New-age Stones to play live at Anfield

From the club that gave us Vinnie Jones and Stuart Pearce comes a new generation of footballers with attitude. Ryman League Wealdstone's Under-18 side have defied the odds to book a clash with Liverpool in the third round of the FA Youth Cup.

Tonight's Anfield trip is just reward for Wealdstone's domination of the non-League youth scene in recent years, but the manner of their success will hardly please the purists.

As befits a former Wimbledon striker, youth-team manager Francis Joseph preaches the Crazy Gang rather than Corinthian spirit and has evolved a ruthless strategy for the encounter.

Joseph, who also played for Brentford, said: "During my time at Wimbledon, we loved going to places like Anfield and causing an upset.

"We had limited ability but worked hard. We were aggressive and nasty and difficult to beat.

"My boys are not like that but I want to teach them all about nastiness, aggression and gamesmanship."

In a bid to bridge the gulf in class against a team assembled from Liverpool's worldwide scouting network, Joseph will happily employ underhand tactics.

He said: "If the ball goes out of play and we are winning 1-0 then you play the clock. I tell the players, 'If any of you run to get the ball, I will kill you'.

"When the opposition is having a good spell, we must do everything possible to slow them down. At our free-kicks and corners, I tell them, 'Pick your nose, scratch yourself, do whatever it takes to change the tempo'.

"I have got a scouting report on Liverpool. It says they will try to wind us up. They will do things like standing five yards away when we have free-kicks. It's all part of the game, but my boys are used to that and will be prepared for it.

"My boys are determined to perform. They were overlooked as schoolboys by professional clubs so they have a point to prove. Many of them have great potential and, if they play to their best, there could be a shock on the cards."

Joseph's determination typifies the kind of never-say-die approach that has kept Wealdstone alive over the past 13 years.

One of the Conference's leading lights in the 1980s - when Jones and Pearce forged their reputations - the Harrowbased club were dealt a severe blow in 1991 when their Lower Mead ground was sold to developers.

A nomadic existence - including groundshares at Watford, Yeading and Edgware - followed, as did administration and a slide down the football pyramid. It was only the determination of hardcore supporters that kept the liquidators at bay. But now their fortunes appear to have finally been reversed.

As well as the first team winning promotion to the Ryman Premier League last year, the club are also building a new stadium at Canons Park, near Harrow and in the shadow of the new Wembley Stadium, which should be ready in time for next season.

More positive still is a pioneering youth set-up that has become the envy of the non-League game and bodes well for player development.

Joseph's side won the Allied Counties League at a canter last season, taking full advantage of a football scholarship scheme run in conjunction with nearby Stanmore sixth-form college.

The scheme allows talented Londonbased footballers - who may have missed out on traineeships at professional clubs - to continue their education while still being coached at a high level. All Wealdstone's youngsters are students at the college.

As Joseph says: "I am a professional coach and my players are treated like professionals. They will train as hard as the Liverpool lads do.

"We are the champions at our level of football. Last year we won the 'treble' and only lost two games all season. We are the best non-League youth team in the country.

"Tonight is the biggest game of their lives, but I have said to them it's not just about one game, it's about a career. Look at Vinnie Jones and Stuart Pearce, they made it, despite not going through the conventional route."

Wealdstone's feisty youngsters will not go short of support at Anfield with around 400 fans making the trip and, should they pull off an improbable victory, Tottenham await in the next round.

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