(30-10-2024, 20:16)jjamez Wrote:

For the first time in over a decade Huddersfield Town enter the FA Cup at the first round stage as they head down to Tamworth. It is not surprising that this will mark the first time that the Terriers meet the Lambs.

Town do have some history in the competition, reaching the back end of the competition only a few years ago, losing to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, and have won the cup way back in 1922 against Preston 1-0, they have also come runners up 3 times, losing to Blackburn, Arsenal and Preston, the furthest we have gone since then is the Quarter finals as recently as 1972, with a handful of fifth round and round of 16 since then. Last season Town entered in the third round and promptly exited at the same time and Darren Moore's managerial might came unstuck at the hands of fortunate Josep Guardiola... The 22/23 season also saw the Terriers depart in the third round against Preston, the two sides would meet 4 times over the course of the season, Town would win one of those. The 21/22 season would see Carlos Corberan lead Town on a little cup run, beating Burnley away 2-1 and Barnsley at home 1-0 before falling to Forest. Corberan's first taste of FA Cup action would come the year before when a youthful side fell 3-2 to Plymouth. Danny Cowley would lead Town in the FA cup against Premier League Southampton, but would lose 2-0, both ties would have been third round fixtures. An abysmal season where Town won just three games all campaign saw the Terriers fall at the first hurdle against Bristol City 1-0, the main memory from that fixture being Ben Hamer kicking a goal kick out for a corner. The first year in the Premier League saw Town have a slight run, beating Bolton away and requiring a reply to beat Birmingham, before losing 2-0 at home to Manchester United. The promotion season saw Town register a bit of a run, once again reaching the fifth round, beating Port Vale at home, Rochdale away before drawing at home to Manchester City, eventually losing the replay 5-1. Town have got history of playing non league sides in the cup, they beat Grimsby in 2013, but were given a scare in the process, they played Dover in the third round in 2011, and again were given a good game by the non league side, they also played Welling and Worcester in 2005 but most famously lost to Accrington Stanley back in the 03/04 season.



Tamworth have already featured in the FA Cup this season as they met Robbie Savage's Macclesfield Town in the Fourth Qualifying round which they came out as 4-2 victors at the Lamb Ground. The National League side currently sit in the lower mid table region of the league in 16th, quite comfortably above the relegation places and only a few points and a good run of results from the play offs, it is quite tight at the moment in the division with 9 points separating 5th placed Oldham and 16th placed Tamworth, but 16 games into the season, the season still has a fair way to go.

The Lambs began their campaign at home to recently relegated Sutton United, all the action appeared to happen in the last 5 minutes with Tamworth taking the lead in the 84th minute through Nathan Tshikuna but Josh Coley equalised for the visitors in injury time. They then traveled to the capital of Yorkshire, to face the Minster Men of York. They came away empty handed as the early pace setters of the league came away comfortable 2-0 winners thanks to two goals in two second half minutes. Another former football league side then made their way to the Lamb Ground and it would be a late goal to the visitors Hartlepool United that consigned the Lambs to a second straight defeat. The Lambs needed a 94th minute Chris Wreh equaliser to grab a share of the spoils when they drew 1-1 with Boston United. They managed to record their first win of the season against Aldershot Town, Jordan Cullinane-Liburd opened the scoring for the home side in the 8th minute before The Shots drew parity through Jack Barham, Wreh and Tshikuna put The Lambs 3-1 up, the game had 23 minutes of injury time in the second half and the Shots made it nervy by scoring in the 14th of those allocated. The Lambs then traveled to the Hive to face Barnet and were well and truly pumped as they lost 7-0 and the less said about it the better for anyone of a Tamworth viewpoint. Another trip on the road and another defeat, but 1-0 looks better than conceding 7 as they lost to Eastleigh. They returned home and returned to winning ways as they beat Maidenhead 3-1. Wreh put the hosts 1-0 up on the stroke of half time, before Benjamin Acquaye doubled the advantage, Tshikuna made it 3 with ten minutes to go, whilst the clean sheet was spoiled in injury time when Tobi Sho-Silva pulled one back for the visitors. An injury time goal from Tom Tonks sealed 3 points for the Lambs on the road at Braintree. The mini upturn in form continued as they picked up a further 3 points on the road away at Fylde. Thomas McGlinchey opened the scoring for the guests as the start of the second half, a penalty pulled the hosts level, but once again, an injury time goal from Daniel Creaney sealed the points for the Lambs. They returned home but couldn't continue their winning ways as they lost 2-1 to 10 man Altrincham. Alex Newby and Justin Amaluzor put the away side 2-0 up before Tom Crawford saw red, Creaney once again found himself on the score sheet in injury time but it was too little too late. They returned to Yorkshire, this time to Huddersfield Giants' potential new home, The Shay, to face FC Halifax Town, they lost 3-2, future Town captain Scott High scored, I dislike Halifax more than I do any other club so that is all the mention that they are getting. The Lambs returned to home comforts to face Gateshead and came away with 3 points thanks to goals from Tshikuna and Creaney sealing a 2-1 victory over Lee Novak's former club. Next up was the Qualification game against Macclesfield ahead of a 3-2 win at home to Woking. Tshikuna and Creaney once again found themselves on the score sheet as did McGlinchey. Their last two games have seen them draw at home to 10 man Yeovil 0-0 and most recently they lost 2-0 away at troubled Southend United.



