The FA Cup – A rallying call

This season marks the tenth anniversary of this……..

…..which for the uninitiated, or those who weren’t following Brakes at time, was the 1st Round proper tie against Colchester United at Layer Road. It was our first entry into the competition since 1986/87, and we went all the way to the competition proper. Yes, we got hammered 9-1 but the run created such a buzz around the club, plenty of publicity was created and new fans attracted.

Jason Cadden’s side didn’t do it the easy way, either. The first tie, at home to NCEL outfit Sutton Town ended 0-0, meaning a trip up the M1 for a replay on the Tuesday night, which finished 2-2 after extra time, a certain Darran Tank smashing home the winning spot kick to see us through 9-8. So if our game against Stamford finishes all square, don’t get too despondent!!

A trip to Northern Premier League side Kidsgrove was next. They had thumped Stourbridge in a replay in the previous round, but a stunning strike from Leon Morgan saw us through, along with an amazing save late on from Paul Shepherd, who was to become one of the heroes of this cup run after he had replaced the injured Richard Morris during the game. Apparently the home supporters were rubbing their hands with glee, thinking he was an outfield player!!

The second qualifying round saw us pitted against fellow Midland Alliance side Oadby Town at home, and after a 2-2 draw (Can you see a theme developing here?), we won a penalty shootout 4-2 in the replay after a 1-1 draw, Shep doing us proud again.

Things were starting to get exciting now, and we were drawn at home again, to Northamptonshire village side Woodford United, in the next round. This would see us come against Adam Knight, who joined us the following summer and played a big part in the MFA double winning season.

On an awful afternoon weather wise, the rain teeming down for the duration of the match, and umbrellas in abundance, two goals from a young Alex Rodman secured a famous win for Leamington in front of over 1,000 fans, the scenes on a slippery North Bank will be forever remembered by all who were there. The goals ultimately earned Rodman a trip to Wembley as Brakes fans ensured that he won the Player of the Round award, in the days before the FA realised the people were multiple voting the crap out of their system.

The first round proper was so close now we could almost smell it, if indeed it smelt of anything at all. Ossett Town in Yorkshire was our destination, a club who played two levels above Leamington at Step 3. A convoy of coaches set off on the day with anticipation at fever pitch. This is where that FA Cup magic that is so talked about came into play. Prolific non league goalscorer James Walshaw put the home side into an early lead before the legendary Josh Blake equalised, tearing away from goal past some wannabe hooligans who had turned up trying to cause trouble (They were turfed out at half time) with his finger to his lips. SHHHHHHH!!! Then Jonny Adams put us ahead. I can still picture it now – the ball is played into the box, it’s half cleared or passed out just outside the D, and Adams smashes it first time, a deflection taking it past the keeper into the bottom corner. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! The players rush over to the terrace at the side to celebrate with the massed ranks of Brakes fans.

Into the second half. Richard Adams, top scoring hero of our Midland Combination title winning campaign, entered the fray. He was not happy at being named on the bench but reacted in the best possible way, latching onto a cute pass from Morgan to add a third goal for Leamington, but we weren’t quite there yet. Ossett get a goal back, and then Morgan is sent off for a spectacular diving save on the line as the minutes ticked away. Squeaky bum time now, and no mistake. The closing minutes seemed to last an eternity, but this was our time – the final whistle sparked a pitch invasion from jubilant Brakes fans, everybody dancing around in complete and utter joy.

Because of the local idiots trying to spoil things we weren’t allowed in the clubhouse to listen to the draw for the first round on the radio after the game, which was a huge shame, but it everybody was on tenterhooks as the ties were announced. Inevitably ours came out towards the end. ‘Colchester United…will play…….Leamington.’ A football league club, we’re happy with that!

Never mind the result, Saturday November 5th was a day to remember. Cadsey made a controversial team selection, putting Mozza in goal ahead of Shep, who had kept his place after the Kidsgrove tie for cup games. It was hard to feel really sorry for Shep but he was dignified to the last, and it’s open to question whether he would have done any better with the Colchester goals than Mozza did.

We kept them out for 39 minutes with a gallant performance, but two goals just before half time did for us really, and the floodgates opened in the second half. The 1,022 Brakes fans present barely stopped singing throughout. If only we could score a goal. U’s keeper Aidan Davison laughed and said ‘maybe one’ when he was asked ‘go on keeper, let us score a goal’; but there was no way he was keeping out that piledriver from Richard Adams that nearly took the roof off the terrace. The goal celebrations at the Bescot in the League Cup Final of 2007 apart, that was probably the maddest I’ve cheered a goal To this day I still don’t know who it was I head butted while we were all jumping around like mentalists.

Sadly, since that day, our stays in the FA Cup have been limited to one or two rounds at best. We’ve had some awful draws (Stourbridge, Brackley, Solihull Moors) and defeats to teams we really thought we should have beaten (Market Drayton & Daventry Town), but the one that hurt the most was probably last season, losing to Worcester City with the prize of Step 5 Greenwich Borough in the next round. Of course, we all know how Worcester went on to do, but that is consigned to history now. It simply wasn’t meant to happen for us.

We will be one of hundreds of teams hoping that this might be their year. Some have already had their dreams dashed, some don’t even have any FA Cup memories to look back on – imagine that? After all, we don’t have any more right than the next club to an FA Cup run, but it doesn’t stop you from dreaming.

If you’ve got a spare few minutes, take a look at this video. Even if Leamington aren’t your team, I defy you not to get just a little bit excited at the thought of an FA Cup run……..

COME ON YOU BRAKES!!!!