F-B-F.org -

While sympathising with Kenwright he admits: “The one thing I would swap with him is his eight-point lead.”. So it comes down to this, a mighty collision of sporting passions. Alan Parry, Sky commentator, Liverpool nut and director of Wycombe Wanderers, still cannot quite believe it. Cut him in half and you would find the Liverpool red of his youth mixed with the light blue-and-white quarters of his middle age. Yet, today at Villa Park, the lucky red shirt c1970 will be left in the wardrobe, the suit and tie deferentially donned and the heart will be pinned firmly to the sleeve of the underdogs. So it comes down to this, a mighty collision of sporting passions. Alan Parry, Sky commentator, Liverpool nut and director of Wycombe Wanderers, still cannot quite believe it.

Cut him in half and you would find the Liverpool red of his youth mixed with the light blue-and-white quarters of his middle age. Yet, today at Villa Park, the lucky red shirt c1970 will be left in the wardrobe, the suit and tie deferentially donned and the heart will be pinned firmly to the sleeve of the underdogs.
“If you’d ever said to me that one day I would want Liverpool to lose a football match, I’d have had you carted off by men in white coats,” he says. “I was brought up on the Kop, thought Bill Shankly was the almighty, spent what little money I had following them and got into a few scrapes along the way, but Wycombe have become a big part of my life. I’ve been there on wet February nights in Runcorn and Dagenham, so the prospect of playing against the most successful side in the land? I mean, for me, this is dreamland.”Parry’s association with Wycombe Wanderers began in the mid-Seventies when he was invited by the non-Leaguers to an FA Cup third-round tie against Middlesbrough. “I didn’t even know where Wycombe was, but I enjoyed the day, the warmth of the people and the hospitality.

I thought, ‘That was nice, but I’ll never see them play again’.” Except that a year or so later, he moved into the area and was invited on to the board. But the two halves of Parry’s footballing life still seemed comfortably separate and the Cup was not much hope. Before this season, Wanderers had failed to reach the fourth round. Now, the Football Association are on the phone wondering if they need a police escort for their coach to Villa Park and a club with average gates of 5,000 have sold 19,000 tickets for the semi-final.”Imagine if Liverpool had quadrupled their support in three weeks,” he says. “They’d have crowds of 160,000 every week.” Today will be about emotion for Wycombe, but, if the miracle remains unworked for the team, the directors can gain comfort from other figures.Wycombe budgeted for a £400,000 loss this season; their Cup run, which so far has lurched with growing incredulity through nine matches over nearly five months, has generated a working profit of £500,000, enough to refurbish the away end of the ground and finance a push for promotion to the First Division next season The bank balance, though, can wait for another day. “No money can buy the memories,” as Lawrie Sanchez, the manager, says.Parry recalls well the day the board appointed Wycombe’s miracle worker ahead of other more experienced candidates.

“We knew Lawrie would make a great manager one day, but we couldn’t afford ‘one day’ We needed someone to get us out of trouble right then But there was something about the guy. In his philosophy and his manner, he reminded us of Martin O’Neill and we all know what Martin did for Wycombe.”Parry remembers too what Sanchez did for Liverpool. Doing the same for Wycombe would bring only partial forgiveness “If he does, I’ll be the happiest man in the country If the expected happens, my old team reach the final. I suppose I win either way.” Tomorrow night, it is Middlesbrough v Sunderland. Live on Sky, with a commentator plummeting back to planet earth.. GATESHEAD 1 LIVERPOOL 0Jan 1953, Third round: On a fog-shrouded day the 15,000 at Redheugh Park could barely see across the pitch, but the home supporters probably thought that a mercy. On the previous Saturday their Third Division (North) team had lost to Southport.

Confidence was low, but so too was that of Liverpool, though they still had three internationals, among them the brilliant winger Liddell, who was well contained. Six minutes from time Campbell sent over a corner and Winters headed in. Gateshead later lost in the sixth round to the eventual winners, Bolton Wanderers. GATESHEAD 1 LIVERPOOL 0
Jan 1953, Third round: On a fog-shrouded day the 15,000 at Redheugh Park could barely see across the pitch, but the home supporters probably thought that a mercy. On the previous Saturday their Third Division (North) team had lost to Southport. Confidence was low, but so too was that of Liverpool, though they still had three internationals, among them the brilliant winger Liddell, who was well contained. Six minutes from time Campbell sent over a corner and Winters headed in.