Farnborough Town v Arsenal
at Highbury
The FA Cup Fourth Round
Saturday 25th January 2003, 3pm kick off 

 

Tony Pennock is 31 and spends most of his week looking after his baby son. But on Saturday, the Farnborough goalkeeper will need to work overtime against Arsenal in The FA Cup 4th Round, a daunting prospect as he tells TheFA.com...

Tony Pennock lives in Swansea but plays for Farnborough Town, a five-hour round trip that he makes three times a week for training and playing.

That adds up to six trips every week across the Severn Bridge that separates England and Wales. The bridge isn't a place that would have normally conjured up pleasant thoughts for the 31-year-old goalkeeper - until he was driving across it listening to the draw for the FA Cup fourth round.

"My dad rang up right in the middle of the cup draw to find out who we'd got," chuckles the former Stockport, Wigan, Hereford, Yeovil and Rushden number one.

"I was annoyed with him because our name hadn't come out of the hat - but before I could say anything I heard Farnborough's name mentioned...then Arsenal. I shouted Arsenal down the mobile in the loudest voice I've ever heard.

"I'm used to crossing the Severn Bridge - but I can't say I would normally associate it with excitement! We just started shouting at each other and for the next couple of hours my phone just didn't stop ringing."

Making FA Cup headlines were the furthest thoughts from Pennock's mind when he was released by Rushden in the summer. A Swansea boy, he decided to move back to his home town in south Wales so his wife could work full-time and he could look after little Alex, who turns two-years-old in February.

The 3-2 win at Darlington in the third round has changed everything though and now Pennock and his Conference team-mates can look forward to an afternoon out at Highbury, home of the league and FA Cup double winners.

For every Farnborough player, facing the likes of Dennis Bergkamp will be an entirely new experience - except for Pennock.

"I've become regarded as the Arsenal resident expert because I actually played against them in a pre-season friendly for Rushden in 2001," he explains.

"The Farnborough lads have been asking me one or two questions about them - mainly if Thierry Henry is really as quick as he looks. I just tell them he's frightening, and that's the truth!

"I remember standing in the tunnel next to David Seaman and thinking 'I never realised he was this massive'. When they got a corner I had to pinch myself because it really was Tony Adams standing in front of me trying to block my view."

Henry scored the opening goal in a 2-0 Arsenal win. "It was a stroll for them, Freddie Ljungberg never stopped running and it was a privilege to be on the same field," says Pennock.

"I'm glad in a way I have the experience behind me when I play against them in The Cup.

"I'll be telling the lads in our team they all have two legs and two arms. But the one thing we will have to watch out for is the pace they play at. I'm not sure if Henry and Vieira will play but they have so many internationals at Arsenal, there will be a few familiar faces on the pitch."

 

Initially, Farnborough looked at the prospect of playing the game at their 4,000-capacity Cherry Road ground. But the tie has been switched to Arsenal, and Pennock agrees with the decision.

"It would have been an absolute nightmare for our club to organise," he stresses.

"And from a totally selfish point of view, who wouldn't want the once-in-a-lifetime experience of playing at Highbury. I am lucky to have played in a few great places and I thought the Millennium Stadium was unbelievable when I was sub there for Rushden in a play-off final."

Although an unfamiliar name for Premiership fans, Pennock has carved quite a name for himself in lower division and non-league football.

The FA Cup has always been good to him and in many ways his debut at 19 was an extraordinary tale to rival that of playing against Arsenal.

"I was playing for Clydach United and Welsh Colleges, and the Morecambe physio Dave Edge recommended me to Dave Jones, who had just got the manager's job at Stockport," says Pennock.

"While I was at Stockport, Wigan Athletic had an injury crisis and called me in on loan. My debut was against Coventry in The FA Cup and from then on the competition has always been good to me.

"At Yeovil I got to the third round a couple of times, in 2001 we were beaten 2-1 by Bolton when Michael Ricketts scored in the last minute."

The advantage of playing at Highbury is also that tickets might be easier to come by.

"I'll have to decide if Alex will come to the match. He will be two in February and it would be a good present in a way. He is just getting to the stage where if he sees football on the telly, he will shout Daddy. So it might be something he will be able to look back on - who knows, I might not get the chance to play Arsenal again!"

Pennock, who has represented both England and Wales at semi-pro level, is famed for his shot-stopping - which might come in handy against the Gunners!

Even if Arsene Wenger rests some of his biggest names, he knows there will be a sprinkling of internationals whatever Arsenal team comes out of the tunnel.

"I think our lads would like to face the best, but I wouldn't be surprised if Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira were rested," he says.

"Even so, if you look at the players who performed against Oxford in the third round - they included Seaman, Campbell, Bergkamp and Jeffers so even if Wenger leaves players out, they have household names to come in."

Despite his relative experience, Pennock admits he will be concentrating more on himself than his team-mates come big match day.

"My priority will be calming myself down - not calming everyone else!

"I do get nervous before any game, more so before big games. But I will try not to show it because I don't want any nerves rubbing off on the youngsters."

Tony Pennock was talking to Joe Bernstein

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