The Second Coming

Peter Coates was born into poverty. The local boy became a self-made millionaire and was a football fan. His first spell in charge of the club was disastrous, ending in relegation to the Third Division thirteen years ago. Driven to sell to Icelandic owners, after relegation ended in hatred and abuse directed at him, he left, but Coates returned, bringing in Tony Pulis as the manager for his second spell.

It paid off. Pulis led Stoke City back to the big-time, maintaining Premier League status and leading the club to its first FA Cup final. He may have been an unsung manager when he joined Stoke, but he certainly is not any more, having led Stoke City to a chance of their second major trophy – they won the League Cup in 1972. They also lost in semi-final of the FA Cup in 1971 and again the following year.

Team Spirit

Pulis has built a team spirit with a fraction of the budget available to today's opponent Roberto Mancini. Among the bargains he obtained was Jermaine Pennant. The former Arsenal and Liverpool player had failed in Spain and Pulis got him cheap. He repaid the investment as Stoke brushed an appalling Bolton aside 5-0 in the semi-final last month. It could have been more.

" A great moment," Pennant said of reaching the final, "not only for me, but the club. I think it's the first time they've been there in their history. The atmosphere was great. We know what the fans are like from the Britannia, It was loud; it was great. We might have had the edge, because our fans wanted it more."

History Beckons

They could be the not so secret weapon that lifts the Potters to one more odds-defying performance. "It was more, not just for me, but the club as well," said Pennant. "Everyone wants to play in a final. It's a big occasion. There's a lot staking on it and also for the club, it will be the first time, not only for myself, but the lads. They've made history for Stoke City." And regarding the final, he made an easy prediction. "I doubt it will be 5-0, but we'll see what happens."

If Stoke City achieve their dream at Wembley this afternoon, Coates' status as local hero will be secured. The villain status of his last tenure, which was unjust, will be banished for ever. Pulis will undoubtedly be a serious contender for Manager of the Year and Stoke's players will be honoured in the city and by all serious students of football for such an unlikely triumph. It will rank as one of the great upsets in FA Cup history.

Youth Policy

"From the actual academy I think it's probably nearer 13, or 14 players have come through," Ardley told us. "There’s probably about five or six that have been sold on. At the moment the figure that they have brought into the club stands somewhere in the region of £14m in transfer fees, so if you’re looking over the last five years, it’s a nice sort of profit."

But Ardley wants far more than just making a profit. He recognises that players develop at different rates and that a slow starter can turn into a good player, so patience is vital. "You can't pigeon-hole," he says. "You can't say, 'well if you are not a stand-out player at this age, they are not going to be.' I think people develop at different ages and that's what you've got to take into consideration."

The Right Way
Cardiff City has a very strong youth policy. "It would be fair to say the lads at Cardiff have probably got their opportunities earlier because of the club that they’re at," England's Under-19 manager Noel Blake told us exclusively last year. "That comes into it. Sometimes where you are based – the club you are at – [opportunities] may come earlier than the other clubs, so Cardiff are a youth development club. They're producing players, but it's not the fact that the academy is producing players. Some make the mistake of putting the tag of academy onto it. They are a football club with a youth department and they were producing players prior to becoming an academy."

Cardiff allows talented young footballers to play, rather than warming a bench after the academy develops them. The Bluebirds' mix of social responsibilities, a vibrant youth policy and an excellent academy has won the club and its philosophy admirers beyond Britain's shores. "It's not only football in their lives," says FC Midtjylland's Executive Vice President Søren Bach about the boys in Midtjylland's academy. "It's so important for us that they have something after training to do. The Cardiff way, I think, is the right way to do it."

The Final Score:
Wales 1 – England 0. Alright, that may not be the result when the two sides meet at the Millennium Stadium this afternoon, but there is one match-up where that was the score and it lasted for almost half a century. Despite having a far smaller talent pool to draw on Wales beat England by that score and it took 'the old enemy' decades to catch up.

Trailblazers:

Almost a century after Andrew Watson broke the colour bar in football – he played three times for Scotland in the 1880s – Viv Anderson was the next black man to represent a British country. Right? Well no. Watson made his début in 1881, but fifty years later Wales followed suit. Left winger, Ted Parris, won his only cap against Northern Ireland in December 1931 – this year is the centenary of his birth.

Parris won his only international cap in the days when clubs had the power to refuse to release players and selection was by committee. “He probably wasn't good enough,” the Welsh FA's Press Officer and unofficial historian Ceri Stennett says. Parris' great asset was pace, but his unselfishness didn't help his cause according to a book that devotes a page to Parris. It is one of the few mentions of the all but forgotten player.

The unavailability of top players suggests that Parris was not actually considered good enough for international recognition, but that applies to many others. The top English clubs did not have to, and would not release players for internationals, if they had important matches for the club. It was very much club first, country second.. That meant that lesser quality players were given an opportunity. Stennett thinks that Parris was one of those players and racism was not the issue.

Racism?

“The committee may not even have been aware that Parris was 'coloured,'” he says. “They needed a footballer for that position, so Parris got a chance.” It appears that he didn't take it, but the possibility that race played a part in him not getting another chance cannot be ruled out totally. Nevertheless, Stennett does not believe racism was the cause. He points out that several white players only won white cap as well and that it was likely that the Committee gave them a chance, but decided that they also were not good enough for another chance after seeing them play once for Wales.

The match against Northern Ireland was traditionally seen as a fixture that permitted experimentation and that is probably what gave Parris his cap – they lost badly – but can a player really be judged on just one match?

Parris played for Bradford Park Avenue – a team that was below the top flight. He impressed without making a significant impression. An injury in 1934 didn't help. Parris died in Gloucester in 1971.

Stennett does not see Parris as an icon that helped to break down stereotypes and racism, believing that he was given a chance because he was a footballer, rather than a black one. Nevertheless, Wales beat England by almost half a century, despite having a far smaller pool of black talent to draw on, but it took many years for another black Welshman to play for his country. Parris achieved the honour of being the first but it was a one-off, so its importance remains disputed. Nevertheless, he was the first black man to play for Wales and it took England the best part of fifty years to cap a black player.