This weekend is what the FA Cup is all about. We’ve had the minnows of Morecambe, Accrington and Salford taking on the giants of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, and today Tottenham travel to Tamworth.
I used to love those David versus Goliath clashes and saw it from both ends. As a young player at Crewe, we played Premier League clubs and tried to upset the odds. At Liverpool, we were the ones to be shot at.
The season Fulham reached the Europa League final, we played at Accrington in the Cup. You could hear every word from the terraces and hear and smell everything unpleasant in the tiny dressing rooms.
One fan kept yelling at me all match: ‘You’re finished, Murphy. You’re too old, Murphy.’ I didn’t mind, but I was only 32! Thankfully we won the game 3-1.
There were some amusing moments facing lower league or non-league players. When Liverpool played at Yeovil, one of their players wanted to chat with me during the match, asking me what it was like to play with Stevie Gerrard and Michael Owen. I had to say politely:
‘Sorry mate, you know there is a game going on here!’
You were often asked for your shirt. At Liverpool, we were given two for each game and not expected to return them, so it was easy. At Fulham, if we didn’t give our shirts back, we had to pay £50 for each one.
I was still happy to give mine to an opposition player — it was a privilege to be asked for it — but one season when we had good runs in different competitions, it cost me nearly a grand.
I didn’t mind any of the rough and tumble associated with playing the minnows. I’d grown up as a player at Crewe who was excited when we played bigger teams, so I completely understood how much it means to the smaller clubs and their players.
I was still a teenager when we played Wimbledon, who were in the Premier League at the time and had this reputation as the Crazy Gang.
I have a picture somewhere of Vinnie Jones grabbing me round the throat! We were proud to get a draw at Gresty Road and earn a replay, which we lost 2-0.
They were happy days and I’m sure the Tamworth players and fans can’t wait to have Ange Postecoglou and Son Heung-min at their ground and maybe even catch a few words with them.
A lot of Premier League managers will rest some of their big names for the Cup with important league fixtures coming next week, but I’m sure the vast majority of players would want to play this weekend.
In my experience, even the overseas lads bought into the whole romance of the competition.
Roy Hodgson once rested me for a replay at Bristol Rovers and it led to one of our very few arguments. I’d wanted to play and listening to it on the radio at home, I was angrier about Fulham going out when I hadn’t been given the chance to influence the game than I’d ever felt in my career.
Not everyone felt like that, mind you. Sitting with Bobby Zamora on the bench as non-league Kettering were holding us 1-1, I indicated we should start warming up because we’d be needed. His response was: ‘Oh no, do we have to?’
I hope for Tottenham’s sake that their attitude at Tamworth today is less like Bobby’s and more like mine!