FARSLEY CELTIC under Lee Sinnott just did know when they were beaten.
That was typified the night Simeon Bambrook scored the legendary last minute penalty in the 4-3 victory over Hinckley United in the 2007 Conference North Play-Off Final at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium to send the West Leeds village club into the top flight of Non League Football for the first time ever.
Farsley had trailed twice and were behind with only three minutes remaining until captain Ryan Crossley equalised to set up the unforgettable finale which saw the great Gladiator Bambrook show balls of steel to complete Sinnott’s thrilling rocket ride – live on National TV on Setanta Sports.
The never-say-die traits were present throughout Sinnott’s three promotions in four seasons as the club incredibly went from the old NPL Division One to the Conference National. Many of Sinnott’s original 2003 Farsley team were still playing key roles by the time the former Huddersfield Town captain was headhunted by League Two outfit Port Vale in November 2007 and goalkeeper Tom Morgan was one of those players.
The top (but sometimes scary) goalkeeper, who was recently voted Farsley’s ‘keeper of the decade, was chosen ahead of Paul Cuss to face Hinckley and in the latest ‘My Greatest Game’ he recalls overcoming near-blindness in the first half to play a key role in Farsley’s greatest night – one of the best in the history of Non League Football in West Yorkshire.
Morgan, now the Scarborough Athletic player/goalkeeping coach, reminisces about the historic night and explains why he believes Sinnott was so successful at Throstle Nest.
Farsley Celtic (Grant 15, Reeves 79, Crossley 87, Bambrook 89) 4-3 Hinckley United (Shilton 19, Cartwright 21, 83) – Monday 14th May 2007
The Teams
Farsley Celtic: Morgan, Downes, Ryan Serrant, Knowles, Crossley, Iqbal, Watson (Tuck 77, Sudden 89), Bambrook, Reeves, Grant, Stamer (Allanson 57). Subs unused: Walls, Cuss.
Hinckley United: Bowles, Storer, Shilton, Lavery, Birch, Love, Cartwright, Jackson, Marrison, Brown, Nurse (Story 89). Subs unused: Haystead, Cooper, Palmer, Platnauer.
Referee: Richard West (Hull)
Attendance: 2,495
“To go from the old NPL Division One to the Conference in such a small space of time, it was an amazing achievement. If you look nationwide and around the region, it still is one of the biggest achievements there has ever been in Non League Football. Nobody had given us a chance. Especially in the play-offs semi-final against Kettering who were full-time.
“I watch the play-off final back from time to time, but I’ve not watched it for five years. You do see people reminding you of it on Facebook and Twitter occasionally. I still feel immensely proud when I see the photos flash on Facebook or Twitter. I think the big thing for me is that we did it with a lot of lads who you are able to call friends – not just players, but everyone who was part of the club. It was such a close-knit club. There was togetherness throughout the club.
“I still can’t believe it was 13 years ago and the achievement probably doesn’t get the credit it deserves. It would be nice if it was celebrated a bit more and if there had been a tenth anniversary celebration. But I’d say Farsley folding (in 2010) maybe tainted it. Farsley folding had nothing to do with us winning those three promotions. We just had a team of players who would run through brick walls. I don’t know the full in’s and out’s, but most of the damage done to Farsley was through the wages paid to players who signed in the second half of the Conference National season. Once the land deal (£3.4 million) fell through, it became financially unsustainable.
“You were to look back too at other clubs who have tried to progress and thrown silly money at it and have failed trying to do what we did. Farsley did not throw silly money at trying to get to the Conference. We just had a set of players who stuck together through thick and thin and we’d smash down brick walls for each other.
“I don’t think the players who got Farsley to the Conference were the most talented and gifted, there were better players out there, but we had such a willingness to win and we were so consistent.
“I played for Farsley in two spells and going into the Conference for me was the pinnacle because we weren’t given a chance. Other people may disagree, but when we were in the NCEL we were nailed on to win it. We lost at Parkgate and that the first time we aired our feelings out on the table – what we were happy with and what we weren’t. After that we went on that unbeaten run. It was fantastic winning the NCEL, but the Conference North play-off final was the better one.
