In a pub attached to his club’s cosy Aggborough Stadium, the manager of English soccer team Kidderminster Harriers was being regaled with stories by some of its passionate elderly fans.
Russ Penn had popped into the Harriers Arms just before closing time on Tuesday night — shortly after Kidderminster’s 3-0 win over Leamington in the country’s sixth tier — and what he also noticed was the giddy sense the anticipation ahead of his team’s next match.
A much, much bigger one.
West Ham, one of the Premier League’s top teams, is coming to town Saturday for an FA Cup fourth-round game that is one of the biggest mismatches in the competition’s long and proud history. At least it should be, given there are 113 places between them in English football’s pyramid.
“We’ve got some very loyal supporters and they have gone through the mill of late, in the last 10, 20 years since we’ve come out the Football League,” Penn said.
“There’s been a lot of negatives and I just hope I can write a little bit of history, so that people say, ‘Remember that squad, remember that team, remember that cup run.'”
The last time Kidderminster made a lasting impression on the FA Cup was in 1994, when it became only the fifth non-league team — by then, anyway — to reach the fifth round, or the last 16, since World War II.
The opponent that knocked out the Harriers that year? West Ham.
Look at footage of that game 28 years ago and it was a classic version of what is often termed a David-versus-Goliath encounter: a packed, loud crowd in a small stadium; a muddy playing surface; thunderous tackles; backs-to-the-wall defending.
A scruffy second-half goal — journeyman striker Lee Chapman looped a header agonizingly into the corner of the net after Kidderminster’s goalkeeper misjudged a high, curling cross — settled that engrossing game and ended a cup run that is still talked about in this part of central England, about a 40-minute drive from Birmingham.
Penn and his players are out to make new, better memories.
“They might look at us as a non-league side that’s going to kick them about,” Kidderminster defender Caleb Robinson said on a video call on Wednesday. “I don’t think it’ll be that kind of game but if it has to be, it has to be.”
Kidderminster, which is in third place in the National North division, got to this stage by
What was noticeable about that game was how well Kidderminster’s players performed on a technical level. The pitch at Aggborough is now of a good standard — the club has spent plenty of money on it — which will suit West Ham stars like Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio.
“I’ve all the players with forks outside waiting to dig it up in a bit,” Penn said, laughing. “No, it’s looking in good nick. I think they will be pleasantly surprised when they come here — they’d have heard a few horror stories about non-league grounds.”
Penn said his players wouldn’t be sitting back and just defending. Especially with Kidderminster being at home, he believes they need to “go into the game looking to win it” and is seeing it as a reward for fans who were unable to watch the team during much of the pandemic as games needed to be played in empty stadiums.
With the BBC broadcasting the game — Penn said it would be surreal to see soccer greats like Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer at Aggborough as part of the broadcasting team — and local businesses looking for sponsorship opportunities linked to the occasion, it is a big money-earner for Kidderminster. Among the 6,000 capacity crowd, Penn said, will be around 15 from a Kidderminster supporters’ club from Norway who are flying over for the match.
“It’s going to benefit us for years to come,” Penn said. “There’s always perks with the FA Cup, especially when you haven’t budgeted for them.”
Penn said the most important thing is his team doesn’t get “embarrassed.” Avoid any early goals, though, and he thinks a shock could be in the cards, which would spark the kind of
“I’m no celebrity — my kids think I am but I’m not,” Penn said.
“We were very emotional. We are a passionate changing room and we just let it all out in a split-second. I’m glad it’s got the positive vibes going, anyway.”
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
