Jordan Southgate doesn’t want Wroxham‘s win over favourites Stowmarket Town to be the high point of their FA Vase journey.
The Yachtsmen boss, pictured, guided his Eastern Counties Premier Division side to victory over their league rivals in front of a bumper four-figure crowd just over a week ago to set-up another home date with Western League Bitton on Saturday week.
Former Norwich City striker Grant Holt got on the scoresheet in the 2-0 win as the Norfolk club reached the last eight.
Wroxham were finalists in 2010 and boss Southgate.told The Non-League Paper on Sunday.that the current Yachtsmen squad would love to create their own piece of history.
“For our club like ours, with the budget we have compared to other teams that have been in the competition, to get to the last eight is a huge achievement,” Southgate told this week’s paper.
“But we’re not done yet. Belief within the group is through the roof – we’ve beaten the favourites.
“It was unbelievable for the club to get there ten years ago. They finished 14th in the league that year so when you speak to a few of the players from that era they talk about this unbelievable spirit and fight they had.
“Obviously they didn’t win it so we’d love to be the first ones to do that. But we don’t get ahead of ourselves. We didn’t expect to be where we are in the Vase. You kind of take it as it comes but we’ll be ready for the quarters and hopefully we can get into the semis.
“We’ve still got a chance of promotion and the Norfolk Senior Cup final is at Carrow Road – we’ve got the semi-final of that on Wednesday.
Preference
“So the focus is to do as well in all of them. Is there a preference? The Vase is always a preference because of where it is held. But we’ll keep fighting in all three and see where it takes us.”
Aged just 27, Southgate is the youngest manager left in the competition but is already making waves early on in his managerial career.
A youngster at Norwich City, he played for Wroxham before knee issues – he was born with seven extra bones in his knee and required three operations – forced him to stop playing at the age of just 21.
He took charge of the reserves before stepping up to the first team when he was 25 following the departure of Jamie Godbold to Lowestoft.
“Wroxham is my local club,” Southgate, who is assisted by former Norwich midfielder Adam Drury, said. “I live five minutes from the ground and I probably played over 100 games for the U18s, reserves and first team.
“When the chairman phoned me up to ask if I could do the reserves I was 24. I thought I wanted to do management at some point. I didn’t know if it was too early or not but our reserves were a group of younger lads. We did well – seven players got into the first team that season.
“Then Jamie Godbold went to Lowestoft. I remember the chairman pulled me for a meeting and said – he had a list of six managers – ‘what do you think of these?’ I said, ‘They all seem fine, but why isn’t my name on it?’
Experiences
“We had a conversation, spoke about Adam Drury coming in with me and the next thing you know I’d got the job.”
Southgate has ambitions to manage full-time in the future and their current success is showing age doesn’t come into equation.
And having the likes of Drury in the dug-out, along with Holt and, another ex-Canary, Simon Lappin on the pitch, the blend works well.
“I’ve worked with Adz for five years now very closely,” Southgate added. “We complement each other with the different experiences we’ve had. He’s probably one of the nicest men you could meet in football and he’s helped me tremendously – I think he’d say the same about me to him.
“Then Holty and Laps are Holty and Laps. They’ll run until they can run no more. They understand the game, they’re brilliant in the dressing room, they’re invaluable to us. You get more people come to watch, they help the younger lads out, there’s no cons to having them.
“Sometimes people think footballers drop down and they are a bit arrogant or big time. Not these three. They couldn’t be further from that.”
Buildbase FA Vase Quarter-Finals
The FA Vase ties are set to be played on Saturday 29 February with the winning clubs banking £4,125 from the Football Association’s Prize Fund and the losers receiving £1,375.
Draw:
Corinthian v Leighton Town
Wroxham v Bitton
Atherstone Town or Worcester City v Consett
Hebburn Town v Plymouth Parkway
A place at May’s Non-League Finals Day awaits the eventual finalists in both the Buildbase FA Trophy and Buildbase FA Vase. The winners of the FA Vase will leave Wembley with £30,000 and the losing finalists with £20,000.
For more information on the round dates, exemptions and prize money visit thefa.com.
Make sure you get your copy of The Non-League Paper on Sunday for the latest news and action from across Non-League over the last seven days, whatever the weather brings!
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