“Farsley was a great place to play and I feel privileged to have played for Farsley Celtic. If you were to tell me on the day we were signing on (in 2003 after leaving Halifax Town) that we were going to win three promotions in four seasons I would have said you were mad. You wouldn’t believe it wouldhappen. That is the scary thing. But Lee Sinnott got such a wonderful blend of youth and experience together over the years and we had a massive togetherness.
“We had a lot of ex-pros over the years who were very good at bringing on the younger lads. They weren’t ones for caning the lads, they were all about encouragement. You had the likes of Carl Serrant, Martin Pemberton. Before they came, we had Lee Duxbury, Jon Dyson, Graham Mitchell. You can see why some of these guys have gone onto do great things in the pro game on the coaching side.
“Lee Sinnott was able to bring the ex-pros in because of his background in the League, but when he took over it was his first experience of Non League football. So knowing the Non League scene was one of the good things about (Sinnott’s assistant) John Deacey. He always kept his ear to the ground and even to this day, he was always bringing in players who were playing either one or two leagues lower. He’d always give players a chance. The partnership worked really well.
“I would agree with Mark Bett that out of the managers I had, Lee Sinnott was definitely up there as probably my favourite. I always felt he always found a way out of getting the best out of people. I have been very fortunate to work with the top managers like Neil Parsley. He was another one who did really well at getting the best out of people. John Deacey did as well. I loved playing under all three. I also made my debut for Halifax Town under Chris Wilder and he’s not changed at all. You can tell when you see his interviews. From speaking to Chris Senior who still works with him, he says that Chris hasn’t changed. Chris Wilder was clearly good at getting the best out of you.
“I wouldn’t say Lee Sinnott was someone to scream and shout, but he would pinpoint which areas that he’d want you to work on. As we kept winning games and promotions, he just went with the flow. He never said ‘we’re going to be in the Conference in three years’. He’d say ‘look you are a good side and you have a lot of great attributes’ so he was very good at making us feel confident and special. It is a shame Lee has never gone really further in his management career. After what he did at Farsley, you’d have thought he would have had a long career in the League. It didn’t work out at Port Vale, but he did well at Altincham. We played Gainsborough last year and they were a good side, but for some reason some individuals weren’t playing for him. Even now I feel that if a club needed a manager he’s someone I’d recommend.
“As well I was very fortunate to work with Paul Cuss under Minty (goalkeeping coach Gary Stokes) and he brought me on loads because I knew I had to aspire to how good Paul Cuss was. I feel he was the best Non League goalkeeper not to make it into the pro game. We had different traits in the sense that Cussy was more of a ‘keeper who would stay on his line and make unbelievable saves. I was more of a sweeper ‘keeper where I’d try and read the game and try and cut everything out before it would get dangerous. During the Conference North season it was always 50/50 between me and Cussy as to who would play. Lee Sinnott always told me where I stood and I never got down or disheartened about not playing. People forget I was only 20 when I originally signed for the club (in 2003). When we played Hinckley I was only 23 or 24 so I was still learning.
“Everybody had confidence in each other and we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. There was never much back-biting. If you look back at all those years it was always a continuation of certain players – James Knowles, Amjad Iqbal, Simeon, myself, Mark Bett, Roy Stamer, Andy Watson were there throughout. Other players were added as time went on like Stephen Downes, Gareth Grant, Damian Reeves.
“We generally played 4-4-2, but the good thing about us we were solid when defending set-plays and we were good at keeping the ball. If you look at our games we knew when to play and when to turn them. We had such good movement upfront in Granty and Damian Reeves and the wingers Roy Stamer and Andy Watson. You look at that front four, even today, you’d back them against anyone. You had Simeon chipping in with goals. Amjad and Knowlesy in the midfield of the park would break everything down and that was a good thing because we had that steel about us. We could hold leads. Ryan Crossley was another who would talk and hold firm. Stephen Downes came at the right time and he and Andy Watson complemented each other really well down the right. Snoop (Ryan Serrant) was only 18 and he stepped up when he needed to when Martin Pemberton was injured for the final two games. We had a big squad at times and Lee Sinnott was good at keeping everyone happy. We had other players like Ash Allanson and they’d be certain games where you needed to get the ball down and play, he’d be your man for them. Lee Tuck was very raw and very young and he chased everything down and chipped in with a few goals (during the 2006/07 season).
