Football Diary
by Patrick O'Connor
THERE was excitement galore at the weekend when the FA Cup produced some shocks,a hatful of incidents and some stunning goals. One item in particular attracted the attention of the football media - the return to competitive action of the 35 year former England defender Sol Campbell who has arrived back at Arsenal after a spell out of the game.
Campbell made his comeback in the 3-1 Cup defeat at Stoke but for me far more interesting was the comeback of another seasoned performer which went virtually unnoticed by the scribes: Down in League Two, Burton Albion goalkeeper Kevin Poole started his first league match since November 2005 - at the grand old age of 46! Poole bridged a four-year gap when he ran out for Albion in their game at Torquay.
The former Leicester City and Derby County keeper last played a League game for Derby in November, 2005, when they drew 3-3 with Ipswich Town. He was Derby's goalkeeping coach at the time but still registered as a player and was preferred to both Lee Camp and Lee Grant by the then-manager Phil Brown for seven games.
Poole's final appearance came in an FA Cup for Derby over in a 2-1 FA Cup win over Burnley in January 2006. Poole actually became the oldest current Football League player last Tuesday night when Burton's first-choice keeper Artur Krysiak was sent off in stoppage time in the 3-1 defeat at Port Vale. He came off the bench for only a minute's action. Before the game at Torquay, Burton boss Paul Peschisolido said: "Kev hasn't done a lot of training but, then, he didn't last year when he was the regular keeper. "He's more than capable, so he'll play." So, play he did and the 'old man' did Burton proud, playing his part in a 3-2 victory.
When both Manchester United and Liverpool were sensationally ousted in the third round of the FA Cup, there was a fear that this year's competition might become a little lack-lustre.
Far from it. Tottenham and Leeds took part in a thrilling encounter at White Hart Lane with Leeds, conquerors of United in the last round, earning a replay with a last minute penalty.
Another Premier League side to be held to a draw were Wigan who fought back from 2-0 down to finish all square at League Two Notts County.
Burnley were turfed out by Reading, the team which disposed of Liverpool and Wolves will have to try again to dispose of Championship side Crystal Palace. Tiny Accrington Stanley huffed and puffed against the big boys from Fulham in front of 3,712 packed into their quaint ground but the Londoners held their nerve to emerge 3-1 winners. League One strugglers Brighton earned plenty of respect for putting up a good fight at League Cup finalists Aston Villa before finally going down 3-2. And of course, Arsenal ended their interest in this season's competition with a limp exit at Stoke.
Finally, a word of praise for the footballers at League One bottom side Stockport County. Their 0-0 draw at Carlisle ended a sequence of 12 consecutive league defeats. That's the spirit lads, onwards and upwards!
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