Interview with Tony Agana - Part 3 (Leaving United, Magpies and Bulls)

At the end of Part 2 of our interview, which you can read here, Tony had played a vital role in securing the Blades’ return to the top flight. The season was a mixed bag for Tony though.

After starting the first three games, including the season opener against Liverpool at Bramall Lane, he missed the next 4 games through injury. He returned to the bench in late September and was back in the first team the following week, but by the start of November he was injured again. The Blades were struggling and their first league victory didn’t come until just before Christmas; a 3-2 home win over Forest. Tony was still missing. He returned in January and was largely ever present until the end of the season which saw the Blades pull of an escape that seemed unlikely at the close of the year. All in all, a disappointing season on a personal level, but a great one for the club. 

It was a great season that was celebrated by the players in their own way.  The post season trip to Magaluf hit the headlines as trouble erupted on the return flight.

“There was some boisterous behaviour, complaints were made and players were being picked out that were not even involved. The next thing we know we were landing at Birmingham - not our intended destination – and the police were waiting. We got the train back to Sheffield and were shocked to see the picture of us leaving the plane plastered all over the front of the local Birmingham paper. By the time we got home and put the telly on, Billy (Whitehurst) and David Barnes was on News at Ten!”  

The following season, the Blades’ again started slowly. By late November the Blades had just two league wins, but Tony was largely injury free and finding the back of the net. It is this which led me to ask Tony the one big question;

How come you were sold?

You had played a majority of  the games that season, you had played at Old Trafford on the Saturday, but you were gone before the much-anticipated Sheffield Derby the following Sunday! In his autobiography Dave Bassett says that "the club sold Tony Agana" - an interesting choice of words. Did you or Dave have any say in proceedings?

"It basically came down to club finances. We were told it had to be one of me, Brian (Deane) or Simon Tracey (then Blades goalkeeper) who had to be sold to realise enough cash to balance the books. At the end of the day Notts County came in with an acceptable offer and it was me who left. It was less about what I wanted, in those circumstances the club came first. It had to come first. It had to survive. No one is bigger than the club"

“At the end of the day I can look back now and say that Harry was right to sell me. With my injuries I was perhaps the best to cash in on.”

You were then (and I believe still are) County's record signing. Did that bring added pressure?

"Yes there was an element of pressure, but like at United things were difficult financially and that didn't help. After I joined a number of good players were sold; Paul Rideout, Mark Draper, Tommy Johnson, Chris Short....Money was used to rebuild the ground and not invested back in the squad. The club went through 8 managers whilst I was there. I even had a brief spell as caretaker manager, before Sam Allardyce was appointed. I was unbeaten as well, three draws!"

“I spent the best part of 6 seasons at Meadow Lane, but played only 27 games more than I did at United. Neil Warnock who signed me sent me out on loan to Leeds early in my time there, but I played just a couple of games. My goal per game ratio was down on what I achieved at United, but it was difficult, with injuries and the club fell from the top division ending up relegated to the basement at the end of the season when I left.”  

Was it Allardyce’s appointment that signalled the end for you at Meadow Lane?

“Yes. Sam took over in the January and I didn’t fit in with his plans. He said he would try and get a move for me before the deadline closed and he was as good as his word.”

So how did the move to Hereford United arise?

“I knew Graham Turner from the days when he was at Wolves and the Blades were duelling with them for promotion. I had a lot of respect for him as a man and a manager and so it wasn’t a difficult decision”

“It was good, there was a Sheffield lad Trevor Matthewson travelling down along with me and Richard Walker who also moved with me from County. We headed down midweek for training and returned Saturday after the match. It made life a bit easier for all of us”

Your scoring record picked up at Hereford, but it wasn’t enough to save them that season.

“No, unfortunately the club were in a battle to stave off relegation to the conference. In the end it went down to the final game of the season against Brighton at Edgar Street. They were directly above us in the league on the same points, but ahead on goals scored. It was a match we had to win to stay up, whereas a draw would do for Brighton. I was up against old Blades team-mate Mark Morris.”

“We started the match really well, were on top and took the lead. I drove a ball into the box towards goal and it went in off Kerry Mayo. We couldn’t get a second and they equalised midway through the second half. Try as we might, we couldn’t get an equaliser. We were down to the Conference.  It was devastating, the lowest point of my career.”

What happened after relegation with Hereford? The club had severe financial problems following relegation, which couldn’t have helped.

