Davey talks about the FA Cup

Last Tuesday Brain Viner of the Independent chaired the Hereford United's Fans Forum at Leominster.

In his column this morning he mentions the forum and in particular manager Simon Davey and the FA Cup

On Tuesday, at the Rankin social club in Leominster, our nearest town, I chaired an evening of questions for the engaging new chairman of Hereford United, David Keyte, and the manager he recently appointed, Simon Davey. It was as Barnsley manager that Davey masterminded the two greatest FA Cup upsets of recent years, beating Liverpool away and Chelsea at home to reach a Wembley semi-final in 2008, so it is apt that he should find himself installed at Edgar Street, which witnessed the greatest FA Cup upset of yesteryear, non-league Hereford's famous 2-1 defeat of Newcastle United, in 1972.

On stage at the Rankin club, I asked Davey about Barnsley's thrilling FA Cup run, and he said that at Anfield, Rafa Benitez had been the least gracious of losers, while at Oakwell, Avram Grant could hardly have been more gracious. Nor, apparently, could John Terry. The erstwhile England captain has received consistently (and not exactly undeserved) bad press these last few months, so I'm pleased to report that at the end of that crushing defeat to Barnsley, he made his way to the home dressing room and offered the exultant players his congratulations, telling them they had thoroughly deserved their great victory and that he hoped they would go on to lift the Cup.

The new Hereford manager also told a lovely story about an even more celebrated England player, albeit before most of us had heard of him. In 1995, Davey made his home debut for Preston North End in the same game, against Doncaster Rovers, as a youngster by the name of Beckham on a month's loan from Manchester United. Davey had come from Carlisle United, where he had taken all the corners and free-kicks, so both he and Paul Raynor, the dead-ball specialist at Preston, were miffed to be told by manager Gary Peters that shy, young David was to be given all corners and free-kicks. They were both still sulking when the lad made his way over to take the first corner, which he promptly bent directly into the goal. In the next game, when a free-kick was awarded just outside the box, Davey eventually stood down after a little tussle with Beckham for the ball, then watched it fly into the top right-hand corner. "I have often wondered," said Davey, with a comedian's timing, "what would have happened to my career if I'd taken that free-kick."

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