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Colin Doyle: Cup Specialist

The Facts Of Blyth

With Birmingham City and Blyth Spartans having never played each other, those Bluenoses who don’t know too much abut the Green Army can be forgiven. Here are ten interesting facts about the part-timers from the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

1) The Northumberland side were founded in 1899 by local man Fred Stoker, who became the club’s first secretary.

2) Stoker decided Blyth should have “Spartans” as part of the name after the Greek Spartan Army. He believed it would mean the players would be more likely to give their all in the “battle” on the football field.

3) Croft Park will be the venue for the third round clash and the stadium holds approximately 4,450 fans, 300 of those seated. The ground opened in 1909 and has been refurbished on several occasions, the last being in 2009.

4) The Green Army are in the seventh tier of English football and are currently in the bottom half of the league due to having a number of games in hand, caused by their run in the FA Cup.

5) Despite never playing above the sixth tier, this is the fourth time the Spartans have reached the third round of the FA Cup. The last time they appeared at this stage was in 2009 where they were defeated 1-0 at home to Premier League Blackburn Rovers.

6) Their most famous run in the competition was in the 1977/78 season when they reached the fifth round, beating Stoke City and Chesterfield along the way. The run ended after a replay defeat against Wrexham, a home game moved to St. James’ Park and watched by over 42,000 people.

7) With the club being part-time, the majority of the players have other jobs as well as playing football. The winning goal scorer in the previous round against Hartlepool United, Jarrett Rivers, works at his mother’s newsagents; a goal which put his face on the back of the shop’s newspapers the following morn-ing!

8) Spartans Spanish striker Samuel Perez is the older brother of Newcastle United forward Ayoze Perez. The pair joined their respective clubs earlier in the season and when the Spartans aren’t in action, Samuel attends Newcastle match-es to watch his younger sibling.

9) Former Blues loanee Dan Burn was born in Blyth and was a player for Blyth Spartans Juniors (a feeder club to the senior side) before joining Darlington in 2009.

10) One man that did play for the Green Army was Ali Dia. The former Senegalese footballer was made famous for tricking former Southampton boss Graeme Souness into believing he was George Weah’s cousin! The striker made one appearance for Blyth before joining Saints in 1996.

Birmingham Mail January 2015

Doyle saved two penalties from Juan Mata during the 2012 cup run.

By Oliver Osborn

FOCUS: Doyle inisists complacency

will not be a problem against

non-league minows

BLUES goalkeeper Colin Doyle has warned the side against complacency ahead of their third round FA Cup tie at Blyth Spartans.

With 140 league places be-tween the two sides, Birming-ham City are clear favourites to go through to the next round, but the goalkeeper believes they must remain fo-cused on the job and will not take the part-time club lightly.

Doyle said: “It will be a big test for us playing away from home on their small pitch and with their supports desperate for an upset.

“If it was at St. Andrews the game would be a lot easier, but going up there will make things difficult and hopeful-ly we’ll come back with the victory we want.

“We’re professional football-ers and we know we’ll need to be professional on the day and not be complacent.

“It doesn’t matter whether we were drawn against Manches-ter United or Blyth Spartans, we will treat every team with respect because it’s still 11 vs 11 on the day.

“We’ve been underdogs in this competition in the past and we can use that to our advantage because it’ll help us work out how they’ll set them-selves up.

“Everyone in the country will expect us to win and we know we have stayed focused because football doesn’t al-ways go like that.”

While staying overnight in Blackpool before their match with the Seasiders, the Bir-mingham players actually watched the Spartans’ second round win over Hartlepool at the hotel.

Doyle admits he did not know much about the seventh tier club before the draw was made and feels everyone in-volved with the club should be proud of their achievements regardless of the result on January 3rd.

“That was the first I had seen of them and they played very well, stuck to their game plan and deserved the last minute winner.

“They’ve done unbelievably well to reach this stage of the competition and deserve all the credit they get.

“Lee (Novak) knows one or two things about them and a couple of players because he is from that area, but other than that we knew very little.

“We’ll be well prepared be-fore the game though and will know exactly what we need to do to come away with the victory.”

Before becoming a football-er, the Irishman was always a keen follower of the English game and, in particular, a sup-porter of Manchester United.

When Doyle was growing up during the 1990s, it was a great time to be a fan of the Red Devils as it was an era where the side won an array of trophies, including four FA Cup titles.

The first two against Crystal Palace and Chelsea were a little too early for the 29-year-old to remember, but he has fond memories of the victories over Liverpool and Newcastle United in 1996 and 1999.

