Silence of The Lamb? No chance. The FA Cup is still a big noise.
There will be no silence of The Lamb. There certainly wasn’t any silence in the Tamworth club-house when the Non-Leaguers were drawn out against Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the FA Cup. The Lamb will reverberate with noise when elite visitors enter their 4,000-capacity ground. The Cup matters for so many reasons, from financial to emotional.
It is testament to the strength of the Cup that the FA can mess it around, moving semi-finals to Wembley and ending replays to keep happy a handful of clubs involved in Europe, and it still commands attention. Part of the Cup’s enduring attraction is the opportunity for the have-nots to remind the haves they still exist. It’s the sheer excitement of pulling out a plum draw as raucously highlighted at Tamworth. The Cup’s still a big draw.
The Staffordshire club filmed the joyous reaction of fans and staff gathered at The Lamb when they got Spurs at home. Adults going wild, leaping about and hugging. Kids from Tamworth’s youth teams hammering on a table chanting, “Tottenham get battered, everywhere they go”, signalling a few have been listening in to Arsenal games.
Tamworth’s midfielder, Tom Tonks, whose name sums up football outside the elite, also promised Spurs a unique welcome. On X, the man with one of the longest throws in football posted:
“Oiiiiiii
Romero
Come head these
Long chucks from the half way line
What a drawwwwww!!!!!!”
Fortunately for Cristian Romero and company they will have Fraser Forster in goal. He’s the type of tall, robust keeper, a talented rugby player at Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, who can handle Tonks’ sort of bombardment. The unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario, who damaged his ankle against Manchester City, will be out for “months”, according to Spurs, but would have been more vulnerable to throws like Tonks’.
The match is being depicted as Spurs stepping into the unknown but I was at Non-League Marine three years ago and that was billed as an ambush. Spurs won 5-0. The difference to Tamworth is that Covid regulations precluded a crowd. Thousands still gathered on the streets around Marine’s ground, many congregated in gardens, sitting on sheds overlooking the pitch, or shinned up trees and scaffolding to get a glimpse of Jose Mourinho, Gareth Bale and all the stars. Spurs were barracked but it was nothing compared to the noise awaiting at The Lamb.