MEMORY LANE: The day Diss turned orange

Leicester City’s unbelievable Premier League title win may have been 2016’s fairytale, but the Tangerine army of Diss Town Football Club once wrote their own remarkable story which is still remembered fondly today.

Twenty-two years ago tomorrow marks the day our very own ‘Tangie Army’ wrote their name into the history books, winning the FA Vase at Wembley in front of more than 13,000 people, defeating Taunton 2-1 after extra time.

And the following day the town stood still as residents paid homage to their heroes.

These postcards, published by Diss historian Dennis Cross, show how packed the streets became as people witnessed the open top bus parade.

St Nicholas Street was packed from pavement to pavement - with a peal of bells ringing out from St Mary’s Church.

Taunton took the lead in the 12th minute and the Diss dream looked over as the game entered stoppage time.

But dramatically, the Tangerines were awarded a penalty in stoppage time.

Paul Gibbs scored from the spot as the game went into extra time.

Three minutes into the second period of extra time, Diss won a corner.

The resultant header by Peter Mendham was well saved by Taunton glovesman Kevin Maloy, but he failed to hold on to the shot allowing Mendham to quickly volley the ball past the keeper and three Taunton players on the line.

TEAMSHEET:

1. Robert Woodcock

2. Jason Carter

3. Martin Woolsey (sub Robert Musgrave, 59 mins)

4. Tom Casey (sub Phil Bugg, 75 mins)

5. Paul Hartle

6. Garry Smith

7. Kelly Barth

8. Peter Mendham

9. Stephen Miles

10. Paul Warne

11. Paul Gibbs

MATCH STATS

Goal Attempts: Diss 20, Taunton 13

On Target: Diss 9, Taunton 5

Attendance: 13,450