A Grand Day Out (Short Story)

[Simply Perfect]

Right. I'm not exactly sure of the format of short stories, but I have a short story to tell, and here I am to tell it. Your comments and criticisms are welcome, and hopefully will set me up for a longer term adventure at some point. Sorry in advance for any formatting errors!

I'm using FM08, 8.0.2 and have taken Barrow from the Conference North to League Two.

The FA Cup is like no other cup competition in the World. There is something about England's premier cup competition, something indescribable. Most of all, there is one thing that is most frequently associated with the FA Cup: giant killing. Havant & Waterlooville, of the Conference South knocking out League Two side Notts County before giving Liverpool an almighty scare at Anfield in 2008. Sutton United knocking out Coventry City in 1988-89. Mansfield Town demolishing West Ham in 1969, a side filled with World Cup winners and future England internationals like Trevor Brooking. Ronnie Radford putting through Hereford at the expense of Newcastle United in the 1970s. It's the magic of the FA Cup.

At Barrow, we'd played our part in adding to the magic of the FA Cup, albeit not on such a grand scale. Having been promoted to the league after winning the Conference in 2009, we were, for the first time under me, starting out in the FA Cup first round. There we met Hereford United, famous giant-killers themselves, and after a scare, got a 2-2 draw at Edgar Street and took them back to Holker Street, and grabbed a 2-1 home win with goals from ex-Darlington midfielder Clark Keltie and on-loan Celt Darmuid O'Carroll. It was then that the giant-killing began. Drawn again League One side MK Dons at home, Nigel Adkins- who'd taken over for Wolves-bound Paul Ince the previous February- saw his side go into the game with odds of 1-6 to win. In the dressing room before the game, I told the players that they had every chance and to play our game: go out and attack. Attack they did, and with little over 90 seconds on the clock, we won a corner. Ben Muirhead- once of Manchester United- hit an out-swinging corner and Darmuid O'Carroll rose at the front post to head past a shell-shocked Graham Stack.

The chances kept coming, Darren Kenton blocking an O'Carroll shot and Graham Stack making two good saves from Muirhead and Costa Rica's explosive full-back Pablo Herrera. Muirhead's crossing was causing all sorts of problems for the League One side and it was his cross that resulted in a second goal when Mark Wright brought down Herrera as he lined up to slot home the former Rochdale winger's pass. Referee Dean Whitestone immediately pointed to the spot, much to the chagrin of the Dons players and bench. Club captain Kevin Nicholls, who'd joined on a free transfer from Preston, stepped up to send a powerful spot-kick past Stack's left hand. With 13 minutes on the clock, Barrow held a remarkable 2-0 lead. The goals didn't finish there however. As MK Dons pushed to try and get themselves back into contention, Alex John-Baptiste's header was picked up by Liverpool loanee Francisco Duran, in his second spell at the club. He split the defence with a killer pass for O'Carroll who lofted the ball over the on-rushing Graham Stack's left shoulder and into the vacant goal and we cruised into half-time with a three goal cushion. The second half was always going to prove a tough task, but after keeping it tight for the first ten minutes we started to push MK Dons back again. Although an MK Dons had looked inevitable, it was us who actually broke the second-half deadlock on the hour, former Darlington fullback Scott Wiseman, brought in after a season at Ross County, found Clark Keltie who fed Pablo Herrera at the back post. The Costa Rican checked back onto his right foot and curled a shot into the bottom corner for his first Barrow goal and our fourth of the day. A goal from Calvin Zola nine minutes later was no more than consolation and they never looked likely of getting back into it. Against the odds, we'd made the third round.

Myself and Chairman Brian Keen made the trip to London for the third round draw, and despite our prayers for a big side at home, we got neither: League One promotion contenders Oldham at Boundary Park. Whilst MK Dons had been slightly out of form, Oldham were not, and our odds of 10-1 reflected that. We fought bravely, despite losing an early goal. Craig Davies capitalised on a mistake by ex-Manchester City fullback Suree Sukha, a Thai international, to give his side the lead. Not to be outdone, Darmuid O'Carroll hit an equaliser just before half-time. Dominic Shimmin's headed clearance was picked up by Francisco Duran who'd joined on a permanent basis just a day earlier. As he began to get crowded out he played a beautiful curling pass forward, the pace of which beat Kelvin Langmead and allowed O'Carroll to hit a high left footed shot, which he arrowed directly into the top corner. With just 15 minutes remaining I prepared to shore up the game, replacing the disappointing Sukha with new signing Matthew Bates. While Bates waited to come on, however, Shimmin brought down Filipe De Costa 25 yards from goal. The Portugese midfielder dusted himself off to send a free-kick straight into the top-corner. Our chances of taking Oldham back to Holker Street looked to have diminished. I decided that we had to go for it and sacrificed Shimmin for our top goalscorer, ex-Charlton man Chris Iwelumo.

