Weeks on from the FA Cup third-round draw, inside Weston-super-Mare\u2019s modest clubhouse at their stadium a couple of miles from the holiday haven beachfront, there is still a tinge of incredulity at what might have been. Bridget Bolland, operations manager and one of the mini-army of staff who keep the part-time sixth-tier side ticking, relays how, normally, visiting teams have their post-match meal on a bench beside the skittles alley, sausage and chips usually the offering. The thought of Bruno Fernandes or Erling Haaland tucking in here is yet to fully evaporate.<\/p>\n
But the draw meant Weston, the promotion-chasing National League South side who have reached this stage of the Cup for the first time, have been preparing for a different challenge: a tie at fourth-tier Grimsby Town, who beat Manchester United in the Carabao Cup<\/a> in August. \u201cAs a United fan, I hated them that night,\u201d says Weston\u2019s manager, Scott Rogers. \u201cI was going mad at the TV. But I\u2019m hoping we can do something similar. There\u2019s always an upset in the Cup: why can\u2019t it be us?\u201d<\/p>\n It is 10am and the players, who train twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, file into a room for a short analysis meeting. Gary Warren, the assistant manager and head of academy, runs through a few clips. \u201cThe only rest you get is at half-time, full time and when the final whistle goes,\u201d he says. Rogers has the final word: \u201cLet\u2019s make sure we\u2019re proactive. To get to the first round is a big achievement for a non-league side \u2026 to get to the third is almost unheard of.\u201d<\/p>\n Weston, the joint lowest-ranked team left in the competition with National League North side Macclesfield, overcame division rivals Chelmsford City in the previous round. That day Louis Britton, a Bristol-born striker, was Weston\u2019s hero, scoring both goals. After the match the team joined supporters at the Flyer, a pub round the corner from their opponents\u2019 ground.<\/p>\n Former Northern Ireland international Michael Smith (centre) in training. Photograph: Jim Wileman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a few beers with them and it was brilliant,\u201d says Michael Smith, the 37-year-old full-back who won 19 caps for Northern Ireland. \u201cThat\u2019s what this level is all about. You probably wouldn\u2019t get that with league clubs but to give a little bit back to the fans was special. Great day.\u201d How was the journey back to Somerset? \u201cWe were well lubricated, put it that way,\u201d Smith says with a smile.<\/p>\n Rogers bought a crate of beers from Morrisons for the bus home (on which the forward Will Dawes turned DJ) and called his parents before joining the party. \u201cI just sat on the coach on my own and it was nice to have that moment,\u201d Rogers says. \u201cEveryone was saying: \u2018Why aren\u2019t you in here?\u2019 I just needed some peace and quiet because it had been so hectic. I had my notebook for the game, squiggles everywhere, and when we got to the 83rd minute I just wrote: \u2018Please, God.\u2019 Great memories. And I\u2019ve been doing a lot of praying lately \u2026 come on, give us one more.\u201d<\/p>\n Weston\u2019s squad comprises players at both ends of their careers and everyone from builders and teachers to labourers and lecturers, in the case of the captain, Emlyn Lewis, who works at Cardiff Metropolitan University. \u201cLuckily, we had enough time to put annual leave in,\u201d says Lewis of travelling north on Friday. The youngster Charlie Cummins is on loan from Exeter. Adam May and Dom Bernard have played in League One, Scott Wilson in League Two. Smith faced Chelsea with Peterborough<\/a> in the FA Cup third round in 2017. \u201cChelsea went on to win the Premier League, so it was a good squad: Pedro, F\u00e0bregas, Kant\u00e9, John Terry,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Weston\u2019s Emlyn Lewis works at Cardiff Metropolitan University and is taking annual leave in order to play at Grimsby. Photograph: Jim Wileman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Lewis\u2019s doctoral thesis<\/a> led him to record the lives of eight managers. \u201cHow do coaches manage the everyday pressures of the job?\u201d Lewis says. \u201cHave you been home? Have you seen your family? The research showed that there are no boundaries, it is 24\/7. There were times when managers got sacked. I am very grateful they allowed me to be part of their lives, in a way, for 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacob Cane, the club\u2019s longest-serving player, who came through the ranks at Exeter, has made more than 400 appearances across 11 years. In his first season at Weston, he and Ollie Watkins, who joined on loan from Exeter with Matt Jay, now of Torquay, shared lifts from Devon. Cane remembers training on a \u201cmud bath\u201d that winter but these days there is a slick artificial surface. The midfielder remains close friends with Watkins \u2013 whose signed Aston Villa and Weston shirts adorn the walls of the boardroom \u2013 and attended the Euro 2024 final in Berlin to support his former teammate<\/a>. \u201cWe still talk about his time here,\u201d Cane says.<\/p>\n Around town there is pride at Weston\u2019s progress. \u201cMy uncle Martyn, who I played under at Tiverton Town, managed for 36 years and never got past the first round,\u201d says Rogers, who in 1999 scored the winning goal at Wembley to win the FA Vase. \u201cWhen we got through to the second round this season, he said: \u2018Bloody hell, unbelievable, I\u2019ve been trying to do that all my life.\u2019 To get through again \u2026 everyone kept asking: \u2018Who do you want?\u2019 I always tell my kids: \u2018Don\u2019t say want, because it\u2019s greedy\u2019 \u2013 but I would\u2019ve liked Bristol City. That would\u2019ve been my dream because I was an apprentice there and got released.\u201d<\/p>\n An Aston Villa shirt signed by Ollie Watkins hangs in the clubhouse. The England striker played on loan for Weston in 2014-15. Photograph: Jim Wileman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Weston has long been a family business; last summer Paul Bliss stepped down as chair after 39 years, handing the baton to his son Oli, whose brother, Ed, is vice-chair. Paul, who turns 80 next year, will be one of 10 of the Bliss family in attendance at Grimsby, where Weston have a 1,200 allocation. This season Weston renamed a stand at their stadium in honour of their president, Dennis Usher, whose association with the club began in 1979 and whose father was involved in the 50s. Plans to build a 750-seat stand and new facilities were recently approved.<\/p>\n Victory at Chelmsford will live long in the memory for all involved but they are targeting another historic triumph. The Cup run has generated about \u00a3150,000 for a club with a mid-table budget for their division. \u201cI can normally tell the manager how much budget they have left but this year it has been confusing \u2013 for a good reason,\u201d says Oli Bliss, who budgeted for two wins across the FA Cup<\/a> and FA Trophy. Saturday\u2019s trip to Blundell Park represents Weston\u2019s seventh match on a memorable adventure, one that began at Taunton Town in September and they hope it does not prove the last. \u201cIf we go through, it will be a pretty momentous day,\u201d says Bliss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weeks on from the FA Cup third-round draw, inside Weston-super-Mare\u2019s modest clubhouse at their stadium a couple of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-685175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115866922119592773","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}