Whichever way the Charlton versus Southend FA Cup first round game goes this weekend, one man is certain to stay a cult hero in the eyes of both sets of fans.
In this week's Non-League Paper, Chris Powell MBE has described the tie between Charlton and Southend as a dream. Hopefully it won't turn into another of those games that becomes more of a dream for the lower league side and a nightmare for us. Down through the years, we've certainly had our share of lower league teams having their dream day out at our expense.
Teams such as Northwich Victoria and Cray Valley Paper Mills have proven tough opponents at this stage in the past. Back in November 2009, in between Chris Powell's spells as a player and then as a manager, the Addicks suffered a right royal televised defeat at the hands of Northwich Victoria, from the Blue Square North. The Victorians, the only team in England with the name of a monarch in their title, have a history of good cup runs, along with the distinction of being the first team ever to beat Liverpool in an FA Cup match. So in some ways, a defeat at a tricky venue wasn't the most unexpected of outcomes. Then roll on 14 years and we'd another tough time in front of the cameras when Cray Valley PM defied a five-division gap to earn a replay back at their place after a 1-1 draw.
It might be slightly unfair on Southend to lump them in the same category as either Northwich or Cray Valley despite the fine histories of both those clubs. Southend United spent a grand total of 101 years in the Football League before crashing out in spectacular fashion with double relegations in 2020 and 2021 at a time when they were pushed to the brink of liquidation. If our past was one of bad ownership on drip-feed, the seaside club's experience felt more like a rollercoaster ride at high speed over a cliff edge.
Of course they always had been a club that bounced up and down between the lower divisions including back when Chris Powell was a player in the early 1990s - a time when he became one of the club's cult heroes. A spell as manager twenty years later added to the regard in which he is held at Roots Hall. That's why this weekend he probably has to sit on the fence when it comes to support. But there's no doubt Charlton should start as strong favourites, having the better track record throughout history against 'The Shrimpers' and being two divisions higher. Southend are sitting in the bottom half of The National League at the minute, whilst the Addicks are in the top half of League One thanks to Matt Godden's late equaliser in last weekend's attention grabbing home game against Wrexham. Then again, with things so tight in League One outside the top couple of places, maybe a cup run could be a bit of a double edged sword.
At the same time the FA Cup is a competition worth fighting for - not least because it is the tournament of dreams. It’s the competition that can give the likes of Cray or Northwich their moment in the headlines at this stage. Even further down the line, it might be our turn to play the part of underdog, dreaming about defying the odds and claiming a scalp that will go down in club folklore for decades to come. There's a magic to a Cup and hopefully those fans who have got tickets for the game will get a day to remember. It is nice to be beside the seaside after all, even though there's a bit of a nip in the November air.
Hopefully the breeze of fortune will blow in our favour this Saturday and we get a result similar to last and only time we played Southend in a major domestic Cup game. That was in the League Cup in August 1970 before the boy Powell was even a year old and we beat them 3-0 at The Valley. Unfortunately this time out, there'll be no chance of a return trip to The Valley even if it's all square after 90 minutes. Thanks to the absolutely-not-selfish-in-any-way efforts of the bigger clubs higher up the league pyramid, replays have now been scrapped from the first round onwards. So it's a case of winner takes all in Saturday's clash.