BACK in September, Gary Kenny was pondering whether this season may be his last in football.

At 34, the Warrington Rylands captain is towards the back end of his career and with a newborn son having arrived, he may be thinking the time is right to walk away.

With that in mind, bowing out having skippered the club he has helped to grow exponentially over the past three years to Wembley glory seems like the perfect swansong.

Or has it made hanging the boots up that little bit tougher?

"Because I’ve got so close to this club, it is going to be hard to walk away," he told the Guardian.

"After the game, Macca (manager Dave McNabb) pulled me and said he wants me to stick around.

"I’ll have a chat with my family over the summer, have another chat with Macca and see where everyone’s at.

"I am a St Helens lad but I’ve adopted this football club now. Even when I walk away from football, I will still have connections here.

"For me personally, it’s massive and we’ve put the club and football in general on the map in this town."

Winning the FA Vase Final will have no doubt meant the world to everyone associated with Rylands but for Kenny, that feeling of satisfaction will run that little bit deeper.

Along with goalkeeper Graeme McCall, he is one of the few players that remain from the club's first season in the North West Counties League.

From there, he has been among the leaders of a journey that has taken them to two promotions and now a Wembley victory – and he insists there is only one way the club is going next.

"The scary thing is the club is only going to get bigger from this point. It’s really exciting times," he said.

"Me and Podge (McCall) had a picture at the end as “the day ones.” To go from where we were when we first came to the club to winning a Wembley final is unbelievable.

Warrington Guardian:

Kenny and McCall after the final whistle. Picture by Mark Percy

"I still don’t think it’s fully sank in. A lot of what happened on the day I can’t fully remember – I’m looking forward to sitting and watching the game back.

"Captaining a team to win the FA Vase at Wembley – it doesn’t get any bigger than that for me personally and it’s still surreal.

"The likes of Tony Bennett and Mark Pye get no credit but the work they do behind the scenes is unbelievable.

"I just know through seeing the whole picture of how the club is that the only way is up from here."

In what was an enthralling contest on the biggest stage, Blues controlled much of the game as Elliott Nevitt took the plaudits for a sensational hat-trick.

Opponents Binfield had come too far to go quietly, though, and Liam Ferdinand's brace made for a grandstand finish.

When things could have got frantic at the end, however, the men from Gorsey Lane stepped up again to ensure Kenny and centre-half partner Rick Smith were not unduly troubled.

For that, he credits the bond that exists within the Rylands dressing room.

"It was tough to stay composed," he admits after Ferdinand's second goal brought the score back to 3-2.

"We were getting a little bit deeper to nullify any space they could get in behind us, which gave them a bit more room to operate.

"For long periods, though, we controlled the game so well.

"They had spells but I don’t really remember them carving us open – they had their first goal on the counter-attack and a snap shot for the second.

"They put some quality balls in from out wide and that was where they got some joy from but overall, we controlled it well.

"The group of lads we have here are so close knit, everyone fights for each other and gives that little bit more.

"When we are under pressure, everyone takes it upon themselves to work that bit harder to settle everything down."