The club was formed in 1933 after the previous Tamworth club, Tamworth Castle, ceased to exist. After playing in the Birmingham Combination and West Midlands (Regional) League, the team reached the Southern League in 1972, but subsequently fell on hard times and returned to lower-level football. In 1988 Tamworth returned to the Southern League and a year later won the FA Vase. Tamworth reached the final of the FA Trophy in 2003 and in the same season won promotion to the Football Conference, going on to spend four seasons at the highest level of non-League football before being relegated to the Conference North. In 2009 the club gained promotion back to the Conference Premier, and spent five seasons at that level before being relegated. Back in the Conference North, they began the 2014 season poorly and languished in the bottom three, a change in manager resulted in a 12 game winning run, but they were unable to secure promotion. By the 2018-19 season, the Lambs were in the newly formed Southern League Premier Central and would stay there until winning the league as champions in 2023, and would seal back to back promotions, winning the Conference North title with 2 games to spare. Historically, the club were runners up in the FA Trophy in the 02/03 season whilst they won the FA Vase in the 88/89 season. Their highest ever league finish was 15th in the Conference national back in 2004-2005 season and they could well be on course to surpass that this campaign, their FA Cup history sees them reaching the third round on three occasions. Financially, the highest fee received by the lambs is rumoured to be just north of 12k whilst the highest paid is 7.5k.

Tamworth F.C. has fielded a number of notable players in recent times, including West Brom legend Bob Taylor and, for one match in the 2005–06 season, former Aston Villa and Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson. Other football players from Tamworth include former Manchester City goalkeeper Tony Coton; former goalkeeper Martin Taylor who played for Derby County and Wycombe Wanderers; former Everton and Wales international Ashley Williams; and former Leicester City footballer Marc Albrighton is also from Tamworth. Whilst only a handful of players have appeared for both clubs, a few I'll name here, the others will be anagrams for you to work out, but the hint is their times coincided as did their positions. Scott Bevan is one to play for both, he had a season on loan at Town from Southampton, but I can't really remember much about his time here, I think we got relegated and he wasn't that good. He had a loan at Tamworth a few years later and suffered a serious injury which required him to have a kidney removed, he is now a goalkeeping coach last seen at Wolves. Keeping with the keepers and I could have thrown him as an anagram, but play off winning goalkeeper Danny Ward played one game on loan at Tamworth whilst he was at Wrexham. He never played for the Welsh side as he moved to Liverpool, he managed two games there and had multiple loans out at Morecambe, Aberdeen and of course Town. He played 43 times for Town and a big part in the penalty shootouts, he has been at Leicester since 2018 making just 27 appearances for the Foxes. Finally chunky midfielder Lee Fowler played for both Town and Tamworth at two very different times in his career. Initially he joined Town on loan from Coventry and was part of the Division three (League Two) play off winning side. He would join permanently in the summer and spend three years at Town before going on to a journeyman career, with multiple visits to Wrexham, I make it that he has had 22 different clubs, with him going to some of them a few times, he is currently managing in Wales at Flint Town United. 