"I was all set to retire, but (the late) Keith Alexander got in touch with me and asked if I would help out a friend of his (Marty Quinn) at Cliftonville in Northern Ireland. It was a short but difficult spell I had there. I would train on my own all week, fly out from Manchester on the Friday and fly back after the match. It was an education as well. One game we played, there was a mini armoured vehicle on the terraces between the two sets of supporters. As an outsider it took a little getting used to."

Spells with Leek Town and Guiseley Athletic followed, "I was always willing to help out and do friends favours, and in this case it was Ernie Moss (Leek) and Bobby Davison (Guiseley)". It also led to a brief spell in charge of Leek following Ernie's departure. So was Tony ever interested in staying in the game, in a coaching capacity?

"I did take my first coaching badge and passed it. Unfortunately, when the certificate came through they had spelt my name wrong. I took it as a sign! I went to college and then on to graduate with a 2:1 Degree from Sheffield Hallam University and work at the University of Manchester."

Tony's life and career took a path away from football, although spells as hospitality host and then in the commercial side at Bramall Lane followed and he made appearances in Masters Football.

Today he is working with a couple of local businesses trying to generate new work and contracts for them with other local businesses. The Londoner, who had major doubts about moving to Sheffield 23 years ago, is now settled in Sheffield and doing his best to support and promote local commerce and business.

“I look at my son and think; where are the jobs for him and the rest of his generation?  My generation got us into this state, so it us up to us, we have to do something positive to try and change things for the better. A great way to go about it is in our local business community, generating work for each other.”

Tony is an extremely positive person to meet. Whilst he admits there have been tough times for him, he displays the positive outlook to life that often comes through in the 140 characters he uses on twitter. This was less of an interview and more of a fun chat about common interests. Playing the tapes back, the over-riding thing that I notice is laughter and the frequency of it throughout our conversation. In the end I couldn’t edit very much out. It was all important in telling Tony’s story and I am sure reading it back that there are many other avenues of conversation and aspects of his career we could have explored.

They often say it is not always wise to meet your heroes....that you will only be disappointed. That would never be the case if you ever meet Tony.

Thank you to Tony for his time it was much appreciated and enjoyed. Many of the photos used in these posts are from Tony’s own collection and include items found in his Mum’s loft. He started to post a few items and memories on tumblr until the flakiness of tumblr deterred him- hopefully we can encourage him to try again.

It can be found at   

http://aganablade.tumblr.com/

Other A United View interviews you might like:

Guy Mowbray (BBC Football Commentator)
Alan Biggs (Broadcaster and Journalist)
Martyn Walsh (Inspiral Carpets Bass Player and Man Utd fan)

Interview with Tony Agana (Part 1 - Welling, Weymouth and Watford)

In amongst the many current and ex-footballers on twitter, you really have to sort out the good from the bad to decide who is worth following. For most #twitterblades there was much excitement when former player Tony Agana was found on twitter.

For me (and may Blades fans of my age) he is one of several people to represent a halcyon period of my Blades supporting life. Between the ages of 13 and 19 I saw United achieve two successive promotions, returning to the top flight for the first time in 14 years, achieving the Sheffield Double and staying in the top flight until the Great Escapes finally ended in 1994. Tony was an integral part of it; although he had moved on by the time the Blades were relegated from the Premier League on the last day of the season at Stamford Bridge.

Tony uses twitter in a really positive way, engaging with supporters, answering their questions, whilst also promoting Sheffield and supporting the local business community, of which he is a part. After he kindly re-tweeted a blog post of mine, my thanks were responded too with a message of "Great blog BTW" and I took that as my cue to ask Tony if he would be willing to be interviewed for it. And that is how I find myself spending an engaging and entertaining 90 minutes in the company of Tony. In a hotel adjacent to the pitch where he used to entertain and score in other entertaining 90 minute spells some 20 years ago.

We talk about his football career, from playing for Welling United and selling fruit on a farm, to promotions with United and then relegation from the league with Hereford United. Parts 2 and 3 will follow over the next couple of nights, but we start at the beginning of his career and I started by asking Tony about his early career and the combination of playing football alongside a full-time job.

"I was born in Penge, not far from Crystal Palace FC, but aged 10 my family moved to Orpington. Charlton Athletic was my nearest league club, but Welling was also nearby. I was playing for a very successful boys club called Orpington Eagles from the age of 12 through to 15/16. We were incredibly successful and it seemed like we won everything we could including two county cup finals - Surrey and Kent. Everyone wanted to play for us.”

