The Lamb Ground has been the home of Tamworth FC for 90 years.
The club of part-timers is based just north of Birmingham and has bounced around England’s non-League pyramid, occasionally taking on professional clubs on the rare occasion The Lambs, as they are known, have made progress in the FA Cup, the oldest domestic club competition in the world.
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Now the old ground is set to host the most prestigious fixture in its history when Tottenham Hotspur, who finished fifth in last season’s Premier League, come to town.
In recent years, Norwich City (2007) and Stoke City (who scraped through, 5-4 on penalties, in 2006) have tackled Tamworth on their own soil. And, 13 years ago, Tamworth took on Premier League opposition when they faced Everton at Goodison Park. But nothing will compare to the visit of Ange Postecoglou and his squad of internationals to take on Andy Peaks’ collection of part-timers.
The anticipation and excitement around the old market town, in pretty much the centre of England, has been rising ever since the National League side, the fifth tier of English football, were paired with one of English football’s elite clubs.
The Athletic headed down to The Lamb to see how the club, Peaks and his mix of labourers, delivery men and surveyors that make up his playing squad and earn on average around £400-£600 per week, are preparing to face the millionaires from north London.
After a short walk through the potholed, muddy car park in front of the main stand of The Lamb, named after the former pub that used to stand on the same car park, the first thing that is significantly noticeable is the large sign on the corner of the bottom end of the ground, positioned to capture the attention of passing vehicles heading to and from town.
With an average attendance of around 1,000, the sign is a tool to entice the public, but it is not needed on this occasion.
“Next House Game, Sunday 12th January, Tottenham Hotspur. Foreseeably many years ago, Atherstone.
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But it has been a truth for Scott Rickards, a former Tamworth striker who played at the FA Trophy Ultimate, the largest cup festival for clubs that are not from the league, opposed to FC Bursouck in Villa Park Ground in 2003, But now he is executive leader, advertising, advertising, advertising director and director of the academy at his club.
“My busy week started four weeks ago,” Rickards tells The Athletic over a rare coffee break.
“We all seem to do 20 jobs. Me and Archie (Baynham, the secretary of the club that doubles as a media officer) did 12 hours a day to see to prepare the club for the Spurs. »
There has been a lot to do.
The Lamb has only 4,018 followers, reduced to 3,750 for all the required personnel. Initially, the club explored to keep the adjustment in a larger local floor, since all the receipts of the door must be divided 50-50 with the visiting team of the FA Cup.
They couldn’t switch it to Tottenham’s 60,000-capacity stadium because it is not allowed under competition rules. And, because they are now a National League club, their ground has to be ready for the next level up, League Two. So it was deemed suitable for the fixture.
This meant that much attention was temporarily addressed to the Lamb to welcome his illustrious visitors.
The scaffolding bases have erected in positions around the ground, available through a metal scale, for the ITV cameras groups that will capture the battle of David and Goliath, while the small press bank has extended to 25 for the Media, do not miss what can be one of the largest giant murders of the History Cup FA.
The digital advertising tips were also installed for corporations willing to participate in the action, while a new fanzone, whole with a product position, established through a giant crane in the corner farthest from the floor so that space enthusiasts They can enjoy an early beer before the initial serve.
Tottenham, who have offered Tamworth support and whose staff have visited The Lamb twice, have been allocated 800 tickets for travelling fans, housed in the Meadow Street End, and a hospitality tent has been installed in the car park behind for Tottenham’s visiting corporate guests.
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The away dressing room, which is an old portable cabin behind The Shed stand, has even been painted in Tottenham colours to make Tamworth’s guests feel at home.
“We have painted them out of respect for a Premier League club arriving with some really big-value players,” Rickards says. “It is not to make them feel better and try to help them win, just to show what kind of club we are as well.”
This is a resolution with which the summits really agree. Although, when Tottenham stars are exhausted in the field of synthetic 3G lamb, tilting slightly in front of the cameras and the unhappy Hangar choir, which is located a few meters from the canoe outdoors and can be a noisy floor, of fact will not feel like a space from its space.
“Before and after the game, they will obtain my greatest respect,” says Peaks, who worked full time as a learning help until signing a full -time contract yesterday.
“Surely they have players, so they deserve it, but once the game begins, we will do things as complicated as possible, thanks to our own performances, with an intimidating environment and the release of 3G.
“There is a great gap, so we must verify them to make them as complicated as possible, but in the right way. “
Due to the postponement of their FA trophy draw at Sutton United last weekend, Tamworth, who only exercise on Tuesdays and Thursdays, had to play south London on Tuesday night, suffering a limited 1-0 defeat, meaning they had just done so. An exercise consultation to prepare for Tottenham, who beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Midfielder Tom Tonks was driving the 45 minutes from his Black Country home to meet the Tamworth team bus for the trip to Sutton as he spoke to The Athletic.
