NEIL Howarth knows what it's like to be a Wembley winner - and he'd love to repeat the experience on Saturday.

Harriers' assistant manager still savours the magical moment he lifted the FA Trophy as captain of Macclesfield Town when they beat Northwich Victoria 3-1 in the 1996 final.

"When I did it, it was absolutely the best experience ever," said Mark Yates's right-hand man.

"Back then just knowing after the semi-final that I was going to be playing at Wembley - well, I was absolutely chuffed to bits.

"Just going into the game, winning it and being captain was fantastic and leading the lads up the steps and taking the Trophy was brilliant. I never imagined I'd do it until we'd got to the quarter and semi-final stages."

The 35-year-old now wants Harriers' captain Stuart Whitehead to sample the same kind of fairytale thrill by proudly hoisting the Trophy aloft at the new Wembley Stadium.

"He knows what an achievement it will be to win it as captain and lead the lads up the steps - or whatever there is now!"

"My medal is now sat at home in my dad's study. He's got a few bits of memorabilia from myself and my brother's careers and that's the biggest, little medal I've got!"

Bolton-born Howarth, a defender whose previous clubs include Burnley and Cheltenham Town, is now anxious to help Yates mastermind Stevenage's downfall.

"As we're one of the first club sides to be playing at the new Wembley I think it's something we'll look back on in years to come and be really proud. Don't get me wrong, we wanted to get promoted either as champions or through the play-offs but it never happened that way. But it's a bit of a consolation prize to get to the new Wembley!

"We've been using the fact that it's there as a motivation for this trophy and the fact that we've got to Wembley means it doesn't end there. The last thing the lads want to do is go there and lose because it'll be the worst day of their professional lives."

Howarth admits, however, that this time his Wembley day out will be in stark contrast to back in 1996.

"It's a lot different being in the position I'm in now than playing. And I'd like to be playing -I really would! As a player I used to get quite nervous before games and then when it started I was okay. On this side of things, I'm okay in the run-up to the games but when it starts it can be horrible.

"When you're on the pitch and you're winning 1-0 in the last minute and you 've got a corner against you, you really do feel quite confident. You think "we all know our jobs, we can deal with it". On this side of things I start thinking does everybody know their job, so I do get more nervous during the game now."