We pushed Oldham back, and their defence began to play long, panicked clearances. Matthew Bates took the ball down and played it to Pablo Herrera, playing at right back rather than left midfield on this occasion. He swung in a dangerous near post cross which Langmead made a mess of. O'Carroll, with his back to goal dummied a right footed pass to Iwelumo, and spun to his left, firing a shot into the bottom left corner. We were level with five minutes to go, but we smelt blood. Oldham sacrificed defenders to try to steal a winner, but Cacapa broke up another attack and sent the ball into the corner for O'Carroll. The entire Barrow bench stood up, as the Celt played a cross to the penalty spot. Oldham's Emmanuel Smith took the ball down, but as he wound back to clear, Chris Iwelumo took the ball off his toe and sent it low into the bottom corner. With less than forty seconds of normal time to go, we were 3-2 up at a stunned, silent Boundary Park. The longest four minutes of my life proceeded but when the final whistle sounded, our 800 travelling supporters erupted into cheers. We'd beaten Oldham and the odds again and were in the hat for the fourth round.

[salkster2102]

Nice run with the fa cup there but really it should be a story about a season game by game not just one competittion.

[Kewell08]

It's a short story salkster, read it!

[Terk]

I disagree entirely, salkster. Short stories - as long as they are written with the quality we expect of full stories (and this certainly is) - have always and will always be welcome on the forum. I got into my stride as an FM writer via short stories and they are more than welcome on FMS.

[HorusFM]

I like this small story =]

Barrow though! they just bummed my Boston team haha.

Nice story though =] love giantkillers.

[O\'Hara_fan]

I love short stories, and this is a great one. Keep it up mate!

Good luck with your Barrow team as well, looks like a Barnsley team in the making, hoping to beat Liverpool and Chelsea?

[Wegason]

Short Stories are great lunchtime reading, unless its a Glamdring one in which case it will stretch both your lunchtime and the definition of a short story

Not that I care, it was a cracking read.

[Simply Perfect]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. There's a bit more to come, but certainly not enough to make it a long story!

After a celebratory night out in Manchester, my assistant John Murtough took the squad back to Barrow whilst Brian Keen and I headed south for the fourth round draw at the Football Association's HQ in Soho Square. I should maybe explain something about the esteemed chairman. He's a flamboyant character: imagine Sherlock Holmes, complete with calabash pipe and deerstalker cap, with a classic ginger Van Dyck goatee. If there was a scale of richness, he'd fall into the "ridiculous" category, but then in football, he'd have to. He is no third rate Roman Abramovich. And outspoken does not even begin to describe him. Whilst most chairmen would have a chauffeur drive them into London (or if they were a chairman at a League Two side, they'd probably catch a train), Keen decided he'd drive the pair of us there. In his 1946 Bentley Speedster. With the top down, and me not wearing any sort of headgear, I arrived in London looking weather-beaten and windswept, whilst Keen was at his effervescent best. We found our seats prior to the practice draw. About half-way through we were pulled out of the hat at home, against Premier League leaders Liverpool.

"We'll take 'em!" erupted the chairman, much to the amusement of most of the management in the room, with the exception of FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick and a very confused Fabio Capello.

Soon it was down to business, Capello drawing the home teams, and England's most capped player Peter Shilton drawing the away sides. Barwick, was acting as the Master of Ceremonies, despite being a charasmatic black hole and Ned Fielding was on hand for various reactions to the draw, televised live on ITV.

"Numbera twenty seex", began Capello.

"Swindon Town", chipped in Barwick.

"Number seven", added Shilton,

"Will play Chelsea." finished Barwick. There was a stirring around the room as managers, chairmen and the media took in the first tie. I, personally, breathed a sigh of relief having missed a tie with the Premier League Champions.

