Non-League Crawley Town take on Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup this evening, a dream fixture for the eleven Crawley players that will take to Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams. It has been seventeen years since such a scenario was last seen, when Kidderminster Harriers were the team in mention, but how did the Harriers famous FA Cup run fare?
They reached the fifth round in 1994 shooting to national fame after defeating Birmingham City 2–1 away and Preston North End 1–0 at home in the previous two rounds. They then lost narrowly (0–1) at home in front of nearly 8,000 to West Ham United.After Leaders of the GM Vauxhall Conference, sprang one of the big surprises of the FA Cup, dumping Preston North End out of this year's competition, harried out of it in front of a 7,000 full house at Aggborough as Delwyn Humphreys' second-half goal sealed the fate of the Third Division high-fliers.
The Harriers' manager Graham Allner said after the game, 'I just don't know how good this side is. We went to First Division Birmingham City and won at their ground and now we've beaten one of the most difficult sides in the Third Division.'
Paul Davies who scored both the goals that beat Burton Albion in the 1987 4th round replay, the last time Kidderminster won a place in the fifth round two goals among 243 in 513 games for his home-town club, who had in folklore his place already assured remarked 'I didn't think I'd have a moment to beat that, but this is starting to outstrip even the Trophy,' he said. 'I'm 33 now and I consider that I've had a good career, but I had never gone a long way in the Cup or won the Conference. If we are still in the same position at the end of the season, I could retire happily.'
Sadly the dream was to come to an end as 8,000 people saw West Ham beat Kidderminster 1-0 thanks to a Billy Bonds Goal, but the Kidderminster team were always to be fondly remembered for their cup round, now it is Crawley towns turn and all eyes will be on Old Trafford come teatime today.
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