Cup heroes meet their Goliath

Lewes have never made it this far in the FA Cup in their 116 year history and, after months of qualifying rounds, they are the smallest club left in the competition.

Manager and former Albion player Jimmy Quinn has spent the last four seasons putting together his winning squad.

The self-employed carpenter said: "From the lady who cleans the dressing room to the lad who cuts the grass, the majority of the staff here don't get a penny from Lewes FC.

"They've been associated with the club for so long and are the people who were coming up and hugging us after we made it into the first round proper. This game is for them."

The club has already made £46,000 from its involvement in the cup and could earn a further £20,000 simply by turning up on Sunday, money which will be used to build a new stand at the ground.

Yet no one goes into non-league football for the money. Cup cash is simply a bonus in the far more important quest for glory.

For everyone at the club, the match offers a chance to rise above their everyday and ordinary lives.

Jimmy, 37, said: "I have a job and I have football but in reality the football is everything and the job just gets in the way.

"We have been at the very bottom, now it feels we have hit the top."

Club captain Marc Cable, 27, lives in Godfrey Close, Lewes with his girlfriend, Judith, and their three-year-old daughter, Millie.

He works as a painter and decorator during the week and, like all the players, he has difficulty fitting in work around the demands of football.

The former Wimbledon apprentice said: "I sometimes have to take time off for midweek games so I lose money. It's hard but that's how important football is to us."

Goalkeeper Ross Standen, 27, of Orchard Avenue, Lancing, works as a small business manager for a Brighton-based finance company.

On Sunday, he will be wearing the same jersey he has worn throughout the club's cup run and is crossing his fingers his superstition will help the club continue its winning streak.

Stuart Hack has made more than 200 appearances for the club in the last four years.

He lives with his wife, Nikki, in Linnet Close, Littlehampton, and works as a financial administrator at Lloyds Registrars in Worthing.

He said: "My wife is very understanding about my passion for the game. She has to put up with me being out every Tuesday and Thursday evening, busy every Saturday afternoon and recovering every Sunday.

"Her way of rebelling is to make sure we go away every October. I've tried to persuade her to move our holiday to the close season but it's her way of putting her foot down, which is fair enough."

Defender Matt Beeston, 28, is no stranger to the limelight. He has played many gigs with his rock band Up The Creek and recently took part in BBC game show Friends Like These, to be screened in January.

Matt, of The Drive, Hove, signed for Lewes last season at the same time he took up his first teaching job in design and technology at Downlands School in Hassocks.

He said: "It was quite a struggle at first trying to fit teaching in. Fortunately, with schoolwork I can be flexible and will make up for it if I am playing football during the week."

Twins Andy and Chris Johnson not only play in midfield for the same team, they also both work as postmen in Lewes.

Despite their excitement the 22-year-old twins, of South Street, Lewes, are realistic when it comes to rating their team's chances.

Chris said: "As postmen, the main difficulty is getting up in the morning after an away game the night before. There was one match when we didn't get back until 2am and we had to be up two hours later."

At the age of 37, Paul Thomsett is the veteran of the side. The father-of-two has worked as a butcher since he was 16 and was persuaded to join Lewes from Burgess Hill last year.

Paul, of Green Lane, Chailey, said: "At my age, it may be the last chance I get to play in the first round proper."

Roofer Justin Harris, 25, of Woodpecker Way, Uckfield, first played for Lewes as a teenager before returning to the club three seasons ago.

He said: "This FA Cup run has been the largest thing I've been involved in. I know about 100 people from Uckfield who are coming to the game, including some mates who don't even know the offside rule. Everyone is interested."

Midfielder Paul Stokes, 28, has played 250 games for Lewes, more than any other player in the squad. He has worked as a scaffolder since he left school and recently set up his own business.

He said: "It's physical, demanding work. I graft all day for ten hours and then go to an away match somewhere like Hertfordshire and don't get back until 1am. Then I'm up again a few hours later. It just doesn't give your body time to recover."

Paul, of Tumulus Road, Saltdean, has to also battle against illness, having been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, a disorder which means he has to avoid all wheat products.

Ross Venables is one of the few players at Lewes who has played professional football on a regular basis. He spent almost three years in Scotland at Raith Rovers.

He said: "Amateur football is very different to playing professionally in front of crowds of 5,000. At Raith, we were doing it every day but at Lewes it's not your whole life. You've got a life outside football and you have to fit work around it."

The 22-year-old midfielder, who lives in Bexley Heath in London, said the hardest part of playing for Lewes was the travelling. After finishing work as a bank clerk in the City, he faces a two-hour trip down to the club's Dripping Pan ground.

Chris Dicker, 26, is a police constable with Eastbourne police and, as well as playing football for Lewes, is also a member of the Sussex and England police teams.

Chris, of Langley Point, Eastbourne, said "Occasionally I have to miss a game when I can't get time off work because of a major incident."

The other difficulty is balancing his football with the needs of his partner, Helena, and their 19-month-old daughter, Alivia.

He said: "I get a bit of earache from the missus now and again saying 'You're never here'. Fortunately she's very supportive and understands how important it is to me."

"Games like these are what makes all the sacrifices worth while."

Striker Dominic Shepherd, who works for an electrical maintenance firm, is the club's top scorer with 19 goals in 19 games since August.

The 23-year-old lives in Applesham Way, Portslade, with his girlfriend, Annabel, and their children, Chloe, five, and Lewis, one.

Sam Francis, 20, may be rated one of the top young strikers in Sussex but on weekdays he can be found fixing pipes in as a plumber in the family firm.

Sam, of Bristol Street, Brighton, said: "It fits in well around the football because Dad will let me leave early if I've got a match on."

Teenager Lee Newman secured his team's eternal thanks after scoring a vital penalty in the first qualifying round.

When he is not playing, the 17-year-old can be found in the classroom at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College in Brighton (BHASVIC) studying for his A-levels.

Lee, of St Leonard's Avenue, Hove, said: "My little brother supports Stoke but he says he will be cheering for me and Lewes on the day."

Earlier this year, Mark McCallum considered giving up football for a year as he struggled to cope with a new career in the police.

Mark, 24, of Durrington, Worthing, said: "There have been occasions when I've gone straight onto a late shift at 10pm after a midweek game.

"It's a bit like playing a game of football before breakfast but that's how much it means to me."

Luke Dowling, 23, of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, works as a courier but is in the process of learning "the knowledge" to enable him to drive black cabs in London.

He said: "It takes me a good hour-and-a-half to get to Lewes from home but the main problem is getting back in midweek.

"But I do it because I love it. It's important to me despite the hours."

Joe Clark, 24, of Maidenbower, Crawley, works as a landscape gardener for a firm run by two friends which makes it easier for him to leave work early for training and midweek matches.

At just 16, Warren Byerley, also a pupil at BHASVIC, is the youngest member of the first team. The teenager has featured as an important substitute in a couple of cup games this season.

Reece Head, 27, is one of a handful of players at the club struggling with injury and may not be fit in time for the match.

Advertisement manager Reece, of Springfield Road, Brighton, said: "Of all the games I've played nothing compares to this. The prospect of missing out is devastating."