January, 8 2022 will be remembered as the day that non-league Kidderminster Harriers pulled off one of the shock results in recent memory after they defeated Reading FC of the Championship by two goals to one.
Kidderminster currently sit in fifth place in the National League North, a full 79 places below Reading in the English football pyramid.
On a weekend of shock results in the FA Cup, with fellow non league side Boreham Wood defeating AFC Wimbledon, Kidderminster’s victory is a reminder to us all of the significance of the FA Cup to lower league sides.
โThe chairman is buzzing. Did we expect to win? No, we thought we had a chance but we are shell-shocked. We deserved the victory and the chairman was like the Grinch at Christmas โ his smile went from ear to ear”
The Kidderminster players will feel on top of the world after a result like this and you could see how much it meant to the 1578 fans crammed inside the Aggborough Stadium.
Harrier’s boss Russell Penn couldn’t have been prouder of his side after what has to be the greatest night of his long career. The former Cheltenham Town player said โThe chairman is buzzing. Did we expect to win? No, we thought we had a chance but we are shell-shocked. We deserved the victory and the chairman was like the Grinch at Christmas โ his smile went from ear to ear”.
Their remarkable victory means that Kidderminster have been drawn against West Ham United of the Premier League in the fourth round and the significance of this cannot be understated.
For clubs like Kidderminster, drawing a giant such as West Ham is about as good as it gets from a business point of view. The travelling Hammers fans will bring in significantly more revenue than Kidderminster would generate on a traditional match day.
Non-league clubs are so often run on shoe string budgets and the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the problem. Fixtures such as this can massively help alleviate some of the financial stress that many non-league clubs endure.
This fixture will be special to everyone associated with the Harriers. They welcome a Premier League club who are challenging for Champions League football. Whilst they are not expected to win, the experience alone will be of immense value to the Kidderminster players and manager.
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Penn said of the Hammers, โI will be going up against one of the most respected British managers in David Moyes, which is fantastic for me. I know he respects the competition, the lower leagues and West Ham are on the up. What a tie”.
It certainly is a fixture that will attract significant interest from football fans everywhere. I think its fair to say that everyone other than West Ham fans will be hoping for another sprinkling of FA Cup magic.
