When I recently called Phil Wilson about an interview regarding the 20^th anniversary of the 1986/87 cup run – he was amazed that it was two decades ago since John King’s troops became the first Caernarfon side to reach the competition’s proper stage since 1929.

            And Phil warmly recalled his memories from the side which firmly put the Canaries on the footballing map.

            Speaking to the match programme, Phil said: “I cannot believe it’s actually twenty years since we reached the third round – it honestly didn’t seem that long ago.

            “John King had assembled a very good side. There was a real blend of experience and some great individuals and I think the side not only put the club in the spotlight but the town of Caernarfon too. I was very much getting to the later stages of my career as I was 35 back then.

            “I cannot really remember much about the qualifying stages, I can recall defeating Marine quite early on and the final qualifying round paired us with a treacherous trip up to the North East to face Chester-Le-Street.

            “It turned into a real battle and the ever-lasting memory I have of that game is Ken Jones scoring a wonder goal from his own half to help us win the game 3-2.

            That win had put Town into the first round for the first time in almost 35 years and cup fever hit Caernarfon once The Canaries paired fourth division Stockport County at The Oval.

            Unfortunately for Phil – injury ruled him out of the Stockport tie but Caernarfon’s skipper returned in time to face York City in round two.

            “I missed the Stockport tie through an injury but the pain was cushioned when Austin Salmon grabbed all the headlines with his memorable winning goal.

            “That paired us with York City in round two in another home tie at The Oval. York had a few big names at that time and after a tight affair which ended all square - that put us in the hat for the third round with the big guns from division one.

            “We eventually drew Barnsley who back then were in the old Second Division. I suppose we were a bit disappointed because we all wanted someone like Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United or Arsenal but Barnsley were a big club and had some big names playing for them back then.

            “But before Barnsley we still had to beat York and to win at Bootham Crescent was perhaps the highlight of the run and Stevie Craven capped a memorable night with a great goal.

            That brought ex-England striker Allan Clarke and his Barnsley side to Gwynedd and cup fever had reached a level never seen in the town before.

            “The Barnsley game was a big, big day for not just the club but the town. HTV Wales were there covering the game and I still have the video in the house to this day. If I recall rightly I’m sure the game was the main feature of the programme and coverage lasted about half an hour.

            “The game itself was tight. We had a good half hour spell and we frustrated them for long periods. I remember we got a free kick about 10 minutes from the end and I thought I’ll have a go from the distance it was from goal and it just missed so it was up to Oakwell for a replay.

            “The second game up at Barnsley was much more backs to the wall stuff and we defended superbly before Barnsley snatched a late winner which really knocked the stuffing out of us.

            “The cup run was a real blessing for John King because it got him a return to Tranmere while Dave Martindale, Dave Higgins, Steve Craven and Ray Woods all got moves into full-time football. Perhaps the only draw back was the fact that the run perhaps cost us the NPL championship which eventually saw us finish in third position but personally it brings back nothing but happy memories.”