When he is not delivering sandwiches and sausage rolls in his van, Tonks delivers incredible long throws that have become a potent weapon in Tamworth’s arsenal. In fact, they knocked out League One side Huddersfield Town in the first round proper at The Lamb thanks to a Tonks long throw that caused chaos in the visitors’ defence.
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With big Dan Creaney as centre-forward, Tamworth are likely to be taking the direct approach again against Tottenham.
“Since then, I’ve had a lot of attention because I’ve been blessed with anything very unique,” said Tonks, who discovered his knack for long planes in school.
“We like to load the box up as much as we can and make it as uncomfortable as we can for every team, and that’s going to be no different on Sunday. We are going to put it on them as much as we can.
“We use everything to our advantage at home. The dugouts are right in front of The Shed. They bang on the back of the dugout and you hear every word that’s said by the fans.
“Robbie Savage (TV expert and former Premier League footballer) was given a bit of a verbal when he lost to Macclesfield (in the fourth qualifying round). I can’t believe it’s another one when those superstars come here.
“They won’t be used to the dressing room. They may have had a painting to greet them, however, they will not be used to them and will stretch out on a particular carpet outside the doors before the match, it is an absolutely other gamearray ball”
𝗧𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗸𝘀 🤝 🤝 𝗶𝗻 # Bristolstreetmotors | #Coyl 🐑⚽️ pic. twitter. com/de4xxsjsik
— Tamworth Football Club (@tamworthfc) October 17, 2024
Rickards admits they could have sold out the ground three times over for the tie and there have been some supporters unhappy at not being able to buy a ticket, while the club has been criticised for doubling the price of the tickets and charging for under-10s, who usually go free on the terrace.
“I know we’ve got a backlash on tickets and supporters not getting tickets. Our stance on that is if you stand and watch the Lambs play every week in The Shed and you’re a diehard, if you were a season ticket holder or part of the supporters’ club, you would have got a priority ticket to the game,” Rickards says. “We think it has been fairly done.”
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The value of the values, Rickards explained, were also due to the greatly higher prices of organizing the game, with a series of capacity that requires more security and police groups and with the amount of tickets assumed through sponsors and dignitaries of the Festival, but also to the club to remain growing.
“There is a massive call for new conversion rooms,” says Rickards. “We would like to build a new stand covered in Castle End, which is absolutely open and an electronic board. We can move on to the Football Foundation for subsidies, but we will also have to put money. Now we have 400 young people in the academy who use Tamworth colors and we need to continue this expansion in the community. »
While Rickards and his small staff have been busy, so have the team of volunteers, without whom Tamworth wouldn’t have been able to operate down the years.
Among them, the advertiser of the stadium and the Dave Clayton program, who was also the press officer of the club. It will be understood that your Tamworthian accessory reads the groups and substitutes on the day of the door after a week of juggling with their paintings as quality manager for a commercial fuel and the publication of a local pub with the production of the program that will be converted In a memory, as well as in the commemorative of the scarves of part and part.
“I have been decreasing since the age of 15 when Tamworth arrived at FA Garrón Ultimate in 1989 and has been hung since then,” he said 50 years.
“I volunteered to help, first of all with the program, since the mid-1990s. This program took five days to meet.
“Now I am going to announce Tottenham onto the pitch. It is an amazing thing for the club. The financial side of it is huge, but also a massive reward for Andy and his squad for their unrelenting hard work over the past two-and-a-half seasons.”
The League can be the precedence for the peaks and their players, but they will get advantages both as imaginable from their special occasion. Although it is a game of the house, the total team will enjoy a meal prior to the game at Drayton Manor Park nearby before traveling in a floor coach.
Special shirts have been produced for players to wear and keep as keepsakes, and the mascots that come out with them on the narrow front next to Spurs players will be their own children.
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Teresa Whitehouse, a retired instructor who volunteered with her husband, Brian, the former club secretary of the club, since 1989, used to organize mascots. Now it is the turning point of their daughter, Emma.
“There has always been a family feel about this club,” says Teresa. “The players all stay in the clubhouse and have a drink with the supporters after every game. They are a lovely bunch.
“Jas Singh (goalkeeper and captain) asked Emma after the draw if it was OK if they could bring their children. One of the academy sides are providing the mascots for Tottenham and the flag wavers.
“We have a fantastic manager in Andy,” Brian adds. “Other than the Vase final in 1989, this is the biggest game in the club’s history. There is a buzz around the town.
“One user said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask for a price ticket for Tottenham, but can you find me one when we get to Wembley?'”
To Wembley may be eccentric, however, taking over a club, Tottenham’s tenure in the house flat may also have seemed like a fantasy, a fantasy that has become the truth for Tamworth fans.
(Main photos: The Athletic and Morgan Harlow / Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton)