Bognor Regis Town have enjoyed a fairytale journey in The FA Trophy and manager Jamie Howell hopes it is not about to come to a grinding halt on Saturday.
A town best known for its Butlin’s holiday camp has been put on the map this year by Howell’s men who are through to the last eight of The FA Trophy for the first time in their history having beaten Sutton United, Altrincham and Maidstone en route.
Howell is something of a club legend having played more than 400 times for the Rocks and admits that makes this run extra special.
Bognor Regis Town v Torquay
The FA Trophy
Fourth Round
3pm, Saturday 27 February
Nyewood Lane, Bognor Regis Town FC
Winning club will receive £8,000 from FA prize fund
Torquay United, another of the clubs the 39-year-old once laced his boots for, are the next giant he will be hoping to slay on Saturday.
The Gulls are currently languishing at the foot of the National League table, whereas Bognor are pushing for promotion from the Isthmian Premier League.
And Howell is quietly confident of recording another upset.
“Everyone is excited around the town and we feel like we have got a chance,” said Howell, once an FA Youth Cup winner with Arsenal.
“They are a National League team and a very good team, even though they are bottom. When you are losing games it’s difficult, there’s no confidence in the squad.
"Whereas we have had a good season, we’ve won a few recently so we feel good going into this one.
“We have had a fantastic journey and beaten some good teams. Normally we do quite poorly in the Trophy, so this has been a bit of a surprise for us. But we don’t want that to end now, we want to create a few problems for Torquay and ruffle a few more feathers.”
Wembley is set for a bumper day of Non-League action in May
Howell has his own distant memories of playing at the national stadium having done so at England schoolboy level and admits it is difficult not to dream of a long-awaited Wembley return come May.
“It’s human nature to think about playing at Wembley when you’ve got this far in the competition,” he added.
“But the realisation is we’ll have to beat Torquay and another team of a high standard to get there.
“We wouldn’t have thought we’d get here at the start of the season, but now that we are we are quietly confident.
“We’ve had an excellent season, but we’ve won nothing yet. We’re going well in the league with games in hand, in the semi-final of the Sussex Senior Cup and, of course, in the quarter final of the Trophy.
“It’s great for the fans. It might be a fluke if you beat teams from a higher level once or twice, but we’ve beaten a few to get here and played very well in the process.
“Being able to compete with these teams is the most pleasing aspect. It makes you realise the players are capable of making that step up.
“We don’t have a big playing budget, we have a relatively small squad and work with a lot of young players. But they have shown they have great talent and can mix it with anyone.”
Tickets to the first ever Non-League Finals Day at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 22 May are on sale now - with child tickets available from just £1.
The Wembley showpiece will host both The FA Vase and FA Trophy Finals, with tickets priced at £25 for adults, £10 for concessions and just £1 for U16s.
There is also a group rate, perfect for schools and clubs, of £12.50 for adults, £5 for concessions and £1 for children.
Tickets are available from TheFA.com/Tickets or by calling 0844 826 2010.
