Hornchurch manager Mark Stimson says he is ‘proud’ to be manager of a special group of players that won the FA Trophy at Wembley Stadium.

Tom Owen-Evans opened the scoring for National League North side Hereford after 13 minutes with a deflected effort but Charlie Ruff equalised with a quarter of an hour to go, after a long throw-in had been flicked on to the bar.

Chris Dickson nodded down for Liam Nash to put Hornchurch, a division below their opponents, ahead with four minutes to go before Ellis Brown nutmegged the goalkeeper on the counterattack to seal a famous 3-1 win for the Urchins.

“This is a special group with big hearts, also with plenty of quality, and I'm so proud to be the manager of these guys,” the five-time winning manager said.

The Urchins had 3,000 fans cheering them on at Wembley and he hopes that some of those will be attending matches at Bridge Avenue next season as they bid for promotion.

“For us it was about enjoying and wanting to win, but also it was about building, and we brought 3,000 fans. I think our average crowd is about 400 and we’d love them to all come into our stadium to watch us next season.

“Whether it’s another 300, 400 or 500 because that will only give the players more of a lift, and give us the opportunity to try and get out of the very difficult league that we’re all desperate to get out of because we want and deserve I think to be a National League South side.”

Hornchurch fan of four years, Terry Morris, 82, who lives in Upminster, celebrated the win while at his great granddaughter's 16th birthday party. He said: “I have 12 great-grandchildren and it was great to share the Hornchurch winning match with my 16-year-old great granddaughter's party.

“We all congregated to my granddaughter Katie’s house and it was an incredible match to watch. It is such an achievement what they’ve done, not only on Saturday but also throughout the year, it has been amazing.”

The proud supporter said he is “well pleased with them”, adding: “Both teams played well and were confident and fortunate for us we were more proficient on the goal-scoring front.”

Terry’s wife, Maureen, 79, said: “He’s passionate about anything he puts his mind to and that’s one of the reasons I married him."