ALBION may not be in tomorrow's Auto Windscreens Shield Final at Wembley, but they had a big influence on one of the finalists.

cp,9 Millwall not only beat the Seagulls 5-1 in the second round, but they will also field Woodingdean teenager Paul Ifill and have former Albion boss Steve Gritt on the sidelines.

Gritt is now in charge of Millwall Reserves while Ifill, 19, another ex-Seagull, looks set to start the match.

Said Ifill: "When I have played for the reserves, Steve has brought the best out of me. He's a good coach."

Ifill, a former Albion centre of excellence player, has one more Albion connection up his sleeve.

His footballing career was effectively launched by another former Albion player, Dennis Burnett, who, ironically, also spent several years at Millwall.

Burnett, a Saltdean supporter, set up trials for Ifill who said: "I'm so grateful to Dennis. I scored three in two games for West Ham but they had too many players so Dennis fixed me up with Millwall. I owe so much to him."

Ifill scored 360 goals in 240 games up until he was 16, including eight in one game on his 13th birthday.

He netted 21 in 32 County League matches and even headed one in Saltdean's 2-1 Sussex Senior Cup final defeat against St Leonards three years ago against Charlton's Sasa Ilic.

Now he hopes his final luck will change.

He said: "It's the biggest day of my life and something I'd never even dreamed of as a County League player.

"I'll be very nervous, yet once the whistle goes and I get my first touch I'll be okay.

"I've scored lots of goals through my career but haven't got one for the first team as I've been played wide right in midfield. But I'm hoping it'll come at Wembley!"

He has arranged tickets for his family, old Saltdean teammates, friends and neighbours - a bus packed with 50 - will leave the Ifill home on Sunday morning.

And the Woodingdean youngster is predicting his supporters club will not be disappointed.

"It's great to have the backing so many friends and neighbours. It'll be difficult because Wigan are a good team but I'm confident we'll win."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.