My name was mentioned in the bold intro paragraph at the top
Sorry for the delay, but as it's FA Cup weekend i'll stick it up now. For the benefit of Coops, there was also a nice picture of Tamworth v Stoke but my technical limitations mean i don't know how to put the article up as it was displayed in the programme!
David v Goliath, boys against men, the minnows and the glamour boys. As we approach the point where league teams enter the FA Cup, Hannah Duncan takes a look at what a draw against one of the ‘Big Cheeses’ can mean for a non-league side.
When a non-league side say they’re off to Wembley, this usually refers to a trip to Vale Farm as opposed to the national stadium. However, the FA Cup is the only domestic cup competition in the world where (however long the odds) your average Saturday morning or Sunday League side could reach the hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium and face any of the Premiership’s leading teams in the final. This is the magic of the FA Cup!
Although no non-league team has ever quite managed this feat, over recent years there has been many a semi-professional side to reach the early rounds of the FA Cup ‘proper’ and be awarded with their cup fairy-tale.
For most clubs, this is just a pipe dream, but it’s far from impossible to realise. The rewards for such a cup excursion are astronomical; the financial gains can keep a club afloat for many years into the future and a good cup run, coupled with five minutes of fame can secure a club’s fan base for generations. In fact, non-league teams are so desperate to fulfil their dream of drawing a Chelsea, a Manchester United or an Arsenal, that when their efforts are rewarded with a slightly less prestigious tie, it is sometimes difficult to contain their disappointment! Tamworth fan Dave Cooper remembers, “Our manager Mark Cooper was actually seen on live TV mouthing "That's sh*t" when Stoke came out of the hat!”
Historically, Yeovil Town have one of the biggest reputations as ‘Giant-killers’ especially during their non-league days, but closer to home, Tooting and Mitcham United have one of the best FA Cup pedigrees in non-league football, reaching the first round on 5 occasions, the second round twice, the third round once and even one exploit into the fourth round back in 1976, where they travelled to Valley Parade to play then Division Four side Bradford City. However, they didn’t have an easy route to meet The Bantams. In the third round they held Swindon Town to a draw, before snatching a dramatic 2-1 victory in the replay at Sandy Lane.
Previously in 1959, The Terrors were awarded a third round home tie against eventual winners Nottingham Forest and again they forced a league side into a replay after a 2-2 draw.
Former European Cup winners Forest have also been taken back to The City Ground by a non-league outfit as recently as last season, when the then Conference South side Salisbury City gained a 1-1 draw, courtesy of a Matt Tubbs strike.
Unfortunately, an article about non-league FA Cup exploits wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our neighbours Sutton United! 18 years ago, The U’s reached the third round and when the balls were plucked from the bag, no-one would have genuinely believed that history was in the making. At the time, Sutton were placed a modest 13th in the Conference, with their visitors Coventry City flying high in 5th place of Division One (now the Premiership).
U’s fan Mark Bravery reflects, “I do remember a great sense of anticipation in the build-up to the match. There was a lot of speculation about whether we could win the tie. The match itself seemed rather unreal, with tremendous excitement when the two Sutton goals went in!”
Sutton went onto win the tie at Gander Green Lane 2-1 and remain the last non-league side to knock a club from the top flight of English football out of the Cup. This just goes to show that during 90 minutes, whoever the teams, whatever league they play in and whatever players they possess, when they cross the white line, it is a level playing field and anything is possible!
Of course, a good FA Cup run means different things to different people. For the players, it is a chance to pit their wits against potentially some of the best players in the world and put themselves in the shop window. For the supporters, it could be the biggest and best occasion in their clubs history and for the directors, it presents an opportunity to increase club finances. This is not only through gate receipts on the day, but also through merchandising and primarily, television and media coverage of the game itself, alongside the build-up and post-match reaction.
“The result got a lot of national media coverage”, says Sutton fan Bravery. “The BBC had won back the rights to screen FA Cup matches that season, and sent star reporter John Motson to cover the game - so it was very high profile. There were back page headlines in all the national newspapers.”
”It helped that Sutton's manager at the time, Barrie Williams, was quite a character who the media warmed to. He was a pipe-smoking schoolteacher, given to quoting poetry!”
Fellow U’s supporter Bob Hasler also reflects on the media coverage the tie received. “The BBC came down to film training, and to get ready for filming on the day and after the result, the reaction in the media was phenomenal as you can imagine. The manager and players were on Match of the Day that night and the Sunday papers were full of it, with at least one page in the tabloids. There were small bits and interviews in the weeks leading up to the next round too. Also, the two goal scorers Tony Rains and Matt Hanlan were invited on to the Wogan show, in those days one of the top shows on TV.”
Whereas most footballing minnows would be delighted with one occasion of this magnitude every ten years, other teams have the fortune of a cup run which sees them face several league opponents within the space of a few weeks! Sides such as AFC Telford United have had this fortune in recent seasons. En route to their fourth round tie against eventual runners-up Millwall in 2003/04, The Bucks defeated both Brentford and Crewe Alexandra. Obviously, a cup run of this scale sees a build-up in not only media coverage, but also in prize money, from which a club can potentially survive for many years.
Whilst the likely income from such a massive fixture is great news for the directors of a non-league club, for Tamworth fan Dave Cooper, whose team took Stoke City back to The Lamb after a 0-0 draw in 2006, the pride in his team eclipsed all other factors. “The atmosphere on the day was electric. There was a real sense of confidence in the air, and when we took the lead....well, it was a bit special!”
“At the final whistle I was gutted, but only for a minute or so, then I realised just how close we had come and that I needed to show the team that I was proud of them. There were a few tears!”
Although ties such as Farnborough Town v Arsenal, Stafford Rangers v Peterborough and Burton Albion v Manchester United depend hugely upon the luck of the draw, most people in football are of the firm belief that you make your own good fortune and with all of the colossal benefits of a good cup run, non-league clubs around the country will today be striving to take another step towards a fairy-tale fixture.
Copyright Hannah Duncan 2007
Nice to see the name in a proggy despite it being yours. 