“Growing up as a Manches-ter United fan meant I got to see my side doing well in the

competition regularly!“My hero at the time was

Peter Schmeichel and I wore his replica jersey during the match. I’ll always remember the 1996 FA Cup Final he played in against Liverpool when Eric Cantona scored the winner.

It inspired me to want to become a footballer.”

During both seasons where United won the famous cup competition, the club also were able to claim the Premier League title too.

Add to this the season under Key Cup DatesThird Round: 3-7 January

Third Round Replay: W/C 12th January Fourth Round: 24-26 January

Fourth Round Replay: W/C 2nd FebruaryFifth Round: 14-16 February

Fifth Round Replay: W/C 23rd FebruarySixth Round: 7-9 March

Sxth Round Replay: W/C 16th March Semi-Finals: 18th and 19th April

Final: 30th May

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“Everyone in the country will expect us to win and we know we have to stay focused because football doesn’t always go like that.”

January 2015 Birmingham Mail

DOYLE’S WAR

Blues goalkeeper ready for battle with Spartans

Chris Hughton where Bir-mingham came just two wins away from promotion via the play-offs and you can see why Doyle doesn’t agree that a run in the cup competitions can hinder league performances.

“A cup run is always a help with your league form.

“We always want to win every game we play in and with every win brings a big confidence boost to the team, which can make us believe we can beat anyone.

“The league does come first, but we always want to go on a run in the cup as well because both the fans and the players enjoy the big days out and all that comes with it.”

That 2011/12 season was the goalkeeper’s favourite of his 11 at St. Andrews.

Despite being seen as a first team regular on few occa-sions, Doyle has had plenty of great days in the cup cam-paigns, most coming

Blues took part in the Europa League for the first time in 50 years and reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, a time the Irishman says he will not forget in a hurry.

“It was a crazy time and a great time to be involved with the club, it’s a shame we didn’t get promoted through the play-offs that year too.

“The European campaign was amazing and I’ll never forget the trips away to play on a Thursday night.

“It was difficult at times to get ready for the league match the following Sunday but it was a fantastic experience.”

The European run may have been the highlight for the 29-year-old, but the FA Cup is where the Irishman earned many plaudits.

In the five matches Blues played before being knocked out in a replay by eventual cup and Champions League win-ners Chelsea, Doyle picked up three clean sheets and was awarded man of the match in the original fifth round tie at Stamford Bridge.

The game ended 1-1 after Daniel Sturridge cancelled out David Murphy’s shock opener for the away side, but Doyle will remember the game for one other incident.

Wade Elliott brought down Ramieres just before half time

and Juan Mata stepped up to take the resulting penalty.

Doyle dived the right way and brilliantly pushed the ball onto the post.

The same happened in the replay as well when Fernando

Torres was brought down late on in the game.

During his time at Blues, the goalkeeper has saved six penalties in regular matches, a record he is delighted with.

“The good thing about penalties is that the player is always expected to score so there is no pressure on me to save them. If you save it you’re the hero, but if it goes in it isn’t your fault.

“The most important thing is to pick which side you’re go-ing to dive and sticking with it because you’ve always got a chance if it goes that way.

“When we played Chelsea I did exactly that and thankfully I saved both. It’s something I

have a good record with and I’m proud to have saved some important ones.”

Currently at St. Andrews the good times seem to be coming back. Since Gary Rowett has taken charge, Birmingham

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“Everyone in the country will expect us to win and we know we have to stay focused because football doesn’t always go like that.”

“The lads are enjoying training and going into each game knowing we can get good results which will

see us move up the table.”have moved out the relegation zone and well on their way to-wards the top half of the table.

Doyle is pleased with the start under the former Blues defender and the improve-ment that has been made in defence.

“We’ve made a really good start under the new gaffer and picked up some good results along the way.

“Maybe we would have liked to turn some of the draws into wins, but we are pleased with what we’ve done so far.

“The defence looks so much more organised and kept some clean sheets so if we can score the odd goal in games we will win matches.

“The lads are enjoying train-ing and going into each game knowing we can get good results which will see us move up the table.

“In this league teams have come from nowhere and been promoted when they haven’t started too well so you can never tell this early into the season.

“Considering we stayed up last season with a goal in the last minute, a top half finish would be a great achieve-ment, especially with how late Rowett has come in.”

Even with their start under Rowett, come kick off against non-league Blyth the side will be purely focused on the cup and reaching the next round of the competition.

“We aren’t making targets for the cup, we’ll take each game as it comes and if we progress then it’s great for everyone.

