Crawley Town v Chelmsford City
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Second Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 1 December 2012
The Broadfield Stadium, Crawley Town FC
Winning clubs receive £27,000 from The FA's prize fund
Click here for fixtures
By Nicholas Veevers
Richie Barker enjoyed one of the proudest moments of his career in The FA Cup and is now hoping his Crawley Town side can experience the same.
As captain of Mansfield Town, Barker led out Mansfield Town to face Newcastle United at St. James Park in the Third Round in 2006.
That game was settled by opposite number Alan Shearer’s 200th goal for the Magpies to bring Mansfield’s Cup dreams to an end.
But Barker aims to give his players a chance of earning a similar tie by taking the League Two outfit into Sunday’s Third Round Proper draw with victory over Chelmsford City.
He told FATV: "It's a fantastic opportunity for the lower league clubs to play at the big stadiums.
"I remember taking Mansfield, as the captain, to play at Newcastle in front of 40,000 people and leading the team out alongside Alan Shearer who was my hero.
"They're the sort of things, when if you stay in the competition, you've got the opportunity so I think The FA Cup's magic for everybody.”
Former Bury boss Barker has been in charge at the Broadfield Stadium since the summer after taking over from the short-lived spell of Sean O’Driscoll.
But after Crawley’s success in The Cup under previous boss Steve Evans in recent years, they have reached the Fifth Round twice in the last two years, he knows there is plenty of experience already at his disposal.
"What this club has achieved in the last few years before I came here sets a standard that we have to try and match because everybody assumes that we're just going to get to the Fifth Round now!” he added.
"Some of these players have been part of these giant-killing acts over the last few years and if you're not careful and if you don't go out with the right mentality, you can end up with one against you.”
Watch the full interview with Richie in the Media Gallery above, as he talks about his career, coaching badges and The FA Cup.
There will also be special FATV highlights of the game, as we continue our 'Road To Wembley'.