The team originally played at The Jolly Sailor Ground but after a year moved into The Lamb Ground, named after a pub which formerly stood nearby. The stadium currently has a capacity of just under 5,000 and a 3G artificial pitch which was laid in 2016. The Lamb acquired its original floodlights in 1969 from Scarborough F.C. and nine of the ten original pylons are still in place today. Football League side Gillingham were invited to play a friendly fixture to mark the official switch-on of the floodlights. This may seem a strange choice of opponents, but the Gills were invited because they were the club's first Football League opposition in the F.A. Cup. One of the 10 original pylons was removed to make way for the current main stand when it was constructed in 1996. None of the stands are sponsored and are instead referred to as fans would, much like we have the Kilner bank, south stand/ cowshed et al. Catering facilities are located at the Castle End, by the clubhouse, and at the Meadow Street End. Both ends serve hot and cold food and drinks. When segregation is in operation, additional catering is supplied in the Meadow Street enclosure and the ground itself is half a mile away from the train station for any that are making the trip down.



Managed by Andy Peaks, joining as first team manager on 15 February 2022, with the task to ensure The Lambs survival in the Southern League Premier Division, he turned the clubs fortunes around with an unbeaten run of 14 games before the season ended and rebuilt the squad with the aim of a successful 2022-23 campaign, resulting in a final day championship victory to take The Lambs back into the National League North after a 5 year hiatus. Peaks has a long footballing career both as a player and a manager starting his career at Northampton Town before going on to make over 200 appearances in 5 year at Nene Park with Rushden Town, who then became Rushden and Diamonds. His squad contains a lot of players who came through professional academies that are now plying their trade in the lower leagues.

