Bromley goalkeeper wants to dump Newcastle out of FA Cup: 'Why shouldn't it be us'
Bromley goalkeeper wants to dump Newcastle out of FA Cup: 'Why shouldn't it be us'
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Down the back of the sofa, Newcastle United’s Saudi owners have just found a spare £15million, taking their investment to £657m since their Toon takeover. At the other end of football’s financial spectrum, not so long ago - when he was the joint top earner at non-League Bognor Regis Town - goalkeeper Grant Smith was paid £175-a-week in cash, in a brown envelope, every Saturday afternoon.
And he says it made him “feel like a millionaire” even if, to make ends meet, Smith would sometimes work noisy, steamy shifts cleaning pots and pans as a kitchen porter. But when League Two minnows Bromley attempt to bridge the monetary canyon between gilded Geordie shores and Kent’s commuter belt in the FA Cup third round, Smith will make a stand for Pans People. And we’re not talking about the old dance troupe on Top of the Pops.
It’s 70 years and 14 visits since Newcastle won at Wembley. The Ravens have been there, done that and worn the T-shirt twice in the last two-and-a-half years, in the FA Trophy final and promotion play-off. “At least we’ve got one up on Newcastle there,” grinned Smith, whose twin penalty saves in the National League shoot-out against Solihull Moors last May took Bromley into the EFL mainstream for the first time in their 132-year history.
“To win at Wembley felt amazing. To win on penalties, knowing I’ve played an important part, made it even sweeter.”. Smith’s career has been a triumph of persistence since being released by Brighton as a 20-year-old, and his slalom through the non-league ranks, until Bromley broke through the skylight.
