The part-timers who won three Wembley finals in a row

Question: Which two men's club sides have won three successive competition finals at the new Wembley?

You probably knew Pep Guardiola's Manchester City won three League Cups on the bounce between 2018 and 2020 before adding a fourth in 2021 – but another side did the silverware hat-trick first.

Whitley Bay, who played in the ninth-tier Northern Football League, won three successful FA Vase finals between 2009 and 2011 – an unprecedented achievement in non-league football.

The FA Vase, a national competition for amateur teams, was established in 1974; and in more than half a century The Seahorses are the only ones to win it four times – including those three on the trot.

And they did so under the eye of an unassuming IT manager from Sunderland, who used "quiet moments in the day" to plan historic cup success.

Ian Chandler, who had three spells at Whitley Bay as a player, became manager in 2004 and spent 10 years in charge.

It was no mean feat, as any non-league manager will tell you. Instead of focusing on work meetings, Chandler says he spent more time sorting hotel reservations or discussing scouting reports.

Source: BBC Sport Open RSS (Open Press / Translated Full Text)