Match of the Cray
CRAY VALLEY BOSS WATSON TELLS HIS MINNOWS TO SAVOUR THEIR BRILLIANT RUN AFTER HIS TEAM BATH HEROICS
KEVIN Watson is urging his players to learn from his experience — and savour every moment of Cray Valley Paper Mills’ FA Cup adventure.
The boss of the tiny club in south-east London has previous in the competition, having been the skipper of Team Bath, who hit the headlines 18 years ago.
Watson captained that side who became the first university team to reach the first round proper since 1880.
He didn’t realise the scale of his achievement at the time. But after leading former works’ team Cray Valley into a tie against Havant & Waterlooville today, he believes his squad can learn from his own brief flirtation with the FA Cup.
He said: “Team Bath was a unique situation, we were combining our studies with playing football – effectively we were training full-time.
“At the time, it passed by in a blur. It’s difficult to take it all in, especially when you’re a lad in your early 20s.
“When you’re that age – and at that stage in your football career
– you naively think it’s something that you will experience every year.
“You think that there will be more moments like that around the corner. Only football isn’t like that.
“And as you progress in life you realise that it really was a special moment in time.
“Of course, it’s something that I look back upon now with a great deal of pleasure.
“Paul Tisdale (above) was our manager and he knew a guy called Ray Kelvin who owned Ted Baker, so we had tailor-made suits and, off the pitch, we looked the part. On it, sadly for us, Mansfield beat us 4-2.
“That’s just one of the memories I have – and that’s what I’m hoping my players will generate for themselves this weekend. It’s a great opportunity
for them to test themselves. It’s a cliché, I know, but I really hope they seize the moment and come out of this with a few tales to tell of their own.”
The Millers have been on the rise for a few years now. They have carved out a niche for themselves in their corner of south-east London.
Watson said: “The club isn’t named after an area like, say Canvey Island in Essex, but we are slowly building up a following. We were noticed after reaching the FA Vase final and this will help us receive greater recog recognition. We like to th think we are a club with a aspirations.”
And Havant & Waterlooville do not present as big a hurdle a as the Millers had to ov overcome in the fourth qualifying li round when National League high- fliers Maidenhead United were defeated on their own patch.
Watson said: “They are a couple of levels above us in the pyramid. There’s no denying that it’s a good draw for them.
“They will be expecting to progress. Outside our dressing room, it would be a major surprise, a shock even (to win).
“But I know what we have got in that dressing room. However, you can’t make any assumptions in football.
“You have to go and play the game out on the pitch – and ultimately it’s all about the players. I just want them to embrace the opportunity that’s put in front of them.”