“We’ve got Blyth Spartans in the third round and as favour-ites we will try and win the game.

“Our plan will be to just take it one game at a time and hope that if we go through the draw will be kind to us!”

Birmingham Mail January 2015

Former Blues defender Michael Johnson during his playing days at St. Andrews. He now works as a coach at the club’s academy.

JOHNSON EYES BLUES CUP RUNFORMER Blues de-fender Michael Johnson believes Birmingham City could go far in the FA Cup this season.

With Blues being drawn against non-league Blyth Spartans in the third round, Johnson feels Gary Rowett’s side could reach the latter stages by taking their league form into the cup.

“A good run in the cup can be a big help when it comes to your league form.

“If you’re playing and winning games it can be a massive boost to your confidence and really help with match fitness.

“Knowing you can win games of football because of the progress you’ve made in the cup can’t be a hindrance be-cause the FA Cup makes players believe they can beat anybody on their day.”

Despite playing at St. Andrews for eight seasons, the defender nicknamed “Johnno” never made it past the fourth round of the fa-mous competition with Birmingham.

The club’s success during the defender spell

at Blues came in the League Cup where they were semi-finalists in 1995/96 season and were defeated on penalties by Liverpool in the 2000/01 final, both as a second tier side.

The former Jamaican international did reach the Quarter-Final stage though with Notts County in 1991 as the Magpies were beaten by eventually winners Tottenham Hotspur.

“We were gutted be-cause we were just two steps away from Wemb-ley, because they didn’t play the semi-finals there at that point.

“It’s a fantastic cup competition and some of the great players have lifted that trophy.

“I always watch it with pride knowing I’ve been a part of it before and feel privileged to have played in such a tourna-ment.”

“During my career I experienced many great cup runs, particularly getting to the Worthing-ton Cup Final in 2001 with Blues against Liver-pool, and it gives you a more positive mentality going into upcoming matches.”

As a youngster, John-son always dreamed of

playing in the illustrious competition and play-ing at the famous Old Wembley.

Johnno did get the chance to fulfil his aspiration of winning a Wembley Final after Derby County won pro-motion to the Premier-ship via the play-offs in 2007.

“One memory that sticks out is watching the players walk up those Wembley steps before lifting that famous tro-phy and then one day be able to do it myself.”

“I enjoyed my career and one of the things that motivated me to play to the level I did was those clips of famous captains lifting trophies at Wembley, and the FA Cup was one of them.”

Over more recent years, however, the top clubs have lowered the FA Cup in their list

of priorities, with the Champions League and the Premiership becom-ing the top targets.

It has led to clubs rotat-ing their teams regularly, even in the latter stages,

and Johnson doesn’t believe it is the right way to treat football’s oldest knockout tournament.

“Unfortunately some clubs don’t take the competition seriously anymore and it is a real shame.

“The fans love it and have a great time with the days out watching their team play, but some managers don’t give it the respect it deserves.

“It is a tournament is fantastic tradition and I wish it was still treated

the way it was when I was playing.”

Over the last few years, Johnson has been a regular at St. Andrews co-commenting on matches for the club’s

Trio enjoying life under new boss Gary Rowett.

By Oliver Osborn

“It’s a fantastic cup competition and some of the great

players have lifted that trophy.”website.

It has meant the club academy coach has experienced at first hand the turn around since Gary Rowett took charge in late October and feels the side can start to look up the table rather than look over their shoulders towards the relegation zone.

“Since Rowett has come in he has com-pletely revamped the side. Everything about the team at the moment is spot on and the results are starting to show.

“He’s made a great start and if things continue to go well they could start pushing towards the top half of the table.

“Before he came in some of the performanc-es were the worst I’ve seen since I first joined Birmingham City back in 1995.

“Now, two months

later, there is a huge con-trast in terms of perfor-mance and the results.

“Everyone around the club has a feel good fac-tor and it’s really starting to show on the pitch.”

As someone who has been on the winning and losing sides of giant killings in the cup, the former defender knows playing against part-tim-ers Blyth won’t be an easy task for Birming-ham.

But if they can over-come the seventh tier side and progress further in the competition then Johnson, who now works with the club’s academy, wouldn’t be surprised to see the side become this year’s sur-prise package.

“One thing about the FA Cup is that league positions are not impor-tant, it’s just about who is the better team on the day.

“Hopefully with Blues, a good cup run would be massive in terms of con-fidence and team morale heading into the second half of the season.

“If we can go through a few rounds and perform then who knows? Maybe Gary Rowett could be leading his side out at Wembley!”

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Gary Rowett has made a dream start at St. Andrews.