Goalkeeper Jas Singh, previously with Shrewsbury Town, Kidderminster Harriers, Solihull Moors, Gloucester City and AFC Telford United, he joined Tamworth in 2018 and is well on his way to 200 appearances for the club. His goalkeeping compatriot is Leon Phillips who began his career in the set ups of Nottingham Forest and Mansfield before signing for the Lambs in 2023 from Boston United.
In their defensive ranks, Matt Curley signed for The Lambs from Buxton in the summer of 2022 having previously also been with Chasetown, Sutton Coldfield Town, Rugby Town and Hednesford Town. It is his second spell with Tamworth having first been with the club in the 2017-18 season. Callum Cockerill-Mollett joined The Lambs in October 2021 having previously been on the books of Walsall. After progressing through the youth system at Bescot, Callum signed a professional contract in the summer of 2016 and a successful Development Squad season was rewarded with call ups to the Republic of Ireland U18 side in 2017. Also as a defensive option is Lindon Meikle, who began at Eastwood Town before moving to Mansfield Town, he had a few seasons with the Stags before moving onto the likes of York, Macclesfield and Kidderminster, helping the Harriers to promotion before joining Tamworth, he is now in his second spell with the Lambs. Brad Gascoigne, doesn't appear related to Paul, began at Birmingham City and bounced around a few clubs upon his release, he too is into his second spell with the Lambs having rejoined the club from Kettering. Jamie Willets has been at Tamworth since last season and has plied his trade in the lower leagues all his career, he went to Wembley as part of the Hereford squad that played in the FA Vase final back in 2016. Jordan Cullinane-Liburd rejoined his boyhood club in 2023 having played for the Lambs before COVID, he has also played for Brackley and Solihull where he would have been a team mate of Kyle Hudlin, is probably likely to be starting on Friday and will be a threat at set pieces. The final defensive option is Liam Dolman, who going by his picture on the website, is every bit a non league player, with the shirt size being an xxl issue. He began his career at Northampton Town and played under manager Peaks at Rushden before following him to the Lamb Ground.
In the midfield area, Callum Reilly started his footballing career at Birmingham City as a youngster and joined their scholarship programme at aged seven. He was given a first team squad number in January 2012 and made a 60 of appearances for The Blues. He made an appearance for the Republic of Ireland U21s in 2013 before joining Burton Albion on loan and then permanently in 2015. He enjoyed further spells at Coventry City, Bury, Gillingham and AFC Wimbledon in The Championship and League 1 and Callum signed a one-year contract with Leyton Orient in August 2021 before going on loan to Solihull Moors in February 2022. He is joined by Kyle Finn who has been at Tamworth before when he joined them on loan from Coventry City, has been at Tamworth permanently for a few seasons, scoring 11 times when they won promotion back to the national north division. Also in midfield is Ben Milnes he started his career at Leicester City before moving on to Boston United, Corby Town and Kettering Town, where he was part of the their Championship winning side, before moving to Buxton at the start of the 2021-22 season, joining Tamworth in 2022. Luke Fairlamb joined Tamworth from Rushden, following manager Peaks. He played a lot of his football on a scholarship deal in the US before moving back to the UK, has played a large part for the Lambs under Peaks often being utilised in different roles. Kai Williams is a lesser used player at the moment and in his second spell at the club having being part of the Lambs squad briefly in 2019. Ben Acquaye begun his career further up the field, scoring 24 goals for Buckingham Athletic before moving on. He played at Rushden for a spell before moving into the national league to play for Kettering and Banbury ahead of joining Tamworth. Another in midfield is Jamie Jellis he lists Stevenage and St Albans among his previous teams and joined Tamworth initially on loan in 2023 before making his home here permanently in the summer. Youngster Callum Griffin made his debut for the Lambs in 2022 having come through their youth set up.
Among the forwards is Dempsey Arlott-John, he came through the Leicester City set up, appearing for the Foxes up to the under 21 level, played for Ilkeston and Harborough Town before joining the Lambs. Striker Alex Jones signed in early November 2021 having plied most of his trade in the Football League. A local lad, he started his career at West Bromwich Albion's academy the signed a professional contract in 2014. Birmingham City then snapped him up and he spent spells on loan with Grimsby Town (National League) and League One side Port Vale before he left Blues to sign for League One Bradford City. He went out on loan to Cambridge Utd in League 2 then Scottish Championship Partick Thistle before the pandemic and linked up with Northampton Town in March 2021 having made nearly 100 professional appearances. He netted eight times in ten appearances to help the side to the league title and re-signed for 2023-24. Fellow striker Ty Deacon has featured for Aylesbury United and has also played for Buckingham Athletic, Leighton Town, Kempston Rovers and Aylesbury FC. He signed for AFC Rushden and Diamonds in November 2021 and followed new Tamworth manager Andy Peaks to The Lamb in the summer of 2022. Tshikuna signed for The Lambs in pre-season 2023 after having played against Andy Peaks side at Harborough Town. Previously with Royston Town, the attacking midfielder has played for  Norwich City and MK Dons early in his career before joining Kempston in the summer of 2017. He then moved to Barton Rovers in September 2020 before moving to AFC Rushden and Diamonds in July 2021 and then Harborough. Finally, began his career with Atherstone Town and played for Bedworth United before moving to Coalville Town where he had loan spells with Basford United. During the 2018-19 season he was at Stratford Town and joined The Lambs in June 2019 for an undisclosed fee netting 16 goals before the season was curtailed. He bagged 18 in the 2021-22 season and signed his first Lambs contract in the summer of 2022 and smashed 40 home helping The Lambs to promotion and re-signed for 2023-24 campaign.



