There’s the cherry, at the end of the day, of a trip to Wembley.
For the players and the manager - with Kevin Wilkin having been there before - it’s their dream, isn’t it?
Last year, although they won’t admit it, I think the games and tiredness caught up with them but this year, we have got a bigger squad, so we’ll see where we go – we’re going to Stockport in the next round, I know that!
For the supporters, there’s already talk of Wembley and it does generate crowds too.
We had over 1000 for a league match against Salford the week before the Sutton tie, which was our highest league attendance ever and for a town this size, we get a great following.
For non-League teams, the FA Cup is the money-spinner but the FA Trophy soon starts generating support – for a really miserable Saturday against Sutton we had 700 people here, which really helps.
It’s another part of our journey and another part of our history.
Bearing in mind, the previous two seasons before Kevin came, we survived relegation on the last game of the season and we’ve since settled down and brought some strong players in. Now, we’re looking upwards again – I think the prospects are really good.
There’s a buzz around the town and a buzz around the club on a matchday.
We’ve got the Saints community project, which the National League Trust provides funding for.
Every Wednesday, we have a coffee morning for the community. We have 70 or 80 people, who are the elderly or adults with learning difficulties.
It’s all free and we put on events during the year, like a day at the races or a day at the seaside.
Every year, we put a pantomime on. I’m involved, Janene [Butters, managing director] is involved and so are a few supporters, and the players do a little turn.
When they scored a goal once, they did their dance that they’ve been doing for the pantomime to celebrate!
That’s how we are here – we get involved with the community but it’s all thanks to the National League Trust.
