SIPPING champagne in a Wembley bath, Alex Pike conducted his post-match interviews.

“I’m drunk and it’s lovely,” he rejoiced, having broken a seven-year stint without alcohol to toast Wimborne Town’s famous FA Vase triumph.

Twenty years on from that glorious day in the capital, it is no wonder that the magical memories remain a little hazy for the ex-Magpies manager.

“At that particular time, I was a teetotaller,” Pike explained, speaking to the Daily Echo two decades after Wimborne’s national stadium success.

“When we won, the lads got me a bottle of champagne and my thoughts from after the game are very sketchy to say the least.

“I remember trying to be interviewed in one of the individual baths in the Wembley changing rooms. I don’t think it was one of my best interviews, put it that way!”

Now manager of Gosport Borough in the Southern League, outspoken Pike has lost none of his sense for a sound bite.

“I can remember the lead up to it and the game itself,” he recalled, reflecting on the 5-3 final victory over Guiseley in 1992.

“I was lucky enough that it was in my first real season as a senior manager and that has always given me a barometer to see how the other seasons have gone.

“The Vase anniversary also celebrates 20 years of me being a senior manager – which makes me feel old. I used to sign the fathers, now I am signing the sons!”

Pike keeps in touch with his Wembley winners and says they will always share a special relationship.

He said: “What we achieved has given us that bond. We still see a lot of one another.

“We lost Tim Balch, which was really sad, but apart from that we are all local and we still see one another and bump into one another.”

It is clear Pike still treasures his Wembley victory – even if he is unable to paint the most vivid picture of it.

And it remains an important chapter in Dorset football’s record books, with no club managing to match the feat.

In the 20 years since, many teams have tried unsuccessfully to follow in the footsteps of the Cuthbury heroes.

“I am sad and surprised to be honest,” admitted Pike.

“For the three years that Poole Town won the Wessex League, I felt sure that with Tommy Killick and his experience, they would emulate it.

“I was involved with local radio, covering Poole’s semi-final home leg against Whitley Bay, and I honestly felt that they would go on and get to the final.

“It was quite sad that they didn’t because for the hard work they had put in for years at that level, I felt they deserved to get there.

“But it just goes to show what a remarkable achievement it was for us in 1992.”

If only he could remember all of it.