"Numbera twenty four".

"Manchester United..."

Shilton pulled a blue ball out of the hi-tech ball spinner that replaced a good old fashioned bag. He looked directly at me. No, I thought. My God, no. I looked back at the England legend. Please do not say number one. He turned his head to face Barwick and bellowed the number.

"One"

"Will play Barrow", said Barwick, confirming what I already knew.

Whilst the chairman could barely be contained, I kept my head down to avoid the cameras, which I knew were pointing at us. I didn't want anyone to see my disappointment. Yes, I'd wanted a big side. But I'd wanted a big side at home. A full house at Holker Street, catching a giant unawares and creating a real storm with a proper giant-killing, or at least giving someone a good scare. A visit to Old Trafford wasn't in the plans. Even if we did the unthinkable and grabbed a draw in Manchester, replays so often get won by the big side, desperate to avoid the embarrassment suffered from not cruising through at the first time of asking. The majority of the rest of the draw passed me by, with Keen later informing me that Scunthorpe had drawn Newcastle and Tottenham would go across London to face QPR, "But we got the real plum draw. 75 000 fans singing their hearts out, can you imagine it?"

"Unbelieveable", I replied, looking over at a very pleased Kevin Keegan, who'd replaced Sir Alex at the helm following his summer retirement from the Old Trafford hotseat, and was giving his reaction to the draw to twelve million viewers. "Un-bee-leevable".

[Simply Perfect]

Three league games passed for us before our grand day out at Old Trafford, wins at Northampton by 4-1 and two home wins against Bournemouth (3-2) and Walsall (2-0), leaving us top of League Two and ten points clear of second placed Notts County. Manchester United had had an upturn in fortune since the draw, two league wins by a goal to nil, the latter against Arsenal marking the debut of Craig Gordon. Those games had been sandwiched by the League Cup Semi-Final first and second legs against Blackburn, a 2-1 home win and a 3-0 win at Ewood Park allowing United, without the cup-tied Gordon to progress to Wembley. Still, Keegan's man sat 12th, but had increased their gap over the bottom three from five points to nine: still uncomfortable for a club of United's stature.

Prior to the game, with the media emphasising United's odds of 1-20 and ours of 30-1 to win, I could not disagree. I told the press that the in-form United would provide a stern test, and that our form counted for nothing, but we had to go out and show our character, and that we could play football. United fielded a weakened- but in no means weak- line-up. Kuszczak came in for the cup-tied Gordon, Hargreaves deputised for the injured Danny Simpson at right back, with the back line completed by Jonny Evans, Silvestre and Fabio. Matias Fernandez and Anderson played on the wings with Bodmer and Carrick in the middle of the park and the side was completed by a forward pairing of Hatem Ben Arfa and Fabien Brandy. I sent out as close to a full-strength side as possible, Paddy Gamble in goal, Sukha, Shimmin, Bates and John-Baptiste along the back, Nicholls sitting in front of the defence with Herrera, Bayly, Duran and Gray in front of him with O'Carroll acting as the lone striker. It was a line-up that lacked experience, Capaca having been left out for Shimmin to counter-act some of United's pace. I tried not to show my nerves to the players, and the players certainly showed none. Some were excited, others, calm and collected. I kept my team-talk succinct, reminding the players of the preparation we'd done, and wishing them luck, advising them to enjoy the experience. As the bell rang for the players to make their way out I contrasted it to my team-talk that I'd given my side in my first season before our FA Trophy defeat at Wembley to Rushden. Everything felt more mature. As I made my way into the dug-out, I looked up to the director's box and was met by a waving Brian Keen. I was going to wave back until I realised he was waving a pink Ladbrokes Betting Slip.

[O\'Hara_fan]

Tough draw and good luck against Man United. Not good for the nerves when Keen betted on Barrow though

[tenthreeleader]

"Numbera twenty seex", began Capello.

This was a wonderfully written sequence. Waiting for the big finish!

[Simply Perfect]

Thanks for the feedback, makes it so much easier to keep writing. It's also great to see a few short stories popping up on the Forums: they're always a great read! Keen is ever-the-optimist, albeit slightly deluded. The big finish begins here...

