Rhead em and weep! Matt ready to Bash Burnley?

Stop number 14 on the Road to Wembley from Scotland is on Saturday when Burnley play host to Lincoln City in round 5 of the FA Cup at Turf Moor. There are two individuals that I am particularly looking forward to seeing strutting their funky stuff in Lamcashire. Joey Barton of Burnley is a mercurial and controversial character and it will be great to see the ‘Marmite Man’ live. The other player I am looking forward to seeing in action again is Matt Rhead of Lincoln City.

Burnley Beware! Rhead will be seeking another Matt finish on Saturday

I first watched Lincoln City as part of this project when I watched them on TV winning their 3^rd round replay against Ipswich. At this stage I was waiting to see who Brighton would be playing in round 4. I was awe-struck by the huge Imps centre forward who was six foot four inches tall and appeared to measure about the same around the waist. He looked for all the world like a Sunday League player but he played like a Premier League player. As the old saying goes he has a good touch for a big man. I have seen him on telly a couple more times since but of course I saw him live on ‘stop 13’ at Sincil Bank a couple of weeks ago. He really is a fearsome sight but he does the most important thing in football (i.e. scoring goals) with regularity and aplomb. Last Saturday he weighed in with a double against Woking and he is no doubt relishing the prospect of terrorising the Burnley back four on Saturday.

Matt, who hails from Stoke, has not always plied his trade in the spotlight and for many years was a part time footballer while working full time for JCB. The early years of his career saw him representing less glamorous teams including Kidsgrove Athletic, Eastwood Town, Nantwich Town and Congleton Town.  His big break came when he signed for Mansfield Town in January 2012 at the age of 27. Mansfield were then a non-league team but with Matt’s help won promotion to the Football League. He was offered the chance to go full time and gave up his job as a team leader at JCB in July 2012. He has been a full-time footballer ever since but still plays with the joy of a man who knows that football is not the be all and end all. His physique is such that he can take some rough treatment but he can also give it out in equal measure. An old fashioned centre forward and his play is so impressive and combative that I feel sure that he must have some Scottish ancestry! Matt Rhead is the epitome of the lower league footballer and represents so much that is good in the beautiful game. If I find out that Matt is a clean living lad who never drinks and always goes to church on Sunday then I will be most disappointed.

The big match is now only three days away and the anticipation was heightened when I found out that these little beauties had arrived this morning.

Just the ticket! Thanks again to Peter Tissington

It is going to terrific at Turf Moor on Saturday. Will Premier League Burnley be the team to finally put the upstarts from Lincoln in their place? Will the Imps rise to the occasion again and become the first non-league team in football history to reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup? Will Matt Rhead flatten Joey Barton at some stage during the match. Return here on Sunday to find out … and … keep reading!