Tyrrell Sampson will line up for AFC Stoneham in the Fa Vase final at Wembley this weekend, bringing a Bournemouth football journey back to one of the sport’s biggest stages. The 26-year-old, who was born and raised in Bournemouth and still lives there, faces Cockfosters on Sunday, May 17, with kick-off at 12.30pm.

Sampson’s route to Wembley has been built close to home. He came through youth football in Bournemouth, played for Poole Town as a 16-year-old and later returned to the club in the Southern League. At the start of the 25/26 season, he joined Poole Town from Stoneham before moving back to AFC Stoneham in September.

That move has taken him into a team that has already done the hard work of reaching the final. AFC Stoneham, the Wessex League champions, beat Hallen 6-1 on aggregate in the semifinal to book their place at Wembley, where they will try to finish the season with a national trophy.

For Sampson, the final is more than another match in a long campaign. It is a chance to represent the club he returned to, against opponents from outside the Hampshire league circuit, in a game that will draw attention well beyond the local non-league scene. Bournemouth has produced the player, but Stoneham is the club that will carry him into Sunday’s final.

The timing adds to the significance. The final arrives only months after Sampson moved back to Stoneham in September, and it gives him a rare chance to play at Wembley for a side rooted in the same part of the south coast where his career began. AFC Stoneham will need the same edge that took them past Hallen, but the setting now is different: a single final, a national stage and a morning start under the arch.

What comes next is simple enough. Sampson and AFC Stoneham face Cockfosters at Wembley on Sunday, May 17, and one of the Wessex League champions will leave with the FA Vase.