Old Trafford was eerily quiet. Only 50,000 turned out for the game which was being shown live on ITV as well, but 5000 of those were Barrow fans who had started singing long before the teams had emerged from the tunnel. United started brightly, showing their evident class, and it wasn't long before Shimmin had conceded a corner. From Fernandez's outswinging corner, Michael Carrick sneaked in at the back post to give United thier opening goal from their first chance. I loudly exhaled, but could say very little. The marking had been ok, Carrick had been picked up, but he somehow managed to out-jump Bayly and sneak the ball past Gamble. It immediately felt like it'd be a long afternoon. United were relentless and we'd started quite unimaginatively, twice trying to release Herrera to run at Fabio via a long ball and twice failing to pull it off. As our third attempt broke down, Ben Arfa was caught by Shimmin half way into the United half. Anderson whipped in a free kick that was easily gathered by Gamble who immediately launched a mammoth kick downfield toward our lone attacker, Darmuid O'Carroll. O'Carroll read the ball much better than Jonny Evans and the ball bounced just inside United's 18 yard box. The on-rushing Kuszczak was beaten by the bounce and from the tightest of angles, O'Carroll knocked a left footed shot right across the vacant Manchester United goal. The on-loan Celt covered his face in horror knowing that you rarely get such a chance to score against the world's biggest club. In my head I could hear Clive Tyldsley comparing the opportunity to Gordon Smith's chance for Brighton in the 1983 FA Cup Final, ironically, also against Manchester United.

United continued to come forward in waves but, despite missing a gilt-edged opportunity, our confidence had been buoyed. Rob Bayly won a header against Anderson and found O'Carroll, who knocked the ball back to the former Leeds man. He ran at Anderson and played a measure pass in behind Fabio. This time, Herrera read the pass and touched the ball past the United youngster who was already sliding towards the ball. The ball went by him but Pablo Herrera's right foot did not and Chris Foy had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. He was immediately surrounded by a sea of red, Anderson particularly vocal in his appeals, screaming at anyone who would listen that it wasn't a foul. He grabbed the ball and appealed to Kevin Nicholls, who shot him an icy glare before plucking the ball from the Brazilian's hands and setting it down on the spot. He walked back four paces, looked at Foy who blew his whistle... and smasked the ball into Kuszczak's bottom left-hand corner without the Red Devil's keeper moving. A bouncing sea of blue and white appeared in the corner and Nicholls ran from the Stretford End to hail the Bluebirds' travelling support. Little over ten minutes had passed and it was 1-1.

Immeidately, Carlos Quieroz was on the edge of the technical box directing traffic, and the effects of his words were seen almost immediately. When United worked any space in midfield, they looked for the blistering pace of Brandy. On the first occasion it was a brilliant recovery challenge from Shimmin that prevented an almost certain United goal. Soon after, Anderson played the same trick, releasing Brandy behind Shimmin. This time, Brandy dummied the shot and instead lofted the ball towards Ben Arfa on the edge of the area. Bayly threw hismelf at the ball heading it clear of Arfa and chased after it. The loose ball was struck firmly from thirty yards by Mathieu Bodmer and looped up offa diving Bayly to wrong-foot Paddy Gamble. The ball bobbled over the line and United led again. They immediately pushed for more, Hargreaves' long throw finding Brandy who checked it back for Ben Arfa. The Frenchman's looping shot beat Gamble, but Rob Bayly got his head to it, making up for his poor clearance a few minutes earlier by heading the shot over the bar and denying what would have certainly been a third goal. Farnandez swung the resulting corner in deep looking for Anderson who was beaten to the ball by Bates. A second corner, Nicholls managed to scramble it clear as far as as Carrick, who took a touch before hitting a blistering shot, with Julian Gray sacrificing his face at the expense of a corner. Gray was suhered off the pitch by the referee and as James Haycock wedged cotton wool up the former England U21 winger's bleeding nose, Hatem Ben Arfa rose at the front post to flick in United's third consecutive corner. 3-1 and not half an hour yet played.

We were working hard, but having no luck, a lot of our moves finding O'Carroll on the edge of the box who, with little support was shooting however he could, and finding his shots heading a long way wide of goal. The half-time whistle sounded, and our players came off, deflated, demotivated and downhearted. The Theatre of Dreams was proving to be a dramatic nightmare.

