Tamworth's Jas Singh pulled off a myriad of fine saves against Premier League opposition in the FA Cup in January, only hours after his partner had given birth.
Ask any football traditionalist. The first weekend in January is always a highlight of the football calendar. That is because it’s the third round weekend of the FA Cup when the big guns of English football enter the competition.
If you’re a non-league club that makes it that far, or even a lower league side still in the hat, you hope for one of the Premier League big six to be pulled out alongside your name.
This season, National League side Tamworth was drawn to face Premier League opposition in Tottenham Hotspur. This meant the eight-time winners of the FA Cup would start this season's competition at the humble Lamb Stadium.
It was always going to be a momentous weekend for all the Tamworth players, but for goalkeeper Jas Singh it became an even bigger one as he became a dad just 24 hours before kickoff.
He explained to Goalkeeper.com: “It was mad! Most weeks as a National League goalkeeper I play on a Saturday, but the one weekend we play on Sunday, my partner decides to give birth. You can’t write it.
“I joked about it on podcasts before and in interviews saying that ‘hopefully my partner can stay stable and won’t give birth anytime that weekend.’ However, the baby came and thankfully everything was all right, she is well, and the baby is well.
“I was just in a whirlwind of emotions. I didn't know what was going on. Luckily enough he came early on Saturday morning, so I had a clear mind and my missus, bless her, she said, ‘Make sure you have a good night’s rest, go home and go and smash tomorrow.’ So that was good.”
Less than 24 hours after the happy event, Singh was lining up against some of the Premier League’s best players which is a world away from the normal standard of players that he and his teammates face up against in the Vanarama National League.
Despite many of the opposition being household names, it was hard for Singh to have time to mentally focus on facing the likes of Heung-min Son, James Maddison, and Dominic Solanke.
He explains: “It was a weird one because of everything that was happening the day before, so I didn’t have a chance to think about it.
“I remember there was only one occasion in the game where I felt ‘Wow we’re playing Tottenham here.’ It was when I had got the armband off the captain (Ben Milnes), and we went to extra time. I went up for the coin toss and they had just brought Son on.
“So, I did the coin toss with Son, which was just a bit of a surreal moment and that was the only time I thought ‘we are here against Tottenham and taking them to extra time.’
“You cannot really prepare because you aren’t playing against these players week in and week out, so we don’t know what the actual levels are. We know they are better than us, but we don’t know the levels until you start the game, and you see Maddison, you see Son, and players like this.
“How good their touch is and their movement, how sharp they are, you just do not realise quite how good these players are.”
Had this game taken place 12 months ago then Tamworth would have been heading to the capital for a money-spinning tie at the impressive Tottenham Hotspur stadium. It would have been a game that could have set the club up years to come.
However, last summer the FA announced the decision to scrap replays from round three onward, meaning matches were to be decided on the day, which caused uproar across the whole footballing pyramid.
Despite missing out on playing at a great stadium, Singh was comfortable with the decision.
He commented: “We knew what we were going into at the start of the season.
“If we don’t beat Burton on penalties, I don’t know if we go through or not in the replay. So, if you look at it from that side of things, like I said, you do not know, because after 60 minutes their big boys might have come on. They are a League One team.
“I don't think the answer is as black and white as the fact we should have a replay or whatever, we know what it's like.
“I did have this conversation with someone before and it was a case of if we had drawn against Dagenham & Redbridge in the third round of the FA Cup, would we want a replay against them?
“Probably not, so it works out for us as well as the big clubs. We can't have it both ways.”
Preparation for the big game wasn’t ideal for Tamworth. As one of the few part-time sides in the National League, the players have full-time day jobs which means they only train on a Tuesday or Thursday evening.
Due to an FA Trophy game being re-arranged to the Tuesday after being postponed, it meant that the Staffordshire side had just one session to concentrate on Tottenham.
“It is a weird one because we had a game on the Tuesday before at Sutton United in the FA Trophy,” explained Singh.
He continued: “The game against Sutton was postponed on the Saturday before so we had to go on a Tuesday night.
“Being a part-time team, we would have only had Tuesday and Thursday to work on Tottenham, so that was one session gone.
“We played well that night at Sutton, but I threw one in and cost us the game which knocked us out of the Trophy.
“After that, it was a case of the gaffer saying ‘Lads, you have done brilliantly tonight, we have a massive week for the club, for yourselves and everyone, so regroup on Thursday with a clear mind. Let's just have a go and enjoy these next four or five days and what they are going to be like.”
Despite losing in extra-time to the Premier League side, who eventually broke the deadlock after 100 minutes of play via a Nathan Tshikuna own goal before Dejean Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson made it comfortable for Ange Postecoglou’s side, it has been a very successful spell for the Lambs who had secured back-to-back League championships taking them from the Southern League Premier Division Central to the National League via the National League North.
Singh knows that although Tamworth are riding the crest of a wave, he is excited to see how far that wave could take them.
They could well follow in the footsteps of fellow National League side Sutton United. The South London side made it to the fifth round of the competition back in 2017 before losing to Arsenal.
The side from Gander Green Lane used that run as a springboard to take them to bigger and better things, which was promotion to the Football League in 2021.
Could the Lambs follow suit?
Singh explained: “We have got to stay in the league first. If we do stay in the league then I’m guessing the gaffer will try and build.
“I’m getting on a bit now so hopefully I’m still at the club if they do have a push for promotion but it’s a massive ask.
“That league at the moment is riddled with so many big clubs, ex-Premier League clubs, and teams even coming up from the leagues below like Scunthorpe United and Kidderminster Harriers have got the potential to come up from the National League North but, it’s probably the toughest league to get out of.
“I know they’re [the National League] are promoting the campaign of 3Up [to have three promotion spots to the football league]. It’s brilliant but it will have its cons as well.
“More big teams will leave the league which no one wants because we all want to play at those stadiums as players.”
As Singh says, the number of candles on the birthday cake is now increasing. The former Solihull Moors and Kidderminster Harriers goalkeeper is 34 years old.
However, despite his age, Singh believes he is enjoying his best spell in football at the moment.
He said: “Mentally, physically and at performance levels I’m easily in the best place I’ve been my whole career.
“Even as a goalkeeper when you make mistakes I’m easily moving forward, getting on with it. It’s nice to enjoy your football again.
“As a goalkeeper, you have ups and downs but enjoying it is the main thing, and I am doing that at the moment.”
