Mansfield Town captain George Foster relives proud moment walking up Wembley steps to collect 1987 Freight Rover Trophy

And he says making double history as he went to receive the Freight Rover Trophy was the joint highlight of his career at the club.

The fiercely proud Foster, an inspirational leader, became the last Football League captain to walk up the then famous 39 steps to the Royal Box for the trophy presentation – and Mansfield’s first, and so far only, winning Wembley skipper.

“It was such a proud moment,” he recalled. “To play at Wembley, to walk up the steps as captain to pick up a trophy, it was something I will never forget. It makes you a very proud man.

“We were told before the game that whoever went up to receive the trophy would be the last captain to do so for a major trophy before the ground was altered.

“For a lower division player to have the chance to do that and make history was very special.

“It was definitely one of the best days of my career, it has got to be. If you go to Wembley you have got to win, otherwise it’s just a disappointing day – and we won!

“It was just a dream day. From start to finish it was a day that I will never forget. The first time of anything is always a special time and the club had never been there before.”

That other joint highlight of Foster’s Mansfield career came several years later as manager when he guided the Stags to a nail-biting promotion on the last day of the season, a year after relegation.

Foster added: “They were both great honours. I was at Mansfield for 10 years and they were a big part of my life. I always think of myself as a Mansfield boy at that time. It was very special.”

But back to 1987 and the day before the final, 23rd May. Foster recalled: “The best thing Ian did was to take us down early to London. None of us had ever been to Wembley so the day before the final he got us shown around the stadium.

“We went into the dressing rooms and were taken on to the pitch.

“When I look back that meant it wasn’t such a surprise when we actually arrived there on the day of the match because we had already been.

“I thought that was very, very clever of Ian to do that.”

Foster, who joined the Stags from Derby County in 1983, was voted player of the year in his first season and then marshalled the defence to concede just 38 goals in a season – still a club record — before captaining the side to promotion a year later.

So by the time the Wembley trip came around in the following year he was very much a fans’ favourite — and every bit as excited about going to the national stadium as all the supporters.

He said: “From the minute we left Mansfield I was determined that I was going to enjoy every minute of it — and I did.

“I sat at the front of the bus as we drove down — and along Wembley Way on the day of the match. I could see all the supporters. It was terrific.

“I can remember walking out on to the pitch before the game and seeing all the yellow in the stands. It looked absolutely jam-packed with Mansfield supporters.”

There were an estimated 20,000-25,000 Stags fans in Wembley that afternoon among a crowd of more than 58,000, the largest crowd ever to watch a Mansfield match.

And memories of crowds of fans weren’t just from the stadium. Foster remembered: “My wife and daughters travelled down on a club bus and she said wherever they stopped all you could see were Mansfield Town supporters with scarves.

“She can still remember that and says it was special.”

Foster, who made 649 Football League appearances overall, 373 of them for the Stags, is still full of praise for the character his teammates showed in the final – as he was on the day when he rallied the side after Glynn Riley’s 88th minute equaliser cancelled out Kevin Kent’s historic goal for the Stags early in the second half.

“We were the underdogs. Bristol City were a big club with a big following. They had the likes of Joe Jordan and David Moyes and were a good side,” he said.

“But we were that well organised under Greavsie. And psychologically we were right up for it.

“When you think about our strength of character, it was immense. We were winning the game and then they got a late equaliser. To then go and do extra-time showed the character of the players that Ian had put together because to come back from that disappointment was not easy.

“Then we went to penalties and were losing before Hitchy produces his magic. “

Foster says he can’t remember Kent’s opening goal apart from the euphoria of going in front.

But the drama of the penalty shoot-out – the first Wembley final to be settled that way - is etched in his memory.

Foster, too nervous to take penalties in his career apart from one occasion in the Freight Rover Trophy at Burnley, said: “They were in front and then Hitchy (Kevin Hitchcock) saves everything with his big feet.

“I was grateful I didn’t have to take one — and, of course, more than grateful that we had won.

“I had big faith in Hitchy. When they went in front I knew he could get us back in it.”

Foster, who has kept in touch with shoot-out hero Hitchcock and Wembley goalscorer Kent ever since, has remained in football 30 years on from the Stags’ fairytale moment.

After leaving the Stags as manager in 1993 Foster briefly took over at Telford. He has since become a respected coach and scout, working at Wolves, Coventry City, Stoke City, Hull City and the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Spain.

Foster joined Swansea City as their European scout in 2014 and after two years there went to Cardiff City before returning to Derby County, where he made 30 appearances as a player in the 1980s before signing for the Stags.

He said: “I have been very fortunate to be in football all my life, but that day at Wembley is something I will never forget.”