Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Fletch: My grandad won the FA Cup, but all I want is a glamour tie
ALTHOUGH he may never follow in his grandfather's footsteps, Steve Fletcher still harbours an FA Cup dream.[LNB] The late Jack Howe's treasured winners' medal from the 1946 final takes pride of place in the Fletcher family home in Hartlepool.[LNB] Capped three times by England, the left-back helped Derby to a 4-1 win over Charlton in a Wembley showpiece also remembered for the ball bursting.[LNB] He received his medal from the King, said Fletcher. My mum's got it now and, hopefully, it may get passed down to me one day. I'm not going to get one myself so the next best thing would be to have my grandfather's.[LNB] My grandmother lives with my mum and dad and she loves getting the memorabilia out when I go back to Hartlepool.[LNB] My grandfather passed away in 1987 when I was 15. He used to teach me when I was a kid and was one of the reasons I wanted to become a footballer.[LNB] It was heartbreaking because he never got to see me play professionally and it has always been one of the biggest regrets of my career. I signed for Hartlepool the year after he died.[LNB] Hartlepool will seem closer than Wembley when Cherries kick-off their FA Cup campaign against Fletcher's former club Chesterfield tomorrow.[LNB] The 37-year-old striker has enjoyed more highs than lows in the famous competition, even though a plum draw has continued to elude him.[LNB] I'm not complaining but I've just been very unfortunate never to have played in a glamour tie, said Fletcher. And by that, I mean the Manchester Uniteds, Liverpools, Arsenals and Chelseas of this world.[LNB] I know time is running out for me and I'm desperate for a glamour tie. I've reached the fourth round three times while I've been here and, on each occasion, we've drawn a team in the league above away. If you're going to get a team from the league above, you want them at home. We've had Barnsley, Stoke and Burnley.[LNB] We fought really hard to get to the fourth round in 2003. We had a couple of replays in the earlier rounds and eventually booked our place with a penalty shoot-out win at Crewe.[LNB] Stoke were doing okay at the time but it still wasn't the draw we had all hoped for. To make it worse, we got stuffed 3-0.[LNB] In 2005, the draw paired us with either Liverpool or Burnley. Everybody thought we would be going to Anfield but Burnley won the replay.[LNB] Although they beat us at Turf Moor, we were much the better side. Their manager Steve Cotterill ended up signing three of our players so we must have made a good impression![LNB] Fletcher has both good and bad memories of his 38 appearances in the FA Cup, his most recent certainly one to forget.[LNB] I was at Crawley and we played Havant & Waterlooville in the final qualifying round last season, he recalls. After about 15 minutes, I got knocked down and the defender trampled all over my face.[LNB] I split my eye lid, broke my nose and had two black eyes. I needed eight stitches in all and looked like something out of Rocky![LNB] To cap it all, we lost 3-0 and the manager ordered us in for training the next day at seven o'clock in the morning![LNB] Fletcher added: Beating West Brom in the third round in 1999 was a good memory. I've got to say it to keep him happy but Eddie (Howe) scored the winner.[LNB] The keeper parried my header and Eddie scored from the rebound, which he often reminds me about. He tells me he put it in top corner from 15 yards but I seem to remember him smashing it home from about two![LNB] A popular figure during his one season at Chesterfield in 2007-08, Fletcher knows Cherries will need to be on their mettle if they are to progress.[LNB] They tore us apart in the first half at Dean Court a few weeks ago but we had the better of them in the second. They've got the best home record in our league and some quality players. We are certainly going to have to be at our best.[LNB]
