BIG INTERVIEW: Tamworth boss Andy Peaks flies the county flag against giants Spurs

​As we hit the third round, there is no place for the likes of Northampton Town, Kettering Town or Brackley Town, who have all fallen by the wayside, but Peaks is still going strong.

Northampton-born, Kettering-based and a former AFC Rushden & Diamonds player and manager, Peaks has a lot of the county covered!

And he is targeting a huge FA Cup shock when his Tamworth side host struggling Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur live on ITV this Sunday (ko 12.30pm).

The Lambs have already made their mark in the Cup this season, beating Sky Bet League One sides Huddersfield Town and Burton Albion in rounds one and two, and their reward is a match-up with one of English football’s genuine giants.

It is a huge day for Peaks and his National League part-timers, as they could come face to face with the likes of Son Heung-Min, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Brennan Johnson.

It is a proper David versus Goliath clash at The Lamb, which will be packed to the rafters, and former Duston Upper School pupil Peaks can’t wait to lock horns with former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian is going through a bit of tough time as his injury-hit team struggles for results, but Peaks is a big admirer.

"Fans are very fickle," said Peaks, who began his football career as a trainee at the Cobblers under Graham Carr back in the late 1980s.

“I know Tottenham fans who over the past couple of years have been complaining they are boring to watch and they just want them to have a go and be attractive.

"And now they are attractive to watch but losing a few games, that's not right either, and that sums up football fans - I get the same at Tamworth!

"If we've not scored in the first 20 minutes against a team in the bottom six then they want rid of me!

"It will be a great experience for everybody involved to have Ange Postecoglou and his team here at The Lamb, and I hope they fill the squad with some good players.”

Spurs are still fighting on four fronts, and on Wednesday produced a superb performance to beat Premier League leaders Liverpool 1-0 in the first-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

They are suffering badly with injury problems and are in the middle of a hectic spell of fixtures, but Peaks believes the north Londoners will rock up with a strong team in Staffordshire.

"I do think they will bring a strong team because they can't afford to lose to us,” said Peaks, a former right-back who made more than 200 appearances for Rushden Town/Rushden & Diamonds.

"I am fully aware that if they brought a younger team they will still be good, because we have found that in the National League Cup, we have played Newcastle and Sunderland Under-21s and they were superb, passed us off the pitch.

"So I know Tottenham Under-23s would still be way, way too good for us nine times out of 10, but I am hoping they bring a good team, and then in the FA Cup you never know what's going to happen.

"We have to play to our absolute maximum and they have to have one of the worst days they could have, and if that does happen then there is always the chance of an upset.

"There is one every round, and we have to try our hardest to make it happen at The Lamb against Tottenham.”

With no replays, the match will be played to a conclusion, and although Peaks admits he would have loved a day out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he feels the restrictions of The Lamb could work in his team’s favour.

"Half of me would have loved to have gone to their place, but I think if we were to go there I don't think we would touch the ball!,” admitted Peaks, who started his managerial career in the United Counties League with Northampton Spencer.

"If you are going to beat a League or Premier League club usually it is going to be when they come to you, because the facilities are not what they are used to, and the pitch as well.

"You have the fans right on top of you, and that will give us an opportunity to compete."

Looking back on their achievement at even getting this far in the competition, with Tamworth also seeing off Robbie Savage’s Macclesfield in qualifying, Peaks admitted things couldn’t have gone much better.

"We have had three really good games and it is great exposure for the club, the players, for me, everyone, and the FA Cup brings a lot of income and revenue as well, so that should set the club up for a few years to come,” he said.

"To pull out Tottenham was the icing on the cake for us.

"It probably still hasn't sunk in that we are going to be playing Spurs to be honest, and I don't think it probably will until after the event because in footballing life you just get swept along.

"You go back to where I have come from, who I have played for and managed, from starting out at Spencer.

"To think we are now going to be playing Tottenham Hotspur with the players they have got is surreal really."

The clash with Spurs is fantastic reward for what has been a brilliant few years of progress for Peaks and Tamworth.

Eyebrows were raised back in 2022 when Peaks left his long-term role as manager of AFC Rushden & Diamonds to take charge at relegation-haunted Tamworth – with both clubs in the Southern League Premier Central.

But it proved to be a shrewd move for Peaks, and Tamworth, as the Lambs have gone from strength to strength under the 54-year-old.

"It was sort of frowned upon at the time, because at Diamonds we were sitting in the play-offs with nine games to go,” admitted Peaks, who as well as managing Tamworth, still teaches at Tresham College in Kettering.

"Tamworth were in the relegation zone, but I just felt I couldn't take Diamonds any further because there was no ambition there.

"I felt Tamworth were way below where they should have been, because they had some really good players, and it is a much bigger club.

"I weighed things up and it was a hard one because I had a lot of good mates at Diamonds and we had a good team there.

"But I had always said to the players, if there is a better option for you then you have to take it because they don't come along very often.

"So it was staring me in the face, and the rest is history.”

In little more than two years after making the switch from Hayden Road, Peaks had not only guided Tamworth away from the relegation zone, but then to title glory in the Southern League Premier Central and then the Vanarama National League North.

"I think at Tamworth we had 12 games left of the season, won eight and drew four, and then the next year the aim was to consolidate at Step 3, and try to make the play-offs,” recalled Peaks.

"We ended up winning the league and the chairman said to me 'that's unbelievable, you are a year ahead of time - whatever you do, do not win Step 2 because we are not ready to do it'.

"But the momentum just kept going, we had got such a good group which we added a couple to, and we stuck to the same principles.

"That is team spirit, work ethic, being good in both boxes, not spending loads of time in the middle because for me games are decided in both boxes and that's what it is all about.” “Success-bred-success, and it has just carried on."

Tamworth now find themselves as one of only two part-time clubs in the National League, and they have handled the next step up nicely too – currently sitting 16th, seven points above the drop zone.

Survival is the priority, and Peaks admits: “If we can stay up, and it is still a big if, I think that will probably be the biggest achievement out of all the other jobs I have done, including the promotions.

"To stay up against full-time clubs would be fantastic, as you speak to people who are full-time, and they they spend days and all week planning for matches.

"Whereas from my point of view, we might play on the Saturday, then play on the Tuesday and if we are away we might not get back home until the early hours.

"The lads are then back at work on Wednesday, and we then train on the Thursday night for about an hour, doing a little bit of shape work in preparation for the following Saturday.

“So if we can survive it will be one hell of an achievement."

Peaks is not the only man with county links at Tamworth.

His assistant is Neil Champelovier, who also started out as a trainee at the Cobblers before enjoying a non-League playing career at clubs including Brackley, Daventry Town and Woodford, and is currently a Head of PE at Northampton Academy.

He followed Peaks from Hayden Road when he made the move north, and will now be aiming to play his part in stunning Spurs.

"I have said it since I started playing as a 17-year-old, the FA Cup is a massive competition, it is known everywhere, it is worldwide,” said Peaks.

"You get shocks in it, anyone can beat anyone and it ends up in a massive final, so if you are a fan, player, director, whatever, you have to embrace the FA Cup, and to get a run like we have had this season is special."

A win on Sunday, would make it something a bit more than special for Peaks and Tamworth… it really would be the magic of the FA Cup.