Steve Mowthorpe : Magic of the Cup!

Today we speak to Chichester City stopper Steve Mowthrope about his FA Cup experience, the preperations before the game and does he have any superstitions. This is the story...

Q: The first question to ask is now you have had two days to reflect on Sunday’s match, what are your emotions after playing in the second round of the FA cup?

A: I am extremely proud with how we conducted ourselves throughout the whole weekend as a club. I’m proud that we managed to achieve a dream and to play in the proper rounds but I am gutted about the result as I don’t think it fairly reflected our first hour of the game. No one can ever take what we have achieved away from us though. My family were in the crowd and it truly was a weekend I will never forget.

Q: You had to get through some tough tests including Hartley Wintney FC and Bower and Pitsea FC, did it ever feel like you were going to get as far as you did?

A: It’s always a dream to play in the proper rounds. You see non league teams do it every year and you look at them with so much envy because you desperately wish it was you. This year we just took it game by game. The club has been past the 1st preliminary round for a good few years. We ended up keeping lots of clean sheets and digging out results. We still never imagined what was to follow though.

Q: What were your preparations like heading into the game? Were they any differences to usual way?

A: We travelled up on a coach the night before. Normally we travel on a minibus on the day but it doesn’t fit the whole squad in so I normally drive. We stayed at a nice hotel and the whole thing was very professional. Credit to the club because they organised it all and it made it that bit more special.

Q: For the superstitious people reading, do you do anything before the match that could be potentially lucky?

A: I try to wear the same kit that I wore in the last game if we won. And the same gloves. I also normally try to eat the same breakfast. I put my glove towel inside my goal next to my right hand post. And a bottle to the side of the goal. I also like to do a jump when we are walking out for kick off and then say a little prayer.

Q: What did the manager say to you before the game, at half time and after the game?

A: Before the game they all just told us to enjoy the experience and not to let it pass us by. We didn’t know what to expect. If I am truthful, I thought it would be one way traffic and I would be very busy. At half time. We were told how well we did in then first half and if we could just carry that on, who knows what could happen. In the end the inevitable did happen and we just ran out of steam and fair play to them, they were clinical.

Q: Was easy to go back into work on Monday after playing at a league one stadium just the day before?

A: Luckily enough I had Monday off so I went back to work Tuesday and to be honest, it was horrendous. I work on a site and to go back to it after the weekend was a massive crash back down to Earth. I normally enjoy my job but the contrast was just almost unbearable.

Q: How does Steve Mowthorpe want to be remembered off and on the pitch regardless of your achievements?

A: I want to be remembered as someone who wore his heart on his sleeve and gave everything he could to keep the ball out the net. Someone who has no false pretences and hopefully partly likeable.

Thank you to Steve for doing this interview into his experience in the FA Cup second Round against Tranmere FC