“When you look back at history at teams who got promoted, I think you’ll see that the teams who have kept a core group of players who have guided them up or through the leagues. The foundations are then there to build on. Sheffield United is a prime example from the present day as they’ve gone from League One to the Premier League with a core of lads from the beginning. If you look at other teams who got promoted to the Premier League who have absolutely cleaned out their squad, they’re the ones who have struggled. You have to build a team with players who understand the club and have the club at heart and that’s the one thing I noticed at Farsley. The higher we went up, players we signed would not come back into the bar after a game to socialise. They would pick up their big wages and disappear. That happens throughout football.
“Every Saturday night, myself, Granty, Bettsy, Andy Watson we were out. I used to go out with Roy Stamer and Granty and we used to go out Thursdays and Sunday nights. We used to spend a long time socialising outside of the club as well. On a match-day everybody used to stay for hours in the clubhouse and that continued when the club reformed and a lot of the Lee Sinnott team came back. We were there until eight or nine o’clock at night. You look at (Scarborough Athletic goalkeeper) Tommy Taylor, we got him drunk for the first time on his 18th birthday. Josh Grant came of his shell. Lewis Nightingale, Ryan Watson were with us when the club reformed and they have all had great Non League careers and we played part in their development.
“In the year of the Hinckley play-off final we had come from nowhere to be in the running for the play-offs. We had’t been mentioned as contenders until we went on a run. We had to win six out of six or something like that. I always remember it because Harrogate Town’s chairman (Bill Fotherby) had said to his players that if they got into the play-offs they would get a nice bonus. We went on that run and they had to win their last game to even give themselves a chance, whereas we had to win and we did fairly comfortably because we won 4-1 at Redditch to nick the last play-offs place ahead of Harrogate by one point.
“I remember it really well because Paul Cuss was down to play, but he didn’t feel well on the coach down to Redditch and when we got there he said he wasn’t well enough to play. I played really well and I believe John Deacey told Lee Sinnott that I had to stay in for the play-offs.
“Even in the play-offs we weren’t expected to win the semi-final because we played Kettering and people may remember that it was when they were full-time. They had sacked their manager with two games to go and put Graham Westley in charge for the play-offs. We were hearing rumours of the sort of money they paying and their wage budget was meant to be double what ours was. I felt we should have won before getting to the penalty shootout (in the second leg). Although I would say we held our nerve and showed some real character to take it to penalties as we were under the cosh quite a lot in the second leg. But I always felt confident if we got to penalties that we would do it and I was always sure Simeon would score when it came to the last penalty.
“The celebrations were great, but it was weird because when we got onto the coach straightway everyone’s minds were ‘the job is not done, there’s still the final’. We had the euphoria, but our minds were on the final and we knew we had lost two of our best players in Martin Pemberton and Carl Serrant.
“The big message at the final at Burton was ‘go out and express yourself, go out and enjoy it, but don’t get to the point where you think if only I had done this or that’. We basically said ‘don’t leave it in here’. It was a little different to normal and we had a new kit for it, but I think what settled the nerves was having to do that little interview for the TV before the game. We all had to say our names, position and occupation on camera and Andy Watson told Setanta that he was a Policeman and Gareth Grant said he was exotic camera. Clearly that was not true, but those two broke the ice. I was boring with mine because I was sensible and honest and told the truth by saying I was a student podiatrist.
“We got an early goal when Granty scored. The camera then panned to me celebrating the goal by turning to fans and to this day I still get my pals winding me up about it. I was sort of screaming to myself and the camera followed me for ages.
“I know we scored early, but we went 2-1 down quite quickly. I remember punching a corner clear and I got elbowed in the eye so in the first half my eye was swollen up and I was struggling to see. It wasn’t because of my eye, but I saw their first goal really late and the second goal came from a cross which took a deflection and someone tapped it in at the back stick. Hinckley had another chance from a one-on-one and I remember stopping that before half-time.