Orpington Eagles - Tony is Back Row second from the right

“The problem was that there was no-one to play when we got to 16. The idea was mooted by Welling United, who didn’t have a youth team at the time, that everyone would move across and be Welling United’s youth team. We were playing under 18 teams and holding our own and I think all coming through together as a team made is so strong. Also at the age of 17 I got into Welling United’s first team.”

Were there any other lads in that Orpington/Welling side that went on to a league career?

"There was Stuart White, who went on to play for Charlton Athletic but also had a long spell with Welling. Sadly he passed away in a car accident in South Africa last year. Of the 6 or 7 others who had been offered schoolboy forms, I don’t think any made it. I had a fantastic time at Welling United; the other player who moved on to bigger things was already there; a guy with a big nose and long hair in the midfield - Andy Townsend and he wasn’t bad was he? We had a really good team and won the Southern League title.”

“At the same time I had left school and continued where a summer job had finished; on a Pick-Your-Own Farm Shop. Out in the country but most of it came from Borough Market, customers seeing the oranges and grapefruits and saying “Ooh where did you grow these?!” After about 6 months my Mum said get a proper job, so I got a job with an Insurance company in the City of London. In the end it was the job that led to me leaving Welling."

"The company I worked for was cost cutting and decided to relocate operations to Poole in Dorset. Many took redundancy, so in order to keep continuity of staff they were offering generous relocation packages and for a young guy to be given the chance of a 1% mortgage on his own house, it was a no-brainer. So Welling invited representatives from Poole, Weymouth and other South coast clubs to come and watch me to try and set up a deal. The then Weymouth manager Brian Godfrey (ex-Aston Villa and Wales) saw me and said to the chairman, “He’s not bad that Agana, I'll give you a grand for him, but I also like your midfielder”.  Brian offered a five figure sum that also got Weymouth Andy Townsend as well!"

In the end Tony left for £4,500 and Townsend left initially on loan

"Weymouth was good for me and for a while living in Poole was good fun. There was great camaraderie amongst a group of us who travelled from Poole for each game. The balance was great; once you have finished work what else are you going to do on a Saturday. If you asked me where I enjoyed football to the max, it was at Sheffield United and in those non-league days."

"However, after a while, I wanted to move back to London. Stuart Morgan had taken over as manager and he was so different from Brian Godfrey and in the end I was glad to leave. In January 1987 I sold my house in Poole and spent the time until the summer living in Bournemouth."

So how did the approach from Watford come about? It was a big leap from the Conference to the then First Division.

"Well at first I thought it was a joke. I knew I was doing alright, but I wasn't expecting a call from Dave Bassett. He called and said I have just taken over at Watford; I’d like you to come on trial. It took two or three conversations to convince me it was really happening and it definitely was Harry Bassett. I was 23 and a Division 1 club are showing an interest it was like a joke. He asked me to go on their pre-season tour so he could take a look at me and in the end I thought, what can I lose? I am getting a free holiday, I’ve never been to Scandinavia and if it doesn’t work out I’ll look for a job and look to sign for Enfield or similar."

"There was Luther Blissett, Kenny Jackett, Tony Coton some big name Watford players, but because I had a relaxed attitude about the trial that helped me to do well on the pre-season tour and on the coach back from the airport Dave Bassett offered me a contract. He said go home for the weekend to think about it, although in hindsight I should have said yes there and then because I found out on the Monday that the team had all been to a barbecue at Elton John's house that weekend. You don't get that kind of opportunity very often. Gutted!"

So how did you adjust to full-time professional football?

"It wasn’t easy at all. The relaxed attitude of the pre-season tour disappeared; it’s now your living. It was quite difficult, but I was determined to have fun doing it. I worked hard and trained hard, but didn't expect to make the first team straight away, but four days before the start of the season Dave Bassett told me I was playing on the Saturday. Err....am I? There was huge pressure on me as I was stepping into the number 11 shirt vacated by John Barnes, but on my debut I got Man of the Match against Wimbledon."

It was a turbulent spell at Watford, post Graham Taylor and I know Bassett found it difficult, how was it for you as a player and one of Bassett's signings?

"Graham Taylor's methods conditioned players to play in a certain way. It was all very much pre-planned, but Harry gave the players a free reign. It didn't always work and the players used to playing Taylor's way found it difficult to adapt."

When Bassett was sacked in the January after he had taken over, how difficult was it for you? 

