Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup
John Stancliffe says Maltby Main to believe in causing one of the biggest upsets in Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup history in tomorrow’s final against NPL giant Worksop Town at the Keepmoat Stadium.
Stancliffe and his players are chasing immortality in Maltby’s history as they bid to pull off the greatest Senior Cup final shock since Athersley Rec beat Frickley Athletic in 2014.
‘It would be a massive upset,” Stancliffe told Non League Yorkshire.
“Someone asked me this week ‘what are your chances’ and I said ‘it is like Rotherham trying to beat Liverpool’.
“It is David versus Goliath so we are massive underdogs, but underdogs can win.
“We need all the stars and footballing gods to be shining on us.
“We need to stick to the game-plan and the tactics we have been working on in training and if we do we’re in with a chance.”
The final is Maltby’s first appearance in the showpiece contest since they beat Mexborough Town Athletic in 1978 at the now demolished Belle Vue.
So locally it has captured the imagination and Stancliffe says it is exciting for his club.
“It is 44 years since they were last in the final so this final is going to be right up (in the club’s history),” he said.
“I would say it is one of the biggest games in the club’s history, in the recent history, definitely.
“It is a fantastic occasion for Maltby as a Town and the Football club.
“All the families of the players are coming to watch so and so all are committee’s families.
“A free bus from Maltby Town Council has been put on so people from Maltby can come and watch.”
The choice of location for the final is also personally for Stancliffe, whose father Paul, the ex-Sheffield United captain, worked for Doncaster as their under 18s manager for nearly two decades.
“He was a coach at Doncaster for I think 18 years,” he said.
“We’re in the home dressing room so it is nice because I know my dad would have given team talks in that dressing room.”