There is a buzz in Hampshire this week, Southampton and Portsmouth have been flying in their respective leagues but the attention has turned to National League side, Eastleigh, as they prepare for their biggest game of their season.
They are looking to dethrone the Royals, Reading, on Sunday afternoon, which is live on ITV 1, in the second round of the FA Cup.
The Spitfires could reach the third round of the competition for the first time since the 2015/16 season where they took Bolton Wanderers to a reply, in which they lost 5-1.
Eastleigh manager Richard Hill, who is enjoying his third stint in the hot seat, admitted that all of the hype and media attention will be all for nothing if they lose.
“Defining success with a win is the only way to do it, we want to make sure that our big day out doesn’t only become a day out and say ‘it was good while it lasted’. Hill said.
“We need to make sure that we are competing and that we are in the game for the whole duration. If we lose Sunday then we would not have been successful.
“Hopefully we will all turn up, I turn up, the staff turn up and we need to be ready. It will be a tough game and if we were to play Reading 10 times, they would beat us nine, without a doubt. We have to make sure that they don’t beat us on the tenth time.
“It’ll be a good occasion for the football club but it will only be a great occasion if we win.”
This is a huge occasion for the Spitfires, it is a chance to mix with the big names, if they progress into the next round, as Premier League and Championship sides will be in the draw for the next stage of the competition.
Due to the size of the game for the club and the high demand for tickets, the Hampshire side have even rented a temporary stand to meet the requirement of fans wanting a ticket to this encounter, which will hold 350 extra fans.
With a packed Silverlake Stadium expected for the match, Hill, 60, admitted that the crowd will be vital as they will be the 12th, 13th and 14th man to try and help beat League One opposition on Sunday.
“It’s a big occasion for the football club, you want to say it’s just another game but it isn’t just another game. We [Eastleigh] are four tickets short of selling 5,000. I think we’ve surpassed ticket sales or revenue for previous big FA Cup games. That’s good news.
“To be part of it is great. It’s away from the league, there’s a lot of noise around the place. We want to make sure that it carries on [after Sunday]. It’s good experience for me, I’ve not experienced it as a manager.”
Hill has been successful at the club before, getting the Spitfires into the fifth tier of English football for the first time and then getting them their highest ever league finish, he has been a great asset to the club.
He has already created priceless memories at SO50 during his two previous durations spells in charge, winning the National League South and going toe-to-toe with Grimsby Town in the National League play-offs.
However, Hill admitted that if they get a win on Sunday it will be his greatest achievement as manager of the Spitfires.
“It has to be [my biggest achievement], not taking away that it was a massive achievement getting the club out of the Conference South (now National League South) into the National League, getting promoted was a big achievement at the time for this football club.
“At the start of the season, Stewart Donald [the Eastleigh owner] told me me we had to get promoted and told me that we had to win the league as that ensured that we went up.
“The second season [in the National League] we got into the play-offs and it was the top five who got into the play-offs, and again, that was anything that was put on me. They are two great achievements there.”
“To win Sunday it will keep the attention going, the momentum going and the media focus coming back.”