"Very difficult. Steve Harrison had taken over. He had been there before, under Graham Taylor, he knew about the players and I perhaps wasn't his type of player....which is fine. Management is all about opinions. You live or die by your opinion of a particular player."

In Dave Bassett's autobiography he mentions how Steve Harrison tried selling you to AFC Bournemouth?

"Yes, I had taken in a mortgage application form for him to sign and he tells me “I wouldn’t bother signing it son”, a deal had been agreed with Bournemouth. That was the first I had heard about it."

But Harry soon got back in touch though?

"Harry being the loyal person that he was came back for me and it wasn't just me. If you look at who he went back to Watford for, it was a bit like "I'm not going to leave you there...I'll do my best to get you out of there." That one act...how much loyalty would you get for that? In a cynical world where everyone is out for themselves, how good does that make you feel as a player? He knew we would thrive under him rather than where we were. I believe that he also got players out to other clubs, through his network, if he couldn’t take them to United"

"It was more due to the situation certain players found themselves in, not fitting in, and nothing to do with the club. I have no bad feelings towards Watford and I have lots of friends there. I have huge respect for what they have achieved since, both on and off the pitch."

“He persuaded me to come and have a look at United. I was a typical Londoner; going to Bournemouth was unheard of, to go up North was like...sheesh. Why would you unless you really had to? I had big doubts but he got me in a car and Harry had arranged for his former manager and mentor at Walton and Wimbledon, Allen Batsford, to drive me up with Alan Gillett another of his coaches. They were clearly trying to work on me and persuade me that it was the right move, but they made a fatal error of leaving the M1 at Junction 29. Through Chesterfield – it wasn’t pretty in those days - and through all the back roads to Sheffield I was like - "No. This isn't good. It's not for me". It wasn't pretty at all."

"What really swung it was turning on to Cherry Street and seeing the stadium……BANG!...Bramall Lane….Oh My God…Where do I sign? Seriously that was it. That's not to say that Watford wasn't a good set up, but in size and with the South Stand in front of me it was just - wow!"

"Inside the ground I met with Harry and Derek Dooley.  Derek said all the right things, we want you here etcetera, but really it didn't matter by then. From the moment I had turned the corner in the car I had been sold."

In Part 2, which you can now read here, Tony talks about successive promotions and some happy times at Bramall Lane. 

Non League Day

Tomorrow is the second annual Non League Day, a chance for fans of league football to return to the grassroots and support football in their local community.

The press release sums up nicely the ethos of the day;

"A celebration of the semi-professional and amateur game, and a chance for fans of bigger clubs to experience football at a level they may be otherwise unfamiliar with. Moreover, it is a chance to shine a light on the hundreds of clubs in this country who are almost exclusively volunteer run, and do so much good for the local community, be it through coaching, fundraising or providing opportunities for local people."

Specifically chosen with the international break in mind, it is a perfect opportunity for fans of Premier League and Championship clubs to see an alternative; with football, pie and a pint often found for under a tenner. If you are watching a match below Blue Square Premier, you can also drink that pint whilst you watch the match. Perfect!

Stuart Fuller from The Ball is Round has published a handy guide of what to expect here.

Unfortunately, the decline of my club means that we have a home fixture against Bury at Bramall Lane tomorrow and so I will be supporting my life-long love. In order to make up for that, I attended Handsworth F.C (based in the suburb of Sheffield where I grew up) on Wednesday night for their Northern Counties East League clash with Bottesford Town. I'lll do a write up on my enjoyable evening out on A United View next week and explain why I think Non League Day is great for raising awareness and a brilliant idea, but what is to stop a football fan making it a Non-League Day any day they want to.

For now, head to the Non League Day website for a full list of fixtures. Or, if you are South Yorkshire based, Footysphere and the Doncaster Rovers site Viva Rovers have done a great job of letting you know what football is available on your doorstep.

Go on, you may surprise yourself with how much you enjoy it!

     

Blue Star, Red Star, Ancients, Comrades, Terriers & Synthonia

On Saturday 9th April the first Northern League Day is taking place, a great idea from Michael Hudson (follow him on twitter here). The idea? To encourage fans of North East football to support their local teams and fans from around the country to travel up and support the World's second oldest league, only pre-dated by the Football League. With no Premier league matches in the North East it is a great opportunity to see grass roots football. Although many fellow bloggers are meeting there, I will be watching my team Sheffield United take on one of the North East's big boys in Middlesboro. That doesn't mean to say I am not supporting the day, Sheffield United always comes first in football terms, but the Northern League is something that has interested me for many years.

