Kyren Wilson, the world snooker champion, will support his hometown team Kettering Town when they face Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup second round.
Wilson used to be a ballboy at the club’s old Rockingham Road home and continues to follow the club’s fortunes despite his World Snooker tour obligations.
Kettering have already eliminated League One neighbors Northampton Town, and a success over League Two Doncaster on Sunday would propel them into the third round for the first time since 2008-09.
“The lads are doing great, it’s great to see the whole town behind them; keep the belief, keep the dream going, and up the Poppies,” Wilson told BBC Radio Northampton’s Non-League Scene.
After suffering from jetlag in China, the 32-year-old had to wait to see how they fared against Northampton.
He said: “It got to about 2 a.m., and unfortunately, the jetlag set in, and I didn’t find out the outcome until the next morning, when I arrived for my practice session. It was a tight situation, but they got the job done.”
When asked about his memories of ball-boy duty, he stated, “My father would take me to Rockingham Road. I just wanted to get my hands on the ball and kick it back to (former player) Craig Norman.
“I’ve lived in Kettering my entire life; I was born there, and everyone in my family is from here. I recall my father treating me to a Cup-a-Soup at halftime because it was really cold, as is customary in the United Kingdom.
“He used to travel around (to watch them)… he’s got a video of one of the FA Cup games where he runs on the pitch with a giant banana, he’s proud of that sort of stuff.”
Kettering were previously one of the top non-league football teams, playing one division below the English Football League, but are now in the seventh tier.
However, they are four points clear at the top of the Southern League Premier Central and have gone unbeaten in nine games across all competitions, defeating Leiston 2-1 on Saturday, with midfielder Isiah Noel-Williams scoring the winning goal.
Wilson describes the club as “a bit of a sleeping giant,” adding, “They always have good numbers watching them no matter where they play, they’ve got a good FA Cup history, they’re top of the most goals scored in the FA Cup, and the likes of (former managers) Gazza (Paul Gascoigne), Ron Atkinson, big high-profile people coming to the club (in the past) – and it’s looking good for the league as well.”
“Hopefully promising times are ahead for the Poppies.”
George Akhtar and Fabian Forde celebrate their FA Cup first-round victory over Northampton
Kettering director of football, Fabian Forde (right), celebrates victory over Northampton with owner George Akhtar.
George Akhtar took over Kettering in May, and Fabian Forde joined the club as director of football.
Forde, who played a Football League game for Watford in 2001, believes that “all roads lead to promotion” and that the league is their top aim.
“We have goals to go up this season, so we really had to knuckle down and concentrate (after beating Northampton). “Part of my role is to ensure that the players and some of the staff understand how important the league is to us,” he stated.
“The FA Cup run is a plus. We’re not under any illusions: we’re unlikely to win the FA Cup, but reaching as far as we can would be beneficial.
“We are going for the win. We’ve done our homework on Doncaster; we understand how they play and who their adversaries are. The pitch is not the best, and it will not be pleasant for them in any way.”
The game versus Doncaster (Sunday, December 1, 12:00 KO) in front of a record crowd at their present Latimer Park home will be broadcast live on the BBC.
And Forde is hoping that there will be no problems following Storm Bert, which caused flooding in several areas of the country.
He continued, “It was cutting up a little bit on Saturday. But it’s been good since then, and there will be nothing on there. We’ve halted the Under-18s and other games and are preparing for the major match on Sunday.
“It should be fine, the weather forecast looks good, so fingers crossed.”
Kyren Wilson and Fabian Forde spoke with BBC Radio Northampton’s Chance Litchfield.