Sometimes the best way to understand the meaning of a developed and healthy football culture, which is rooted in deep roots and tradition – is to actually approach the margins. Almost always the best place to do this is the UK. Take for example Marin’s Football Club, the team that will host Tottenham and Jose Mourinho tomorrow (Sunday, 19:00) in the last 32 of the FA Cup (yes, you can relax, the pun “Marinho” has already appeared in several variations in the English media ).
The Premier League teams are only joining the factory at this stage, but Marin had to win no less than seven games to reach it, including the last two rounds in which they knocked out rivals who were clear favorites in front of them: First – Colchester from the fourth division in the last 128 stages. The second – in the last 64 stages – is closer to its proportions, but still far superior to it on paper – the Sash & Waterloil from the sixth division.
Marin players are celebrating
(Photo: Marin’s official website)
So where’s Marin, then, you ask? Well it belongs to the “Premier League North”, a name that sounds glittering and great, but in fact it is the eighth league, or rather the eighth league rank in England: Marin is one of 138 teams belonging to this league, which is divided into seven provincial sub-leagues. After seven rounds, it is ranked sixth in the Northwest District, with five wins and two losses.
To explain the ear, it is said that between Tottenham and Bina are currently separated, in a very rough calculation, between 245 and 380 teams, depending on the location on a given day. This is the longest distance between two teams that meet in the history of the English Cup.
Mourinho and Cain. Between 245 and 380 teams above the opponent
(Photo: AFP)
The betting agencies did not miss the gap on paper (or on the number of papers required for this specific comparison) and on the day the lottery was announced, the betting ratio on the possibility of a win for Marin was 1 in 10,000. Even the fact that at that point Tottenham looked like a serious contender for the championship and have since dropped several places in the table, including a four-game unbeaten streak that was interrupted only by the 0-3 draw in the previous round against Leeds, will not change this version of the David-Goliath battle too much.
The most important detail to know about the team that was formed in 1894: its coach is called Neil Young. The second detail in importance? She holds the record for the longest tenure of an incumbent manager in English football, with Rowley Howard playing the role between 1972 and 2005, a period during which he stood on the lines in 1,975 games.
Only once in its history has Marin managed to qualify for the third round of the Cup. That was in 1992/93, when she lost 3-1 to Crew Alexandra of the Third Division.
(Neil Young sings about an unknown legend. Marin wants a global splash)
The enthusiasm, then, is clear and understandable. In the locker room after the illegal immigration, as can be seen in the video below, they did not exactly sing mournful songs by Neil Young, but went in directions, as they say, more uplifting – certainly when the victory that brought the team to the game against Tottenham was a super dramatic 0-1 with a decisive goal in the 120 from a ball that bounced off the back of team striker Niall Cummins.
The merriment was evident on the team’s official Twitter page, where they excitedly reported on a sporting dinner to be hosted by the team ahead of the game, pleading with anyone willing to hear that there were still advertising spaces left on the pitch for the day, and on the way tried to attract fans to the non-league match against City of Liverpool (All leagues in England below one-fifth are defined as such, and the teams that play in them are defined as semi-professional or amateur). The marketing slash pleadings worked, and the stadium was filled with a game that the same team won 1: 2. But then the corona intervened.
“A message to the world of football from the Marin’s football club,” the announcement published on the ticket sales page on the club’s website opens with great pathos. “We received the terrible news that the Merseyside area has been declared part of the third stage of the Corona battle. This means that the game against Tottenham in the cup will be held behind closed doors … Our fans could not see the team so far in its magic campaign and so will the Spurs, with names like Harry Kane And Jose Mourinho to visit Marin. ”
The announcement ended with a reference to the financial blow suffered by the club, which is estimated at a loss of one hundred thousand pounds, and in an attempt to raise the budget that would have been obtained if the stadium had been filled with 3,185 ticket buyers. “A club like ours exists thanks to such games, which can decide its future.” Fans are welcome to purchase a “virtual card” for the game, and there is also the option to add a donation. Currently, if there is not a sensation that has not been seen in history, all the team players will go to the squad after the game, because the eighth league does not meet the criterion of “elite sports team” – the definition that allows clubs in England to continue operating these days.
Jamie Krager in his days at Liverpool. Enlisted to help the little neighbor
(Photo: Gettyimages)
By the way, shortly after the illegal immigration, the club announced on its official website that a well-known Liverpool hero, the brakeman Jamie Krager who is a regular at the team games, enlisted to fund through a charity he heads the training the players would wear in the tunnel and warm-up before the game against Tottenham. Gave up at the last minute.
Following the successful trophy campaign and the attractive draw, the Liverpool team from the small neighborhood in the Merseyside area (yes, the same one who is so identified with the big Liverpool, the enviable neighbor of the Mariners). One amusing moment that went viral in terms of face-offers was when team goalkeeper Bailey Passant was caught on camera walking home after a game, still dressed in clothes with which he stood between the beams, including mud stains on his socks and pants – with flip-flops instead of corkscrews and two six-packs of beer instead of gloves.
In the Rust Park Stadium (now the “Marin Trablers Stadium”, named after one of the sponsors), Marin’s home ground has room, as mentioned, for 3,185 fans, with only 389 of them actually able to sit. Still, in 1949, 6,000 people somehow managed to get into the game in which Marin met the Nigerian team.
The club’s under-19 team is ranked ninth and last in its regional league (Division H, do not ask). The situation of the club’s women’s team is slightly better (fourth in DIVISION 1). Besides, Marin has two active fan clubs. One called the Marine Fans Association (MSA), which was founded in 1980 and is an important body in the group’s operations. He works closely with the club and over the years has raised a lot of money that allows for regular activities, travel to outdoor games and more. The second club is called “Crossander Road,” or “Crossroads Road,” named after Crossander Street leading to the stadium, and is an independent and younger organization established in 2017. The main activity of the Crusaders is on social networks and their stated goal is to attract as many new fans as possible.
A world-class splash and a win over Tottenham will surely help that end. Do you find it absurd? Maybe a look at Colchester’s tweet from the beginning of last season will change your mind a bit. True, then it was in the League Cup and the team in question was from the fourth division, but Tottenham well remember the humiliating relegation on penalties after a 0-0 draw in 120 minutes in September 2019, an evening that was one of the main milestones towards the end of Mauricio Pochettino’s lines. The club.