In terms of who to watch, Tshikuna and Creaney have been their main sources of goals this season, whilst striker Chris Wreh has chipped in with a few. None of those three have played in the football league, with Tshikuna coming the closest coming through the MK Dons system. Wreh played a few seasons at Southend after they had been relegated, whilst Creaney is currently playing at his highest level, having been with Tamworth for the last 6 seasons. Elsewhere in their squad, Haydn Hollis spent 7 years with Notts County, playing against Town in the 2-2 draw at Meadow Lane, it will have been one of his first ever professional appearances for the Magpies and in football itself. In fact I think it was as he made just the one appearance that season apparently. He has since had spells at clubs like Chesterfield, Forest Green and Ebbsfleet but is now considered an experienced pro at 32. Also in the squad is Tom Tonks, who like the strikers, hasn't made it into the football league, but is one of the experienced campaigners in the Lambs squad, the reason I mention him, is that he is rumoured to possess a Rory Delap esque long throw that has been causing teams trouble over the last few seasons. It was his long throw that helped earn a win away at Aldershot earlier in the season.



Town are much the same in terms of the injury list, Nicholls, Helik, Hodge and Balker the long term absentees. Anthony Evans has picked up a knock to the toe, which I believe is know colloquially as a stubbed toe, so should be fine for Friday, whilst Josh Koroma is back training and could be in contention. That being said, the nature of the pitch at the Lamb Ground, I would imagine that players like Tom Lees, Rhys Healey and maybe Jonny Hogg, may find themselves sitting it out. The artificial pitches have been notorious for players that suffer from chronic joint injuries or have recently had a bad joint injury. Lees missed the end of last season with one, Healeys injury problems have come from one, whilst there is a long standing belief that Hogg has a bad hip but from people who I know, he is one knee injury from retirement and I don't mean due to age. This type of pitch could play into the hands of Bojan who I expect to start if not ill as his time in Finland was played pretty much exclusively on artificial pitches and ironically, his problems last season came from switching surfaces the other way. 9 subs can be named in the competition so we could well see one or two younger players getting some match day experience, but I firmly believe that we will name a relatively strong side, maybe not too dissimilar to what lined up against Barnsley in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy game.



Tamworth itself is a market town in Staffordshire, 14 miles away from Birmingham. Historically, Tamworth was the principal centre of royal power of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia during the 8th and 9th centuries, essentially being their capital. It hosts a simple but elevated 12th century castle, a well-preserved medieval church (the Church of St Editha) and a Moat House. Tamworth was historically divided between Warwickshire and Staffordshire until 1889, when the town was placed entirely in Staffordshire, there is also believed to have been Roman settlements in the area with the river Tame making it a key area for trade and military. From around 1093, the Marmion family became lords of the manor, and eight generations of Marmions inhabited Tamworth Castle until 1294. It was the Marmions who were largely responsible for building the present sandstone fort at Tamworth Castle, replacing the original wooden Norman structure, although it was not a location mentioned in the Doomsday book. During the period of The Anarchy in the 12th century, Robert Marmion supported King Steven in his fight with Empress Matilda. In the ensuing struggle, Tamworth Castle was taken and occupied by the forces of Matilda, but was returned to the Marmions when Steven finally prevailed in the war. In 1215 King John threatened to have Tamworth Castle destroyed, in revenge for the 3rd Baron Marmion's support for the baronial revolt against the King. In 1337 Tamworth was granted the right to hold two annual fairs. In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but they were held only once a year and they attracted buyers and sellers from great distances. In 1345 Tamworth suffered a disastrous fire, and much of the town burned.

James I, the first Stuart king of England, visited Tamworth on three occasions, with his first visit in 1619,  The king was accompanied by Prince Charles (the future king Charles I) During the English Civil War from 1642, Tamworth Castle was initially garrisoned for the Royalists under William Comberford, however in June 1643 it was captured by a detachment of Parliamentarian forces under the command of William Purefoy after a short two-day siege, and remained in Parliamentarian hands for the remainder of the conflict, despite unsuccessful attempts by Royalists who controlled nearby Lichfield to recapture it. In 1646, a large Parliamentarian force, backed by soldiers from Tamworth captured Lichfield after a four-month siege.



