FA Trophy final marks the first battle of phoenix clubs FC Halifax Town and Gateshead

From Gateshead International Stadium (above) to Wembley has been a long and difficult road for Gateshead FC

When Gateshead and FC Halifax Town walk out at Wembley, the occasion will serve as an emotional reminder that there really is life after football death.

Sunday's meeting will mark the first time in the FA Trophy's 54-year history that two 'phoenix' clubs have faced each other in a final.

For Gateshead in particular, the game will represent a remarkable testimony to the club's resilience.

The current club was born out of the demise, in 1977, of Gateshead United.

United themselves were a short-lived phenomenon, lasting just four years after being assembled from the remnants of the original Gateshead, former Football League members who went out of existence in 1973.

The spectre of their troubled history has revisited the Heed in recent seasons, as they hit fresh problems under former owner Ranjan Varghese, being relegated in 2019 for financial irregularities and facing another existential crisis.

Promotion back to the National League last season appeared to have come too soon, as they won four of their first 26 league games and were four points adrift of safety at Christmas.

An influx of loan players stabilised their season and a run of eight wins from their last 11 games saw them haul clear of the drop zone, and finish just two points behind Wembley opponents Halifax, in a respectable mid-table position.

What has made their run to the final is that some of the loan players who helped execute the escape from relegation were unavailable for Trophy matches, and a run of injuries and the further ineligibility of players returning from loans elsewhere, stripped their squads in the competition down to the bone.

The quarter-final against Farsley Celtic saw them able to name four substitutes, while player-manager Mike Williamson is injured for the final.

The traumas the club has experienced in recent years will make the Wembley occasion all the sweeter, with around 4,000 fans making the long trip from the north east to add to the 6,000 Halifax supporters.

Gateshead manager Mike Williamson made 150 league appearances for neighbours Newcastle United

Williamson says that the achievement of beating relegation, and reaching Wembley for the first time, against a backdrop of the troubles the club has faced in the past four years, will only be appreciated once the dust settles on Sunday.

"First and foremost it was (about) staying in the league, and it's been a phenomenal season for us, with the amount of obstacles we have had to get over, on and off the field. It will be a nice end to it," said the former Newcastle centre-back.

"Coming in from the previous regime there has been a lot to build - obviously the reputation, off and on the field with other clubs, but the work off the field from the guys has been incredible, in the community as well.

"We have a strong core who travel a lot of miles, especially this season, and support us through thick and thin. They've had to endure periods this season and it's been tough for them but they've kept the faith, so the occasion is for them."

Halifax - or FC Halifax Town to give them their correct name - are old hands. They became the first, and only, phoenix club to win the FA Trophy, beating Grimsby in the final in 2016, just eight years after they were re-born from the ashes of the old Halifax Town FC, burned by an £814,000 tax debt.

Halifax players celebrate their FA Trophy win in 2016

Their own march to the final has contained a couple of "name on the cup" moments, not least when winger Milli Alli equalised with the last kick of the semi-final at Altrincham, leading to a victory in the penalty shoot-out.

Manager Chris Millington said no-one is falling for that fallacy, or the chatter that the Shaymen are favourites going into the game.

He said: "Some people will look at it and think our name's on the trophy, given those moments we've experienced.

"I think back to the Guiseley game, our first in the competition this season, when we didn't play well but got a goal from a very unlikely source in (defender) Festus Arthur, to win 1-0.

"Then there was Milli Alli's goal with the last kick of the game at Alty, and we knew we would go on to win the penalty shoot-out.

"Sometimes you begin to wonder if it is just our year, but we can't rely on that. We have to make sure every preparation is done so when the lads walk out on Sunday they've a full understanding of what Gateshead are going to throw at them, and of how we are going to exploit Gateshead's weaknesses.

"There are some strange comments about them being underdogs, which is far from the truth. They've scored 18 goals more than us in the league this season and only finished two points behind us.

"They've played some fantastic football and beaten some good teams in the division so it's very much an even game."