It’s now over 12 years since Portsmouth lifted the FA Cup at Wembley and at Fratton Park on Saturday, King’s Lynn are out to remind the former champions just how far they have fallen since.
For their owner, Stephen Cleeve, it will also represent something of a trip down memory lane.
“I’m a Chelsea fan but one of the first matches I ever went to was Pompey against Brentford at Fratton Park,” he tells i. “I went with my grandad. It will be nice to go back and think of him.”
Cleeve, a former UKIP candidate for the Kensington and Chelsea constituency at the 2010 General Election, took over the club in May 2016.
He has since overseen their rise to the National League – a Lazarus-like comeback for the Linnets after the original club was wound-up in 2009. A trip to Portsmouth would have been the last thing on their mind when they were admitted to the United Counties League a decade ago.
After seven promotions in ten seasons, they’re clearly a club on the up and, after beating Port Vale in the first round, Pompey would do well not to take Ian Culverhouse’s side lightly.
“Portsmouth have sent scouts to watch us for the past three weeks but they probably have no idea what to make of us,” laughs Cleeve. “We lost 5-1 to Sutton and were absolutely awful. Then we beat Dover the following week. One of our main problems is that we only seem to score beautiful goals, not tap-ins.”
No matter how many times King’s Lynn bulge the net at Fratton Park, they’re already counting the cost of a supporter ban that could, Cleeve estimates, have made the club £200,000.
“It’s the biggest away game since we played Everton in the third round in 1962,” he says. “But we’ll probably only walk away with £30,000 before expenses. It’s still helpful but it’s typical of our luck. If we win we’ll probably draw Manchester United at Old Trafford – and then get an invoice for stewarding at the end of it.”
There’s no shortage of King’s Lynn players with knowledge of the south-coast club. Defender Aaron Jones is from a family of Portsmouth supporters, while his godfather is a co-owner of Southsea’s Clarence Pier. Full-back Ross Barrow, meanwhile, has recently been linked with a move to a side currently sitting fourth in League One.
And if the Linnets need any words of motivation, then Jordan Richards can always get in touch with his cousin, Wes Morgan, a Premier League winner with Leicester City.
Alex Brown will be lining up alongside that triumvirate on Saturday afternoon. And the Sheffield United academy graduate, believes King’s Lynn won’t be intimidated by Kenny Jackett’s side.
“I’ve spoke to a few people who have played at Fratton Park and they’ve told me there aren’t too many grounds like it anymore,” he says.
“We’re not stupid, we know we’re the underdogs but we’re going to play with some freedom. There’s not three points on the line like there will be at Bromley next week. It’s a great shop window for a lot of players too.
“We’ve already beaten Port Vale. The gaffer told us that there wasn’t a lot of difference between the National League and League Two and he was dead right.”
Whether that gap turns into a chasm when you take on a side one league further up the pyramid, only time will tell.
Cleeve bemoans King’s Lynn’s luck but you could argue that they enjoyed a huge slice when the pandemic put a stop to the regular season back in March. Despite finding themselves two points behind York when stumps were drawn, the Linnets had two games in hand, which ultimately led to them being crowned champions in June on points per game.
“Every day there were people with different theories, conspiracy theories – I had to speak to a lot of chairmen, most of whom couldn’t have cared less because they weren’t going to get relegated,” he says.
“I said ‘look, in future years this could reoccur and you could find yourselves in the same position that we’re in now’,” he says. “I tried to make my arguments and, to be fair, most of them listened. By the end there was only one club which didn’t support us and they wouldn’t tell me who that was!”
That’s now water under the bridge. Some six months on, King’s Lynn are heading to the Solent – and hoping to create further FA Cup waves.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/37dmNAZ
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