the Town Hall, where the mayor gave them a civic blessing before the team coach departed at 10.30am for the journey to the team hotel at Watford.

Those selected to play in the Final retired early to bed, whilst the unsuccessful players had a quiet night out. Come the day of the Final, the squad had a late breakfast and then set off for the Empire Stadium, where they arrived at 1.45pm. Whilst the St. Helens team had been settled for some time, there was uncertainty in the Warrington camp and one question to be decided was whether former Town player Jimmy Woodyer would be lining up against his former teammates.

The St. Helens Town team was as follows:

1 Andy Johnston,
Age 19, Goalkeeper, Civil Servant, Wigan Athletic
2 Paul Benson,
Age 32, Full back, Electrician, Ellesmere Port
3 Paul Wilson,
Age 25, Full back, Applications Engineer, Ashton Town
4 Barry Lowe,
Age 34, Centre back, Factory Manager, Ashton United
5 John Bendon,
Age 32, Centre back, Train Driver, South Liverpool, Witton Albion, Bangor, Oswestry T
6 Marty Cummins,
Age 21, Midfield, Bricklayer, Cearnarfon Town, Bootle, Rhyl
7 Tommy O’Neil,
Age 35, Midfield, Captain, Concrete Batcher, Manchester Utd, Southport, Tranmere, Halifax T
8 Jimmy Collins,
Age 22, Midfield, Assembly Worker, Derby County
9 Brian Rigby,
Age 27, Striker, Bingo Manager, Bangor City, Sully, Barry Town
10 Jay McComb,
Age 26, Midfield, Street Mason, Pavior S Liverpool, Witton Albion, Southport, Formby
11 Phil Layhe,
Age 27, Striker, Electrician, Widnes League
12 Mark Gledhill,
Age 27, Midfield, Sales Representative, Preston North End, South Liverpool
13 John Deakin,
Age 20, Utility, Delivery Driver, Wigan Athletic, South Liverpool

Glyn Jones