Boldmere St Michaels boss Stuart Grovesnor wants rival West Midlands fans to unite on Saturday and roar his team to FA Vase first round victory against Coventry United.
The Mikes play their home games in Sutton Coldfield – a region which is not short on professional clubs.
But, rather than bemoan the fact football fans may be attracted to Villa Park or St. Andrews as opposed to their own modest Church Road surroundings, Grovesnor’s team embrace their location.
Boldmere St. Michaels v Coventry United
The FA Vase
First Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 31 October 2015
Trevor Brown Memorial Ground
Winners receive £900 from prize fund
By Joshua Richards
Click here for fixtures
Season-ticket holders or members at Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham City, Walsall and Wolves can come through the turnstiles on Saturday for just £2.
And Grovesnor, who has a decade-long association with Boldmere as player, coach and now manager, hopes a swell in home support can see them get the better of their formidable opponents.
"We would love as many people as possible to come along," he said.
"Ticket incentives like this do work, we have had some nice crowds down here.
"We have a great relationship with Aston Villa for example, we play their development side every pre-season, so we see our location as an advantage.
"We’ve played Burton and Walsall too, in the Senior Cup competitions we are involved in.
"This is a fantastic competition for a club like Boldmere. There is prestige being involved, but also it attracts plenty of interest in the local area and, hopefully, some much-needed prize money too.
"I got to the quarter final as a player with Stourbridge, so to take this club to that same stage as a manager would be some achievement."
This is set to be a landmark day for their opponents too, with two-year-old Coventry United making their FA Vase first round debut.
Former Coventry City and Cameroon international Patrick Suffo has played for Coventry United
United were formed in 2013 when four Coventry City supporters were disgruntled the Sky Blues were to play their home games at Northampton Town’s Sixfields home after being temporarily locked out of the Ricoh Arena.
They recruited Edwin Greaves as manager and last season signed former Sky Blues star and Cameroon international Patrick Suffo as giant strides began to be made off and on the pitch.
And Greaves admits fresh challenges, such as an FA Vase adventure, keep the hunger burning, despite Coventry City having now returned home.
"I was asked before the first round draw who we wanted to play and I said I didn’t care as long as we are away, because it’s an adventure," he said.
"This is our third season. We are quite new to all this, that’s why we are enjoying it. The club was formed when Coventry City took the team out of Coventry and went to Northampton.
"They just decided they wanted to try and run their own football club. We got promoted in the first year and then last year we won our division so we got promoted again. We are quite happy with the progress the club has been making on the pitch.
"Graham Wood and I were running a Saturday team called Coventry Spartans. They approached us, asking whether we wanted some help and support.
"All they did was re-brand the name from Coventry Spartans to Coventry United, then we were born.
"It was the name change to start with and then there was a big recruitment drive. We just needed some fresh and talented players to make us better and that’s how we have grown year on year."
