FA Vase Special: Ford wants his underdogs to reach Vase final - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

The Kent League club may be unfancied throughout the rest of the country, but Ford has a burning ambition to lead his club out on a FA Vase final - following in the footsteps of Tommy Sampson.

Maidstone resident Sampson, now coaching at Ryman League Division One South outfit Horsham YMCA, lead Vickers’ Kent League rivals Deal Town to Wembley Stadium Vase glory in 2000 - the last game played underneath the legendary Twin Towers.

And Ford, whose side are not tipped for Vase glory, other than the Garden of England, has issued a rallying cry to the Kentish football family to cheer his team onto another famous victory to earn a quarter-final trip to Arngrove Northern League side Billingham Synthonia in two weeks time.

Vickers’ last sixteen showdown against Bideford was called off last Friday due to a waterlogged pitch, and Ford was at the Oakwood ground today with five others to enable Saturday’s re-arranged clash to go ahead.

If the weather turns for the worse, a pitch inspection will be held at 10am on Friday morning - but Ford hopes the sun will shine on his team.

“It’s a game that we’ve been looking forward to since we beat West Auckland,” he said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“I hope the postponement has not put off the crowd - we’re looking for a crowd of over 400.”

Ford revealed that he’s already selected his starting eleven, but admitted four of his twenty man squad will be disappointed when they sit out the big game.

“We had a good training session Tuesday night and we’ll have a good one planned tonight.”

Bideford arrive in Kent sitting in fifth place in the Toolstation Western League, having collected twelve wins and three draws from their twenty league outings.

VCD Athletic, meanwhile, third in the Kent League table, have won 13 and drawn 2 of their 19 league fixtures.

“I know as much as I need to know,” said Ford. “They’ve got some experienced pros in there and with three or four that have won the Vase and they are second or third favourites to win the Vase.

“We know we have a tough game ahead of us and we fear no-one. We need our big players to perform and if we can, we will push Bideford close.

“If we can get into the last eight of the FA Vase, one round further than last year, it will be a massive progression for the club.

“I know my Vase eleven in my head. I’m going to pick my most experienced side. It’s a game for proven players in their right positions.

“We are playing our own game, our own system but if we can play to our potential we will push Bideford.

“We have to take the game to them and put them on the back foot. We got totally outplayed by West Auckland in the first half but we came out for the second half.

“We hope to give a good account for ourselves for Kent - that’s the main thing.”

So can VCD Athletic emulate the Deal Town heroes by winning the national competition?

Ford has been in contact with Sampson - the only manager of a Kent non-league football club to win at the Venue of Legends.

“If we can get through this round and improve ourselves at Billingham, there’s no reason why we can’t improve and go to the final,” said Ford.

“Anything can happen in cup football and you have to believe you can go as far as I the cup - and win it.

“I’ve spoken to Tommy on a regular basis, but not in the last ten days. He text me on Monday for the draw and I text him back.

“Basically Tommy has told me you need that luck in the cup. We had that luck against West Auckland.

“We have matched the northern sides for strength. If we can be strong against Bideford, win headers and tackles, we can push Bideford all the time but they do have some class players and have won their league three seasons out of the last four.”

But Vickers’ Devon based visitors have suffered a blow for their trip to Crayford - they’ve had to cancel their supporters coach.

“Due to the number of places that have fallen off and lack of support for the Vase fixture, then club has decided to cancel Saturday’s travel plans as it would not be financially viable because of the expense of having to run with two drivers,” said a statement on their website.

It added: “There are, however, a few places available on the Friday overnight stay coach available.

“It has been suggested to car share on the day for those who don’t want to miss out on the club’s biggest game of the season.”

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering the big game at Oakwood - hope you are too!

VCD Athletic v Bideford
FA Carlsberg Vase Fifth Round
Saturday 17^th February 2007
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Oakwood, Old Road, Crayford