After their F.A. Vase come from behind victory at Wembley over AFC Whyteleafe, Whitstable Town manager, Jamie Coyle, shared his thoughts.

“It was tough.” he said. “I thought that they were the better team in the first half. They had a lot of possession and they had some really good rotations in midfield.”

“The message today was to try and stay in the game. We’ve got a lot more athleticism than them, they’ve got a lot of ageing players, like myself, and we knew that the longer the game went on, we would get stronger and that’s what happened in extra time.”

“We knew we’d have to work hard as they’ve got some really good individual players that are beyond this level. They shouldn’t be playing at step five.”

“We’ve got more youth in our side, a lot more mobility, and it showed. They made lots of changes, lots of substitutions where they’ve got tired and the boys that came on for us made a real difference.”

“There weren’t many clear cut chances in the first ninety minutes. In the end we’ve broken away twice. Ronald (Sithole) should have scored from two yards out and it was a cagey game in spells but I thought, for the neutrals, it must have been a brilliant occasion.”  

There was a huge turnout of Whitstable supporters. Coyle purred: “It was unbelievable, the noise they made and the colour in the stadium, it’s really hard. It hasn’t sunk in yet. I said to the management when we came off that when you play, you can’t really suck it in as much, and you can’t appreciate it but at the end of the game, the noise, and to give that back to those that have travelled, I’m so proud.”

After the tremendous run that Whitstable had in 2025, losing out to Fisher in the play-offs, and being beaten in the Kent Senior Trophy final could have been tough on their confidence, but Coyle was determined that his team was going to give a good account of themselves.

He wasn’t disappointed and said: “The biggest thing for me, and I’ve just said it to the players, they’ll be disappointed about losing in the play-offs on penalties, and the disappointment in losing the Kent Cup final, and to deliver that level of performance in the second half and in extra time, it’s unbelievable, it really is.”

“It’s a young group that are going to go on and have real long careers, and to experience that, and for some it’s their first year in Non-League football, it was phenomenal.”

Coyle’s plans were hampered by a first half injury. He said: “Connor (Wilkins) got injured early on with a bit of a nasty tackle really, I’m surprised that the referee didn’t book him or at least give us a free kick there so we had to shuffle the pack a little bit and the boys that came off the bench have been phenomenal again.”

“It’s been like that. We’ve got a big squad. We’ve had to rotate things around a bit with a game every forty-eight hours for the last three weeks of the season because of our cup runs and what the players have delivered is nothing short of unbelievable.”

“I’m really proud. I’m proud of the team that we’ve assembled, I’m proud of delivering the trophy back to the fans and the club. They really do deserve it.” 

Some of the players’ performances won’t have gone unnoticed and Coyle is aware that there will be interest in some of them, however, he embraces that.

“My background is always about trying to develop players.” he confirmed. “It’s a shop window and that’s what I said to them. They’ve got to go out there and deliver a man of the match performance and Harvey Smith has gone out there and done that.”

“I spoke to him this morning and said ‘you can’t get a better opportunity than this. It’s a platform for you to go out and deliver.’ and I thought that he was unplayable today, at times. I don’t know who voted him as man of the match, but I thought that he was the best player on the pitch.”  

As for Coyle himself, he has threatened to retire previously in his career but he is adamant that this time it will happen. “I’m going to hang my boots up in the changing room in a minute, and take a photograph.” he laughed.

“It’s definitely my last year. Twenty-five years in my career is long enough and I’ve been fortunate enough to get through that without any injuries.”

“My time’s up and I just want to concentrate on the seniors now in the World Cup in Thailand. That’s another six games in nine or ten days so I’ll have a nice rest after that, that’s for sure.”

“The boys in there are screaming ‘one more year’ but I can’t keep pushing it. I want to be able to play golf at fifty and not hobbling around so most definitely that will do me, and what a way to go out.”