Alfreton Town v Macclesfield Town
The FA Cup, First Round Proper
North Street Ground, Alfreton
13 November 2004

GAFFER TAPES: Macclesfield boss Brian Horton once had his Cup dreams wrecked by Gazza but the dream lives on at Alfreton Town this Saturday.

Horton has been in charge of Hull, Oxford, Manchester City, Huddersfield, Brighton, Port Vale and currently Macclesfield in a managerial career lasting more than 20 years.

Saturday’s First Round tie at Alfreton Town will be his 1,002nd game as manager, during which time he’s seen some amazing changes in the game.

Which managers did you learn most from?

It was Gordon Lee who gave me the chance to play football when I was 21 and I owe him a lot. He brought me in from non-League and I learned from him how to cope as a manager with no money, how to mould a team of free transfers basically.

Peter Taylor, who was known as a double act with Brian Clough, was my manager at Brighton and he was followed by Alan Mullery, who was very passionate about the game.

I learned a lot from him about motivating players. David Pleat was my boss at Luton and he was tactically miles ahead of his time. The things he did in training were all new at the time. David was a good guy and I still speak to him every week.

What is the major difference in football between now and when you started as manager?

It’s harder to find good players in the reserves at other clubs who you can pick off for little or no money.

I signed Richard Jobson, Garry Parker and Jim Magilton when they couldn’t get in their first teams and developed them. Nowadays it’s much harder to find players like that.

Another change is the media. Even at smaller clubs like Macclesfield, there are websites, newspapers and radio stations covering the club.

Everything is out in the open very quickly. The money in football has also changed. It has gone daft, particularly at the top end.

What change would you like to see in the game?

I would like clubs to share their gate receipts again. For me, the day they let the big clubs keep all their gate money, the gap between rich and poor was always going to get bigger.

I don’t see why a club like Luton shouldn’t get a share if they went to Old Trafford for a league match. They are providing the entertainment as well. That was more significant than Bosman.

Of which signing were you proudest?

I picked up Richard Jobson for £40,000 at Hull City and they eventually sold him for £600,000.

Jim Magilton (left) cost £100,000, I think from Liverpool, when I was at Oxford and they sold him for £600,000.

That was important for the club, because the Maxwell family had to relinquish the chair of the club.

I kept Oxford afloat in the old Second Division after they had been relegated and that is sometimes as great an achievement as winning trophies.

You've beaten Sir Alex Ferguson to a thousand games...

Yes, but he had all those games in Scotland before he joined Manchester United and they haven’t counted them.

I think Alex is close to the 1,000 games now; there are 11 others who have done it I believe - I think Joe Royle was the last one before me. Alex’s record is unbelievable. Not only that, but he is very supportive of other league managers.

What FA Cup memories have you got?

We won at Chelsea when was with Oxford. In the next round, we went to Spurs and came up against Paul Gascoigne in his prime.

It was the season after Italia 90 and he was phenomenal. We played really well and might have got a result but Gazza was just too good and they beat us 4-2.

I think they reached the FA Cup Final that season and that is when Gazza did that infamous tackle on Gary Charles.

I will put a full Macclesfield side out at Alfreton. It’s a big game for the club, there is potential glory and of course revenue in The FA Cup. Players don’t mind the amount of matches - they would rather play than train.

If you could pick any Premiership player to put in your side at Alfreton, who would it be?

If it’s an English player, it would have to be Alan Shearer, a magnificent player with a strong character. I hope he carries on for another year yet.

Of the foreign players, Thierry Henry.