“I always remember in the build-up and when we were 2-1 down at half-time, no-one was back-biting it and we all stuck together because we believed we could do it. We always had a never-say-die attitude.
“You felt Hinckley were just trying to play the game out and Reevesy made it 2-2 with 12 minutes to go. Hinckley scored again to lead again with only five minutes to go. Even then, never did I think we were going to lose it. I had this weird feeling that we were going to win it.
“Ryan Crossley got the equaliser. There was only three minutes left and it was a strange goal because it came from our free kick and Ryan was given a free header on the edge of the penalty area as Hinckley tried to play the offside trap. They had played it a couple of times in the first time. Their skipper tried to get them to push up each time, but I have a feeling it was him who played everyone on for Ryan’s goal. It was a bullet header and he ran the length of the pitch celebrating. It was probably the quickest he’s ever run.
“Extra-time was looming until Granty got brought down for the penalty. You could say it was a nervous wait, but you just knew Simeon was going to score. We have always nicknamed him ‘The Hammer’ because he’s got such a hard strike so we knew he would bag it. Usually he tries to place them so for him to hit it with power it was unusual, but fair play because he went for the percentages just to get it on target. I know the goalkeeper got a leg on it, but I don’t think he was ever going to save it.
“As soon as he scored, we knew we would see the game out. The celebrations were emotional. John Palmer is Mr Farsley Celtic and it was fantastic for him. It was great to see him looking so happy. Afterwards we went back to Farsley and we re-watched the game and they had cut out the bit about Andy Watson being a Policeman, but left Granty saying he was an exotic dancer in. We had a good laugh and we stayed in the clubhouse until a silly early hour in the morning drinking and celebrating. A few weeks later we were even invited to the Civic Hall in Leeds and we had an afternoon with the Mayor of Leeds.
“When you look back at the success we had, we still had great banter and there’s lots of stories. I had broke my wrist so I was unable to participate at the backend of the 2005/06 season and the night before we played Marine in the (NPL Premier Division) play-offs semi-final, I had been on a night out for Gaz Liversedge’s birthday and I think we had been to Newcastle. I left my mates in Newcastle and I was still under the influence of alcohol when I was on the coach to Marine. I was laughing and joking and being the idiot I am. We were then in the dressing room and Minty was asked to take me out because Lee Sinnott had lost his head over me. There’s a picture of me asleep in the dugout at half-time!
“When we were the Conference we played Woking on a Thursday on Setanta. We travelled down to a hotel and we were told to rest up. Everyone did apart from Downsy and Andy Watson who went to the Zoo. They escaped through a fire exit from the Holiday Inn we were in. Everyone else had a nap and those two came back saying ‘you’ll never guess where we’ve been’? I think they went on some rides as well as visiting the ducks, penguins and god knows what else. I remember that hotel visit as well because Gareth Grant was a chain smoker and he was smoking in his room and you’d open his door and you couldn’t see anything because of the smoke.
“Mark Jackson came to the club that year and he was ultra-professional and after training he’d get in an ice bath. Downsy went and bought a load of goldfish and put them in his ice bath. Jacko laughed and it summed up the banter..
“I don’t live in Leeds now, but if I’m in the area, I still see (volunteers) Don Holmes and Margaret Lobley a lot and we always have a good chat. Gareth Liversedge (Farsley physio) is my best mate. I grew up with Gareth Grant and I’ve just got back in touch with Roy Stamer. I speak to Minty a lot and I speak daily to him, Tommy Taylor and Jake Lofthouse in a WhatsApp group. We have also always tried to do a Benidorm trip every year, ever since we got promoted out of the NCEL. There’s myself, Pars, Mark Jackson, Gaz Liversedge, Granty, Ben Jones, Tommy Taylor. They were always such funny trips and another example how close-knit everyone still is. It is brilliant that everyone still speaks and we have a Farsley Legends WhatsApp group and it is nice catching up with the lads because we spent so much time together and we had some fantastic times.”
Tom Morgan was interviewed by James Grayson