As I have always said The FA Vase means a lot to this club. I think every team left involved in the competition will be dreaming of Wembley and we are no different, says Deal Town coach Steve King

DEAL TOWN coach Steve King says The FA Vase means a lot to the club.

 

Tommy Sampson’s class of 2000 celebrated winning the silverware underneath the iconic Twin Towers of the old Wembley Stadium as Roly Graham scored THAT goal that beat Chippenham Town 1-0.

Derek Hares’ class of 2020, are now in the Fourth Round and are aiming to reach the last 16 tomorrow when they host Binfield at The Charles Sports Ground tomorrow.

Binfield sit in third-place in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division table with 34 points from their 15 league games and are 14 points adrift of leaders Westfields.

Deal Town, meanwhile, play at the same level and are in the top eight in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with 27 points from their 19 league outings.

“This is a game we have been looking forward to since the draw and is the clubs biggest game for a couple of years,” said King, who shares his name with the current Dartford manager.

“We know it is going to be really tough but we are looking forward to playing at home in front of a big crowd and we will be doing our best to progress.

“We have been in good form at home and having won the last two rounds of the FA Vase at the Charles Ground we will be hoping to make it three on the bounce.

“Binfield are doing very well in their league and are on an excellent run of form but I have said a number of times about the strength of the Southern Counties East Football League over the last couple of years so it will certainly be an interesting game.”

Deal Town have certainly had their challenging moments during their FA Vase campaign so far.

“It has been a tough run so far but we have enjoyed it,” recalled King.

“We started off with a very good win away at Hollands & Blair thanks to a last-minute Ben Cardwell goal.

“This was followed by a nightmare evening game at Westside where due to a serious accident the players didn’t arrive until 7.15pm.

“We had to come back from 3-1 down with 30 minutes left to win 4-3.  This was then followed by two home wins against Oxhey Jets and Southall, who were both doing well in their league.

“As always we have done our homework on our opposition and we know what to expect.  They are a physically strong side with plenty of experience and have some dangerous attacking players.

“We have prepared properly but will be focused on our performance levels come Saturday.”

Hares and King are keen to replicate the Deal Town side of 20 years’ ago and return to Wembley Stadium.

“As I have always said The FA Vase means a lot to this club. I think every team left involved in the competition will be dreaming of Wembley and we are no different,” added King.

“All of our players are local boys so understand the history of the club and we would love to go as far as we can in the competition.

“We saw first-hand last year with Cray Valley and Canterbury what is possible and we will be giving it our all at the weekend.”

Deal Town have re-signed right-back Jack Paxman, 22, from Isthmian League South East Division side Ramsgate.

“We are obviously delighted to bring Jack Paxman back to the club. That has given the boys a boost and he will be involved on Saturday,” said King.

“We still have a couple of longer-term injures but other than that we have a good squad to pick from.

Visit Deal Town’s website: www.dealtownfc.co.uk

Deal Town  v  Binfield
The Buildbase FA Vase Fourth Round
Saturday 11 January 2020
Kick Off 3:00pm
at The Charles Sports Ground, St Leonards Road, Deal, Kent CT14 9AU