Anfield of dreams

Liverpool's Anfield stadium: Latics date?

SIMON Corney is not getting carried away by the prospect of an FA Cup bonanza.

Athletic’s chairman has warned that Southend will be every bit as desperate to land a prestigious and lucrative third-round tie away to Barclays Premier League club Liverpool when the teams meet again in a replay tomorrow week.

And the taste of bitter disappointment four seasons ago lingers for Corney, despite the potential financial boost on offer.

“We still have to beat Southend and the draw is every bit as big an incentive for them as it is for us,” said the sole remaining director of the three New York business trio who rescued the club from oblivion eight years ago.

“A few players will be missing for us for the replay so we will be shorter on numbers, plus we have a very difficult game against Sheffield Wednesday in between.

“There is a lot of football taking place before anyone can think about Liverpool. The good thing is, it keeps the season going. It is potentially very exciting. I would have bitten off anyone’s hand who had offered up this situation to us at the start of the season.

“But nothing has happened yet. We have been here before. Huddersfield beat us in 2008 when we had the chance to go to Chelsea.”

Luke Beckett scored the only goal for the Terriers in the fourth round at Boundary Park that day. Athletic had enjoyed a famous 1-0 win at Merseyside’s other most famous club, Everton, in the previous round thanks to Gary McDonald’s screamer.

Corney warned that beating Southend in the replay, in addition to making it to Wembley for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final, would only take care of just over half of the club’s potential losses this year.

“We made £140,000 from the Everton game,” Corney added. “So looking at it, there may be a few more in attendance at Liverpool which could take it up to around £180,000. It is not quite the half-million jackpot some might think it is.

“Similarly with the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, we make nothing until and unless we make the final. If we manage both, then that would probably make us £600,000, which would be great. But that is against a shortfall this year which is in excess of £1million.

“It is still tough going, day-to-day. Things are progressing, but it is slow. It is a fight and a battle — but you just get on with it, don’t you? I couldn’t be happier with the manager and the way he is going about things.”



DEAN Furman picked up his fifth booking of the season at Southend.

Athletic’s captain now serves a one-game ban against his former club Bradford City in tomorrow night’s home Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area semi-final home tie (7.45pm kick-off).

“We can’t argue with the booking, really,” manager Paul Dickov said. “It was a reckless challenge and we had too many of those.”