IT was the greatest day of their 121-year history, but AFC Totton's FA Vase dream is turning into the stuff of nightmares.

More than three months have passed since the Stuart Ritchie's Sydenhams Wessex heroes graced the hallowed turf of Wembley in a 3-1 defeat by Truro City - yet still they are waiting for their share of the gate receipts.

Word has got back, unofficially, to Testwood Park that a dispute between Wembley and the Football Association over car park costs means that match expenses have yet to be processed at Soho Square.

That leaves Totton sitting on more than £160,000 in their bank account for the 16,000 tickets they sold for the May 13 final, but with no clue yet as to how much is due back to them once they have forwarded that money to the FA.

Both Totton and Truro are due ten per cent of the overall gate receipts from a record Vase attendance of 27,754.

The FA will use the rest to pay bills such as car parking and hospitality, with anything left over split 50-50 between the clubs.

"Realistically we're expecting around £30,000 back, but no one's telling us anything," said Totton's frustrated secretary Jason Tull. "We've tried contacting the FA to ascertain an accurate figure but they can't tell us and, from what we hear, this is going to run for quite a while.

"We've got the £160,000 in the bank earning interest, which is good, but what was not so good was getting our accounts and auditing done. We managed it eventually, but it made the situation extremely awkward".

The other huge spanner in the works is that Totton have no idea how much money they will have to fund the ground improvements required for promotion to the Southern League.

Depending on the verdict of the New Forest District Council planners, due next month, Totton could get the green light for a new ground at Little Testwood Farm, Calmore.

But, were that to go pear-shaped, they would be more dependent than ever on getting their current Testwood Park facilities up to scratch.

Full story: See today's Daily Echo.