It started in the boardroom at Gloucester City. I was a bit lost among the excited adults all around me and the tea and sandwiches and smell of smoke (pre-ban), but I could tell from the tone of the chairman’s voice this was a very serious business. “I think you know what it would mean to this club to go on a proper Cup run,” he told my dad, Leroy, who was the manager of the then Southern Premier League team.
For Gloucester City “a proper Cup run” means making it to the first round and beyond; a chance to play against a professional club where you might just get to the start of one of those magical campaigns which sees you in the spotlight and playing at the likes of Old Trafford or Anfield if you progress.
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