Try telling clubs like Shrewsbury the Cup has lost its magic
GIANTKILLER RATCLIFFE’S KLOPP BLAST HODD SQUAD TO SPICE BOY
the then fourth-tier club humble their illustrious visitors.
Ratcliffe recalled: “What helped was we had a pre-season game against Everton and, although we lost 2-0, I didn’t think we did too badly.
“Our strikers Jemson and Luke Rodgers caused their central defenders Alan Stubbs and David Weir a few problems.
“Jemo was experienced and knew how to handle top-flight opponents. We also had the pace of Rodgers, so I felt we’d have a chance of causing an upset if we put balls down the channels over the full-backs.
“I was confident we could cause them problems especially halfway down his legs. The dog had ripped his trousers off him.
“He had to go to this lady’s house, knocking on her door and saying, ‘Miss Jackson, have you seen a dog running past with my trousers in its mouth?’.
“She just looked at him and said, ‘No’. He used to tell it way more humorously than I could, but I heard it loads of times as a kid.
“So when I got to play for Grenada, I looked Miss after I’d seen the team, which had Peter Clarke, normally a centre-back at right-back. He was just a young lad then and never a right-back, so we targeted him and the left-back, who was David Unsworth.
“Wayne Rooney was playing, but I knew the pitch wouldn’t suit his skills of linking up play.
“I told the players they’d never have a better chance of creating a shock. I said it wasn’t a good Everton side. They hadn’t been doing that well in the Premier League.”
Ratcliffe’s plan worked, with Jemson grabbing a headed
Jackson up. She’s quite old now, but I got to meet her. She hasn’t got the best of memories, but she told me it was true.
“That story was legendary in our house and there are so many like that.
“Unfortunately, I lost my father three years ago, but it’s sentimental for me that connection.
“There was always a thing with my family and last summer I got married to Dahlia there. It was winner two minutes from time. The then Everton boss David Moyes (below), who had spent three years at Shrewsbury as a player, couldn’t believe it. “After the game, David was so disappointed that he just wanted to get out of the place,” added Ratcliffe. “He promised to ring me on the Monday morning and he did, apologised for not stopping, but then praised us, not just for the win, but in the way we had played. “We had a decent side, but it didn’t stop us getting relegated to the Conference. We only won about connecting with the family. It felt right.”
Beckles’ path to today’s glamour tie with the Premier League champions-elect is by no means conventional.
He graduated from Glenn Hoddle’s (left) academy in Spain and worked as a PE teacher, playing football part-time before breaking into the professional ranks with Accrington.
But he struggled with the grief of losing his dad and another two games in the league and went out of the Cup against Chelsea in the next round.”
It all ended up with Ratcliffe resigning barely four months after the momentous victory against his former club.
But he would love to be back in the old market town tonight, if Shrewsbury upset the odds.
“I thought Everton had a great chance of beating Liverpool in the last round with the team they named,” said Ratcliffe.
“They will probably name a similar side. It won’t be as easy as some people think against us.
“Back in our day, we proved a few people wrong. Hopefully, that will be the case again today.” has now immersed himself in mental health issues and runs his own foundation.
Beckles said: “Anyone that has to deal with the trauma of losing a loved one knows that we all deal with that in very different ways. I carried mine with me.
“My doctor said it happens with highachievers, that they place so much pressure upon themselves to perform and be at their best.”