As Woking host Watford in FA Cup, hero Tim Buzaglo recalls famous hat-trick at WBA and urges part-timers to remember this might be greatest match of their lives

And that would be more than the shy non-League legend had before his finest hour in 1991 – as he was so sick with nerves he ate almost nothing for 24 hours.

The school caretaker said: “If Watford put out a proper Premier League team, like Pereyra and Deeney, they’ll win. But if they don’t, Woking have a chance.

“At West Brom I walked past their changing room and saw them relaxing, reading newspapers. I couldn’t believe it. Maybe that’s what they always did but I wondered if they were taking us seriously.

“But I just hope Woking don’t feel as nervous as I did. I couldn’t eat any meals the day before, then on Saturday all I had was a little breakfast.

“I’d tell the Woking players against Watford the same as we were told by our manager Geoff Chapple at West Brom: ‘This will probably be the biggest game of your lives. Enjoy it and make the most of the day’.”

It’s more than a quarter of a century since Buzaglo destroyed the Baggies in a quarter of an hour, two snake-like bursts and a mesmerising team goal giving him the most famous FA Cup treble ever by a non-League player.

Buzaglo’s fairytale finishing turned an unlucky half-time deficit into a 3-1 lead before sixth-tier Woking clinched the third-round tie 4-2.

But the home-town hero admits he feared a Baggies onslaught that never came.

He said: “After my third goal, our left-back Lloyd Wye went to take a throw and I told him, ‘I think we can get away with a draw now’.

“I only thought we’d win when Terry Worsfold made it 4-1.

"I believed we’d get hammered. I just wanted to avoid humiliation.

“But it was incredible – not just winning, but playing the way we wanted, passing the around, keeping it on the floor.”

The striker added: “In the warm-up I asked a ball-boy what he thought the score would be and he said '5-0 to West Brom'. That sounded about right to me.

“I tried to find him afterwards, but that was impossible – there were too many people on the pitch.”

That was because Baggies fans chose to crown their conqueror rather than drown their sorrows as they chaired Buzaglo off in a stunning show of sportsmanship.

But that famous scene almost never happened – as Chapple had to force “terrified” Buzaglo to go over and acknowledge the home crowd’s applause.

Buzaglo said: “People forget there were two pitch invasions after we went in front, so how would they react to part-timers beating them?

“I told Geoff there was no way I’d do it – only if he went with me. So we did, and the fans were amazing.

“They lifted me up, chanted for me to join them and asked why I was only playing non-League.”

West Brom’s worst ever humbling cost boss Brian Talbot and his up-and-coming assistant Sam Allardyce their jobs.

And Woking were just as impressive in the next round, watched by 35,000 at Goodison Park, including 10,000 from Surrey, as Buzaglo hit the outside of a post in a 1-0 win for Everton.

He said: “I loved the 90 minutes against West Brom but the two weeks after that were misery for someone like me – so much attention.

“For me playing at Everton was an even better experience. The pitch was a carpet, we could see their players on TV every week and we could relax more.

“In central defence they had Kevin Ratcliffe of Wales and England’s Dave Watson. What I liked most is they showed us respect. If the ball had to be launched, they just cleared it."

Yet Buzaglo has spent every third round since 1991 trying to shun the limelight.

The self-confessed glory-hater, who also played ICC Trophy cricket for Gibraltar for 19 years, admits his daughters, Emily 27, Olivia, 24, and Jennie, 20, "love it all".

But he said: "I never mention the West Brom game if I’m out or if someone doesn’t know, unless they talk to me about it.

"My three daughters really enjoy it. Each year people still talk about that match a lot and my daughters do stuff like post on Facebook about it.”

Buzaglo added: "The old manager Geoff rang me to ask if I was going to see the Watford game because the TV people wanted to interview us both, but I told him I won’t do it. I hate all that – it’s embarrassing.

“I’ll watch the game on TV, away from the publicity. I just hope Watford show Woking the respect Everton did."

WHY I TURNED DOWN NORTHAMPTON

NON-LEAGUE legend Tim Buzaglo feels he was too "lazy" for too long to reach the top – but still turned down Northampton after tormenting West Brom.

He joined Woking just five years earlier – aged 25 – from Surrey Intermediate League team Weysiders, where he wore two pairs of shinpads, front and back, to protect himself against getting "kicked to pieces".

And it was only at Woking where laidback Buzaglo started wearing the right-sized football boots.

He said: "I was nicknamed 'Scuffer'. I played in bigger boots for comfort but kept scuffing them on the floor in games. As soon as I changed sizes, I noticed a big improvement."

Somehow, despite a scoring rate more akin to a batsman, Buzaglo had never been seriously scouted by anyone – except local manager Mick Gowan, who became Woking reserves boss and persuaded him to follow.

He instantly became the pacy, prolific star man of the first team, upgrading his profile to a national stage with his Hawthorns hat-trick.

Buzaglo, then a computer operator who also earned £150 a week with Woking, said: "Exeter and Northampton came in for me.

"I was going to Exeter for a chat but then their manager Gerry Francis got the sack.

"I spoke to Northampton but they offered me less than what I got together from my job and Woking – plus I was 30. So I turned it down."

More offers would surely have followed – were it not for a "shocking challenge" from St Albans midfield hardman Bob Dowie, brother of Iain, who was himself a robust striker with West Ham and Southampton before bossing QPR and Crystal Palace.

Buzaglo said: "I didn't play for 18 months and really it ended my career.

"My knee was never the same. I lost something. And for a while people even thought I was drunk because of the way I walked.

"I'd just signed a new three-year contract with Woking. I did come back but by then they were in the Conference, and to be honest I didn't fancy travelling across the country.

"I scored four goals in my first two games. But I wasn't the same player and so I went back to the Isthmian League with Marlow.”

Now Buzaglo’s main involvement in football is helping to coach the ACS Cobham International School team, where he works as a caretaker.

Source: Read Full Article