Hornchurch manager Mark Stimson appreciates how the board and club have backed his squad on their run to the FA Trophy final in every way they possibly could.

The squad travelled up the night before for both the quarter-final and semi-final ties to give them the best possible chance of progressing, thanks to a Crowdfunding page, some support from West Ham, and of course the club.

Chairman Alex Sharp and vice-chairman Colin McBride have played a key part in helping the club on this journey much to the delight of boss Stimson.

“It’s been massive, what the club has done has been second to none, and the boys appreciate it massively like I do and I think obviously the club are appreciative of the performances we’ve put in as well,” Stimson said.

“It’s all matched up nicely and we’re all now looking forward to this massive game.”

The Urchins have not played a league fixture since late November, due to the pandemic, and have only played in the Trophy since.

They did see the likes of Louis Ramsay, Chris Dickson and Nathan Cooper depart for National League South sides, but the latter two have since returned to help the club progress all the way to the final while other players they had to fight to keep hold of.

“It was a challenge, there were a few players that were wanted by clubs at a higher level, some went and some have come back so that was pleasing," added Stimson.

“Overall it’s been a fantastic achievement that we’ve kept everyone, kept everyone in good spirits, and again like I said we can’t wait now.”

The club is reaping the rewards of the big day already as they have been using West Ham United’s training facilities in recent weeks, while Hammers first-team coach Stuart Pearce also came along to chat with the players and watch them train.

“It’s fantastic for him to come down and spend time with the players, talk about his own experiences, and the amount of games he’s played at that level and at those sort of stadiums. Hopefully the boys listened and took something from that," said Stimson.

“We’re grateful that he was able to come down, give us some encouragement, and of couse some ideas.”