Well after almost a year it has come to an end even quicker than it began! Having been up the east coast of Australia back in May with a group of lads who are forever my brothers...and travels which included surfing near dolphins in Byron Bay, a stop in Brissie, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island and all the stories from there, of which there are too many to mention...some of which include dingoes (WHAT GOES ON TOUR STAYS ON TOUR) and heading up to Maggy Island, a beautiful place and then a sky dive in Mission Beach, before bumping into Mr Blatt, himself on a world tour...then Cairns, and back to Sydney via 1770 and Agnes Waters for the Scooteroo and back to Sydney, and eventually Coogee...so ends the best year of my life!!! AND WHAT A YEAR IT WAS!!!
With under a month left on the visa for Oz, no farm work done and your best mates at uni deciding to get engaged...im left wondering should I go home or stay? Should I put in a dodgey application like many a mate has and stay for a second year...I was so close to doing that, what's the worst thing that can happen, it gets rejected and you have to go home!? I was leaving anyway... and then comes the great god of football, a bloke who also goes by the name of Eric, I believe...anyway, fate, or the footballing gods dictated that FC United would beat Barrow and land a 1st Round FA Cup tie with Rochdale...now this not seem like a big thing in world events, and maybe even a tad sad that I would even consider flying over 14,000 miles for a football match, a match that even I had difficulty in justifying, but then i asked what would I regret more, coming home from Oz early, or getting to see this and be at my best mate's engagement do? Whats 15-20 extra that I can get back whenever, compared to 2 big events that I can only be at once...
So, here I am, back in Horwich on the eve of the biggest game in FC United's short history, having flown in this week from Sydney-Manchester (via Abu Dhabi) to watch an FA Cup 1st round tie, the first time we have ever reached this...and vs Rochdale of all clubs, the team I wanted more than any other, away at Spotland, and the club my old flatmate supports and the game we had many hours of banter with at uni...WHAT IF...And now it is a reality!!!!
But its more than that, it's 5 and a half years of hard work by a lot of people! Many people said it would all be over by christmas, but you know what, we're still here, and all of us, together, have achieved this...players, fans, members, staff...the club volunteers...so when we step out on Friday night at Spotland, infront of however many (3,200 away allocation sold out, and there will be more of us in the Sandy Lane Terrace as well, and around the ground), this will probably be the proudest I have ever felt watching this little club...and i will know inside me I made the right decision to come home! At the moment it feels shit, and all I can think of is Coogee and my apartment, and the people in it, and all the ace times I have had since returning to Sydney...both with my Aussie family and with my flatmates, the 790 crew...everyone!..But then I remember how I felt ringing my mate in Ashton to hear the FA Cup draw live on a Sunday night in Coogee, with ITV down the fone on full blast....and how mad I went when I heard the words uttered...''...WILL PLAY NUMBER 55, FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER''.
You know, growing up as a United fan, you get told of times when United were second rate and how they won nothing from 1968-1993, but theyd always give the FA Cup a good run, it was our 1 shining light, our competition without wanting to appear arrogant...and you would be brought up knowing full well how important a competition the FA Cup was, and to me, STILL is...back from Busby's first great side which included the likes of Charlie Mitten, through to the Babes and how Jimmy Murphy, against the odds, took a battered remnants of a team after Munich to Wembley, before losing to Bolton under the twin towers in 1958...The FA Cup to United is about stopping Liverpool getting a treble in 1977, it's about Whiteside, McIlroy, it's about Fergie saving his job, Cantona's redemption (if that's the correct word) in 1996 vs Liverpool, it's about Villa Park vs Arsenal in the 1999 Semi Final Replay, the treble...and about how angry I was when the FA made MUFC pull out despite being Champions in 2000. It's about all those things...yet so much more!
The FA Cup is about more than United, it's about what every kid across the country dreams of...playing at Wembley and scoring the winning goal for your club and lifting the trophy...it's about the David and Goliaths of the world, the likes of Horwich RMI going to Blackpool back in the day, and dreaming against the odds of an upset, despite getting beat...of Chorley taking Preston to several replays and dreaming of Wembley, of the likes of Emley beating Morecambe and Lincoln City before going to Upton Park and running West Ham close in 98/99 and being unfortunate to not advance to the 4th round...it's about the likes of Chasetown, of Stevenage Borough hosting Newcastle before taking it to a replay and being robbed by an Alan Shearer goal that never was...but was given! It's about non league clubs up and down the land, from all corners of the kingdom dreaming, that maybe, just maybe, with a little sprinkling of that magic dust and maybe a dodgey refereeing decision, luck, whatever, that they can dare to dream, that maybe, just maybe, they can cause an upset like Blyth Spartans and Curzon Ashton last year! So here we are, Rochdale, Lancashire...derby day, where a club, who before last weekend's action were 98 places apart in football's pecking order beneath Rochdale...but with a bit of luck, some rain, a muddy pitch, a lucky goal, that magic FA Cup dust and hard work, we can but dare to dream, that the impossible, can be possible! So as much as im missing Coogee, I really dont think I could have missed this...
I would like to thank all the people who have made November 2009 - November 2010 the best year bar none in my life, you all know who you are, and I hope wherever you are, and whatever paths we take in life, that they cross again at some point and I wish you all the best! Id also like to thank the great god of football for ending the best year of my life with the best fixture he could find, it's truly EPIC! Here's to 2011, and lets hope that it is half as good as 2010 was, as it will be a good 'un! 2010 will take some beating...