Robert 'Parsley' Peel (1723–1795) a Lancashire cotton mill owner was the first member of the Peel family to become established in the area. Peel had become well known for producing textiles with a parsley leaf design, this led him to becoming known as 'Parsley' Peel. After his mills in Lancashire were damaged by riots, Peel moved his mill operations to Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire in 1780, attracted in part due to the improving local transport systems. His son, Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet (1750–1830) played a major role in developing Tamworth's economy, he established the first cotton mills in Tamworth in 1788, one of which, known as 'Castle Mill' was based in Tamworth Castle. Textiles soon became Tamworth's main industry. Peel also established several banks in Tamworth. Peel moved permanently from Lancashire, and set up home in Drayton Manor just outside Tamworth in the 1790s. He became the town's Member of Parliament in 1790, and remained so until 1820. He used his parliamentary influence to improve the working conditions in factories. By far the most famous member of the Peel family, was his son Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) who rose to become one of the most famous Prime Ministers of the Victorian era, and served as the town's Member of Parliament from 1830 until his death in 1850. He lived at the nearby Drayton Manor. It was in Tamworth that Robert Peel unveiled his Tamworth Manifesto in 1834 which created what is now the modern Conservative Party. While Home Secretary, Peel helped create the modern concept of the police force, leading to officers being known as "bobbies" or "Peelers". Peel is commemorated in Tamworth by a statue in front of the town hall, which was produced by Matthew Noble in 1852.



More modernly, The Reliant Motor Company was founded in Tamworth in 1935 by T. L. Williams and E. S. Thompson, and cars such as the Scimitar four wheeled sports cars and the Robin three wheeled economy cars were manufactured here until the company moved to Cannock in 1998.



If you are wanting to make a weekend of the trip, Tamworth is also home to the theme park Drayton Manor, The land on which the theme park was built once belonged to the Peel family. Drayton Manor mansion, built for Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet in 1835, had been reduced to ruins by 1926, with only the clock tower surviving at the park entrance. The British Army requisitioned it as a training post during World War II. After the war, entrepreneurs George and Vera Bryan borrowed £6,000 and bought the land (and the 17 huts that the army had constructed during their stay). In 1950, they opened a small amusement park with just a handful of children's rides. In 1954, Mrs. Molly Badham, who later opened the nearby Twycross Zoo, partnered with the Bryans and opened a zoo to complement the amusement park. The amusement park grew slowly in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, but, in the late '80s, the park began to install bigger and more thrilling rides to attract customers from all over the United Kingdom and to compete with rival theme parks. In more recent times the park has seen extensive flood damage, fires in 'Thomas Land' as well as administration, but it was saved by the Looping Group which owns multiple theme parks and zoos across Europe. It does however miss out due to the proximity to the larger Alton Towers complex which is also in Staffordshire. Tamworth is also home to the 'Snowdome', a real snow indoor skiing complex The Snowdome has a learner slope underneath the main slope. The main slope also holds regular 'ramp nights' in which several objects are added, including a gas pipe, mini rail and a quarter pipe. There is also one ice rink and one ice track - the UK’s only - which circles the real Snow Fun Park and the ice rink with a number of other things. The complex also contains a 25 metres (82 ft) swimming pool and gym. Tamworth also features in social media, with the viral 'Spudman' hailing from the town, he has found fame traveling up and down the country in a van selling jacket potatoes with various toppings, he does however mainly operate out of Tamworth, so if you are hungry and lucky you may find him out and about, but he does sell out very quickly.

Anyone got a favourite ride or theme park?

I promised you some extra quizbait on this thread and you can have some anagrams.

1) Pardon Tyrant Homemaker
2) Motherland Bug
3) Terrible Poser
4) Main Lava Mark
5) Hi Narc Candy
6) Aped Yanks
7) Aunt Hath An Sink
8) Mud Pans