It played a key role in my early fascination with football. From the age of about 6 onwards, Sunday mornings were spent, sat at the dining table with Shoot! League Ladders and the results/league tables page from my Dad's Sunday People. League ladders were intrinsic in increasing my knowledge about football, teams' colours, their grounds and from there to nicknames, drawing the kits. So much so, that I have recently bought a magnetic set of league tables to try and garner my son's interest in football further. Having said that taking him to watch the Blades this season has had the opposite effect in much greater measure.

It was whilst studying the leagues that the Sunday paper highlighted another world of football, leagues that barely got a mention on TV, in the classified results or on my dad's weekly Littlewoods Pools Coupon. Some names were familiar around FA Cup time, Altrincham were particularly notable for me after they knocked us out of the FA Cup in 1981-82 but also for the fact that they shared the red and white stripes. Outside of the Alliance Premier, where the leaders had a feint hope of election to the Football League, there were a host of teams in the Isthmian, Northern Premier, Southern and Hellenic leagues amongst others, all representing familiar towns and villages of middle England, or the boroughs of major cities. But one league's results always stuck out, purely for the names of the teams. Yes there were Athletics, Towns, Uniteds and Rovers, but these were different.

Norton & Stockton Ancients, (Newcastle) Blue Star, Billingham Synthonia, Horden Colliery Welfare, were joined over time by Bedlington Terriers, Seaham Red Star, Jarrow Roofing, West Allotment Celtic. Even the feeder leagues seemed to comply with an unwritten rule on team names. Added to the mix were the clubs who took their town/village names, yet still sounded other worldly - Esh Winning, West Auckland…...

These were just not the norm, as exotic as Argyle, but as Northern as Pie and Peas. Yet over the next few years, as my curiosity grew, there was no real source telling me the why or the how. We are talking about the days of early BBC micros and Ataris, no internet to call upon. A Rothmans book was found in the sports section of the adult library. Great for so many things but not the unanswerable Northern League conundrum. It wasn't as if there was any progression for these teams through the pyramid, the Northern League's stubborn stance on joining the pyramid meant that there was little opportunity for wider media coverage.

Over time my knowledge built-up. I understood that many teams originated in the pit villages of North East England and that industrial involvement led to the name they were given and regular changes of name for some. Bedlington started off as Mechanics, became Colliery Welfare, changed to United when they joined the Northern League, before settling on Terriers. Jarrow Roofing were so named due to a sponsorship deal. Billingham Synthonia were named after a contraction of Synthetic Ammonia, a product of the nearby ICI factory to which the club had close links. Horden Colliery Welfare - well the clue was in the name. Shotton Comrades originated from the colliery social club as well.

Others I am less certain about. Some, I am guessing, originated in local or Sunday league roots; Seaham Red Star, Norton & Stockton Ancients, West Allotment Celtic. As for Blue Star (RIP) I wonder if they had anything to do with the Brewery? Or is the Blue Star of a different origin?

I am happy to stand corrected on any of these, or be informed on those where I am still in the dark.

So that's what the Northern League means to me in my football life. A curiosity and fascination that ran through my formative years. Some unanswered questions that still niggle now.

Thanks for reading. Apologies for the self-indulgence. As you were…..

Supermarine Go Ballistic.....

……….ColU are atrocious. Ok, so it's been done before. But a win for the smallest club left in the F.A. Cup might send the Sunday newspaper headline writers into a similar frenzy this weekend.

Swindon Supermarine F.C. is a community, fan run club, still in its infancy, yet it nearly didn’t start this season. Established in 1992 following a merger between two local clubs, Supermarine F.C. and Swindon Athletic F.C., both of which were struggling financially, they took Athletic's place in the Hellenic League Premier Division. After winning the Hellenic League championship in 1996-97, they missed out  on promotion due to ground requirements. Although a second championship success in 2000–01 saw them accepted into the Southern League.

The step up was tough and it was a difficult first few seasons, but reaching 2 successive play offs culminated in promotion to the Southern League Premier Division in 2006–07, which is where they find themselves now. In a season of firsts they have reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, setting a new record attendance en route, and on Saturday they travel to the Weston Homes Community Stadium for a Second Round tie against Colchester United.

Leigh Moore and his family have been involved with the club for all of his 23 years. His parents took over the running of the club in 1987, until his father stood down in the summer.