[Simply Perfect]

I was the last in the dressing room. The coaches were handing out isotonic drinks, Paul Heald was kneeling over Paddy Gamble, and speaking animatedly. John Murtough stood slightly right of centre of the room, arms folded. I took the centre spot and looked over my players. Tired. Sore. Out?

"Nobody expects you to win. Not the press. Not the 45000 Manchester United 'fans'. Not even really the 5000 that have travelled down here for the game. The press, the United fans, hell, even the United team expect you to lie down and let them play their fancy football and take their place in the next round, and but for a few exceptions in the first half, you let them. It does not matter if you go out this afternoon. What matters is that you can walk back into this dressing room in 45 minutes time, look into the mirror and say 'I gave it my all'. If you can do that, you've let no-one down. Not the club, not the thousands that have made the trip here, and not yourself. You're better than what you've showed. Show it."

I hadn't raised my voice. I hadn't needed to. I stood back as Kevin Nicholls, Chris Iwelumo, Suree Sukha and Cacapa issued orders. The tired players of just a moment ago were replaced by youngsters, inspired. Passionate, proud, and desperate to prove themselves. Seeing Danny Welbeck and Corry Evans replace Hargreaves and Brandy just served to fire up the players more. Matthew Bates and Dominic Shimmin nullified Ben Arfa and Welbeck to the extent that neither player managed a shot from within thirty yards, and when then did, Paddy Gamble didn't even get his gloves dirty. Rob Bayly and Francisco Duran had taken their orders from their captain, and Duran tested Kuszczak early, hitting a twenty yard shot straight at the Pole. As we went past the hour mark, the Spaniard was on hand again, another twenty yard shot taking a wicked deflection and heading the wrong side of the beaten Pole's left hand post. Still we pushed as sixty minutes gone headed towards seventy. Kevin Nicholls whipped in a corner from the left, which Corry Evans managed to head clear. Suree Sukha picked it up and fed the ball wide to Nicholls once more. A dummied cross and a neat reverse pass found Julian Gray who whipped in a hard, low, near-post cross which Duran couldn't direct past Kuzsczak, instead missing the ball altogether. He was spent. Changes were made, four defenders becoming three as Ben Muirhead and Chris Iwelumo took to the pitch. Iwelumo's arrival allowed O'Carroll to run at a tiring Manchester United defence and run he did, pulling a pass back to Rob Bayly whose vicious shot was charged down by Evans. United were defending with ten men behind the ball, Welbeck pulled back to make a five man midfield. One final chance for that consolation goal three and a half minutes after the fourth official had signified that four were left to play. A rare attack broken apart by Nicholls. he spread the play to Shimmin who worked it forward for Bayly. Back inside to Nicholls and across once more to Shimmin. An ambitious ball played in front of Bayly, which he beat Corry Evans to, and a first time shot from Chris Iwelumo's left foot forcing another strong save from Kuzsczak. Chris Foy's final whistle brought an end to the game and an end to our most successful FA Cup run ever. As the Barrow players swapped shirts with their Premier League opponents I warmly shook the hand of a smiling Kevin Keegan.

"You had us in the second half," he told me. I smiled, thanked him, and wished him all the best for the rest of the season with two cup competitions and pride to fight for in the league. "Maybe we'll see your lot back here again soon."

"In the Premier League, no doubt", boomed the reply from a smiling Brian Keen, who'd appeared behind me. A handshake and kind words were exchanged between Keen and Keegan, as I wandered towards the centre circle. Old Trafford had started to empty, except for the one corner of the ground housing our travelling support, still singing as the players they'd cheered on all afternoon applauded them in thanks for their efforts as a twelfth man. I looked on, swelling with pride. Keen joined me in the centre circle, grabbed my hand and shook it, forcing an envelope into my left hand.

"You did us proud!", he exclaimed before heading off to join the players. I opened the envelope and found what must have been at least a hundred £50 notes and a pink Ladbrokes betting slip. 'Manchester United not to score in the second half, 5-1'. I smiled and looked back at the fans once more, still singing, jumping and waving while 70000 seats around them sat vacant. I could hear Clive Tyldesley in my head once again, with ITV's cameras pointed at the Barrow fans

"Their team may not have won, but they've certainly had a grand day out."

[O\'Hara_fan]

What a fantastic ending. Makes me smile. Unlucky, but very well played.

[tenthreeleader]

Applause! Very nicely done!