TAMWORTH’S FA Cup pairing with Everton is a 30-year-old bolt from the Blue for John Holcroft.

As a director of the modest, Blue Square Conference club from the West Midlands, Holcroft will take his seat at Goodison on Saturday and calculate that whatever the outcome on the field, Tamworth will emerge as financial winners from the third round tie.

ŠBut he won’t be able to suppress the thought of what might have been about his own path or the time, three decades ago, when the dream of a career in professional football with Everton was within touching distance.

ŠHolcroft spent 18 months as an apprentice in Everton’s youth setup in the early 1980s. He shared digs with Graeme Sharp, a young centre-forward from Scotland who would go on to spearhead the great Everton side of the mid-1980s.

ŠHe shared ambitions with fellow trainees such as Ian Bishop, Stuart Rimmer, Ian Marshall, Robert Walkinshaw and John Morrissey who did not hit the heights with Everton but went on to enjoy full-time careers with other clubs.

ŠHolcroft was denied even that consolation. Released by Everton while still a teenager, he moved on to Shrewsbury Town and then to West Bromwich Albion where he played under non-contract terms.

ŠAn ankle injury made his next decision easy. “The doctor said I would be out for 12 months so I decided I had to do something else,” Holcroft recalled this week.

“I got involved in business. I bought some property and converted it to a nursing home and it grew from there.

Š“I could have returned to football but I just becameŠ too involved in businesses. I never looked back.”

ŠHolcroft has no regrets about the opportunity lost for a very different kind of life and holds only positive memories of his time with Everton.

ŠHe said: “When I was a schoolboy I trained with West Brom and Aston Villa during the school holidays. Then I went to Everton and I loved it there. I was so pleased when I got to sign for them as an apprentice.

Š“I think I was 16 or 17 at the time and I was living away from my home in the West Midlands but Everton had such a warm family atmosphere I felt comfortable there.

Š“Ray Minshull, who was in charge of the youth setup, looked after us very well. He was genuine. When I first arrived the manager was Gordon Lee, who was brilliant. Then Howard Kendall came in.

Š“My claim to fame was sharing digs with Graeme Sharp for a short while. When I first arrived at Everton, theŠ first-team backline was Billy Wright, Mark Higgins, John Barton and John Bailey. I was in awe of them. When Howard Kendall came in the club started signing quite a few players. I wasn’t kept on and had to move on.”

ŠIt Holcroft had made the grade at Goodison he would have graduated into the senior ranks just as Everton were entering the most successful phase of their history under Kendall.

ŠHe said: “You need ability and commitment to succeed in football but you also need the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. Luck plays a big part in football. Just take Tamworth’s cup run this season. We were losing 2-1 in injury time to Hinckley in the first round and came back to snatch a draw. Now we’re playing Everton.”

ŠHolcroft was happy to “enjoy football from the outside” while his business career developed and began watching his local club Tamworth around 10 years ago.

ŠHe said: “I have known the chairman (Bob Andrews) for a long time and after a few yearsŠ he asked me to come on board and get involved as a director.

Š“We are a small club in Conference terms, in respect of budget and facilities but we’re able to punch above our weight and hold our own in this division.

Š“People often ask: just where is Tamworth? We’ve got an indoor ski centre, the Snowdome and that’s about it. The football club does a good job in giving the town a national profile and the Everton game is going to help that a lot.”

ŠThe windfall from Tamworth’s share of the Goodison gate receipts this weekend should be sufficient to ensure the directors don’t have to put their hands in their pockets to cover a trading loss at the end of this season. There might be money left over to fund a new signing or two and some improvements to the 4,000 capacity Lamb Ground.

ŠEven so, Tamworth will continue to rely on the devotion and goodwill of dozens of volunteers to keep the club running. Brian Whitehouse is among them. The club’s company secretary and his wife have been spending recent afternoons selling tickets for the Everton game.

ŠWhitehouse said: “It is fair to say this club could not function without the volunteers who give up their time to keep things going. People put inŠ hours here, working Šaround their ownŠ jobs and there are a lot of retired people like myself doing their bit.

Š“The Everton tie means a lot to the club’s finances. ItŠ will keep us in the black for this season.

Š“And it has brought a bit of cheer to the town, which we certainly need at the moment.”

ŠThe economic recession is hitting Tamworth hard. “There’s a lot of unemployment in the town,” Whitehouse said. “Times are hard and the £1 shops are doing well. The situation has been difficult for some years and the youth employment is particularly high.

Š“Tamworth is a town of warehousing. Focus Do It AllŠŠhad a national distribution centre here. Now that’s gone and it’s cost us a lot of jobs.

“As a club Šwe’ve Šlost sponsors and things have been tight. We don’t live beyond our means here. If we got into serious financial difficulties we would not survive in this division. We would go backwards. So the chairmanŠ and the board are very good. They take great care and pride in keeping the club running and giving the town a name.”