“The club has been run by a small group of supporters for 20 years and that is continuing again now with additional new faces and whilst there continues to be a reliance on such a small number of people the club future is always very uncertain. Actually the way the club is run hasn’t changed, it has always been run by fans and not ‘owned’ by anyone. It is a membership based organisation and all of the previous members are still involved, it just has different people around the committee table. The ground is owned by a limited company made up of the local business men and previous committee members.

The difference now is that the supporters on the committee now are linked to the club through family connections, with sons and grandsons playing in the team which I’m sure will have its own challenges and benefits.”

Despite establishing themselves in the Zamaretto (Southern) Premier League, things were tough and over the Summer a cash injection was required to keep the club going and there was a clear requirement to be vocal about the need for support.

“When you look at some other non-league clubs they are operating with huge debts. The club were just not prepared to go into another season without the assurances that at least a proportion of the money needed to run the team would be there.”

“This cup run has meant that the immediate need to go and find that extra income has been eased but the club are still working hard to secure sponsorship which will help with long term financial sustainability.”

“The new committee members worked very hard over the summer to bring in a few new sponsors, including the naming of the webs Wood Stadium, and this coupled with the cup run means they all have smiles on their faces and quite rightly so.”

With £6,750 of TV money and half the gate receipts from Saturday's game added to the increased attendances in earlier rounds there has been a significant financial boost to the club. A club record 1,159 saw the first round tie against Eastwood Town. Unfortunately, the cup run support hasn’t yet been converted into an increase in league attendance figures, with average attendances down from 181 last year to 146 this is the bread and butter of financial survival.

With a league fixture backlog before the winter there is a danger that clubs find themselves 6 or 7 games behind which results on 2/3 games a week, which is a tough ask for any club at any level. It also impacts on crowd levels which hits even harder in non-league as Leigh explains; "Last season we lost 9 Saturday games to bad weather all of which got rearranged to midweek’s, which represented a huge loss of revenue yet the costs and wages still have to be paid."  The loss to Lowestoft in the F.A. Trophy last week, however disappointing, may ease that burden.

With such low crowds, the committee has to be innovative in how they market the club, both to local business and the potential fan base. Being close to the M4 Swindon is an easy commute to many towns and cities with Championship or Premier league clubs that makes attracting support difficult. Notwithstanding the fact that the area is also a hot bed of Rugby.

Initiatives have included a £5 ticket offer for season ticket holders of Premier League of League clubs and working up a close relationship with their football league neighbours. That means it's a relationship built on respect, more than a rivalry with Swindon Town F.C. and that first round record crowd was almost certainly boosted by a number of Town fans.

“In the past the club has benefited from some major sponsorship deals from one or two individuals who have been friends of the club and have wanted to help out. Due to the place we as a country find ourselves economically, these type of sponsorship deals at this level will probably never be replicated.”

“What it has meant is that the club has had to look for as many sponsors as possible but in much smaller amounts. We have to look at the ground and the club as a formula one car, if there is a space it can be sponsored.” A visit to the club website confirms this is the case with a wall of sponsors’ ads greeting you, prior to entering the club site.

“The small hardcore of supporters have also been great with things such as pound a point, sponsor a seat, weekly match predictor and all these little things add up.”

As do the numbers travelling to Colchester, expected to be more than double their league average gate. “When we got through people were talking about 500+ but I think for a club of our size 250+ would be a fantastic achievement. However many we take I’m sure we will make lots of noise and enjoy the day.”

Leigh is the man behind the SupermarineFC twitter account of which I am now one of 395 followers. He describes social media as "ideal for getting people to talk about the club even if they don’t pay to walk through the gate. Creating an awareness of the club both in and outside of Swindon is important and it is definitely putting us on the map more nationally." This has included getting good luck messages retweeted by both TV presenter Gabby Logan and Bolton's Kevin Davies.

With main match highlights on ITV on Saturday night that exposure will continue to reach a much wider audience and an upset might even put them in the running for the F.A.'s new Ronnie Radford trophy. If however Colchester succeed, as most would expect, this cup run will have left Swindon Supermarine with a much stronger base to move forward, both financially and in terms of big match experience. Hopefully, this will help them grow and progress up the non-league pyramid. 

As Leigh says; “From a fan’s perspective our objective over the next 5 years must be to continue to strive for financial sustainability and improve the support base. The club has grown rapidly in the last 15 years and has reached a level now where there is a need for it to become more and more professional. A big part of that will be having a fan base that truly warrants a club at this level of football”.

I for one wish them all the best in achieving it. If hard work, endeavour and initiative are rewarded they surely will.