I can’t wait to watch this one, mainly because my old friend and Sky Sports colleague, Martin Tyler, will be pacing up and down the line, kicking every ball as Woking’s assistant manager.
He and Alan Dowson have been together a long time, enjoying success with Walton and Hersham, Kingstonian and Hampton and Richmond Borough before moving across in May to the Kingfield Stadium.
It’s clearly a special relationship between two great enthusiasts. Dowson, known to all as Dowse, talks at breakneck speed in thick Geordie tones but his message obviously gets across. As a motivator of men, there can’t be many better at non-League level.
His assistant’s qualities neatly dovetail. Having shared countless TV gantries, not to mention untold hours in recording studios for the computer game FIFA, I know only too well how much this ‘second job’ means to Martin. You can see it in his face after a good win.
And Woking have had a good few of those lately, coming out on top in all four Christmas matches. This tie with Watford has actually proved a motivation rather than distraction. None of these part-timers want to miss this chance to measure up against Premier League players.
Not only that, they will be desperate to play in a crackling atmosphere generated by a full house of 5,700 fans. Added to the substantial TV money, the club should make about £250,000, practically a life-saving sum for a club like Woking.
As for Martin, not a bad player himself back in the day, he has been able to get a close look at Sunday’s opponents, having twice commentated on Watford games since the draw was made.
When we spoke yesterday you could hear the excitement in his voice, which in fairness was partly because he was on his way to the Manchester City- Liverpool game. Martin absolutely loves football, so these next few days for him felt totally joyous.
“For the first time ever, my two parallel worlds are colliding,” he said. The commentator has finally become part of the story.
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