Planet Swans ArchivesA manager who doubles as a commercial manager, a Chairman who has been associated with the club for over 60 years and a striker who is deaf and mute. That is the world that Swansea are about to enter watched by the nations Friday night football fans as they encounter the 2nd round of the FA Cup.
It is a magic that cannot be rivalled anywhere else in the world. As Roberto said, in Spain to go to a club so far below you in the league ladders you would be expected to rack up a double figure score but everyone is well aware that in the FA cup there is always the chance of an upset and that is precisely why Sky have insisted on works to Horsham’s ground to allow them to feature this game this evening.
Horsham themselves are proud to admit it is their biggest day. Their first outing into the second round proper of the competition, their third cup meeting against a league side and their first Sky Sports appearance. The usual mix of careers make up their side – including an estate agent, a scaffolder and a teacher – and to cap it all the manager come groundsman come commercial manager almost signed for the Swans back in the sixites. You genuinely couldn’t make it up.
To commemorate their historic day they have clothing designed to deck out the supporters that opt for the experience rather than the comfort to watch the game in green and yellow the clubs colours whilst a local brewery has dedicated a special beer to mark the date. Swansea City really is Horsham’s cup final.
Speaking in today’s Telegraph their chairman, Frank King, who also holds the titles of President and director, says he ranks this team as the best he has seen “I have followed the club through many ups and downs since 1944. We’ve got to the first round before. In 1947, we took a first-minute lead against Tommy Lawton’s Notts County before losing 9-1. Then in 1966 Swindon beat us here 3-0 in front of a crowd of 8,000. But this month’s 4-1 victory over Maidenhead was the greatest moment. This team must rank as one of the best the club has ever had. The spirit is tremendous.”
Maggs, meanwhile the former goalkeeper who is now charged with the management of the team says they are just one win away from the ultimate fairytale – their name in the hat alongside the glamour of Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea. “I have followed the club through many ups and downs since 1944. We’ve got to the first round before. In 1947, we took a first-minute lead against Tommy Lawton’s Notts County before losing 9-1. Then in 1966 Swindon beat us here 3-0 in front of a crowd of 8,000. But this month’s 4-1 victory over Maidenhead was the greatest moment. This team must rank as one of the best the club has ever had. The spirit is tremendous.
“This game supersedes everything. To reach this stage of the FA Cup with a club like Horsham tops everything. The bond between everyone here, players, management and volunteers, is incredible. We are only 90 minutes away from the dream of all dreams. It’s fairy-tale stuff.”
And on his deaf mute striker Lee Farrell he says “He’s remarkable, he has to have eyes on the back of his head. He’s always looking to the bench to get instructions. It is a problem – he can’t hear the whistle – but he’s got all the banter in sign language. He’s just come back from injury so he’ll start on the bench.”
But it could have been so different for Maggs. Only a spell of appendicitis stopped him potentially becoming a professional and how that may have changed the route his career took but it wasn’t to be as he explains “It was in 1965-66 and I did well for Crawley against Merthyr Tydfil. Swansea were keen to sign me but it didn’t happen. I was taken ill with appendicitis. That was the story of my life…until I came to Horsham.”
