Blakemore hopes for Chasetown
Charlie Blakemore wants the end of the most famous FA Cup run in history to be just the start for Chasetown.
Charlie Blakemore wants the end of the most famous FA Cup run in history to be just the start for Chasetown.
The Scholars bowed out at the third round stage carved their reputation nationwide.
And bosss Blakemore wants to continue the club's march up the ladder by winning promotion.
"We might have lost, but this can be the start of something big," said Blakemore. "I've said to everyone, we've got to use this as a platform.
"This was our little acorn and we've got to grow and grow. But we haven't got to go silly and we haven't got to make unrealistic predictions of what we can do and where we can go.
"We've got to be steady and keep going in the right manner.
"But this will enable us to invest – we want a new stand and we really do need to improve the infrastructure and we should have the finances.
"Hopefully we'll also have the local backing to go and do that now.
"This is how all big clubs started once upon a time, but without getting too romantic, our feet are on the ground and we've just got to to believe we can keep growing at a nice pace.
"Promotion is our next target –the players had Saturday night off and had a few beers – but now we've got to focus in on our next game against Leighton.
"But I'm not saying that's what we'll do.
"There's a lot of hard work ahead now and after the exposure we've had, every side in our league is going to want to kick our backsides now.
"That makes it a little harder, but we're going to go for it and try to compete right to the end of the season to get into the promotion play-offs and further."
He added: "I hope we've made a lot of friends in football.
"We've closed the biggest gap ever in an FA Cup tie – 3-1 is really no disgrace and hopefully people who saw us play on Saturday think we're a little club who can do something."
Blakemore reserved special praise for his players, who have played in 10 FA Cup ties this season.
"I'm so proud of the players – it was a fantastic performance and we knew we had to pull out something special just to stay in the game," he said.
"And we did – we stayed in it for long periods. Quality showed in the end, and I knew that would happen.
They had a lot of the play and we rode our luck a bit.
"But I have to be proud of the lads because they worked their socks off and tried to create openings.
They also stuck to the gameplan and in the first 20 minutes, I wanted to get in behind Cardiff and make them feel like they'd been in a game and we did.
"We got the goal and the place erupted and we thought, 'Christ, there's a chance here'.
"But I've got a special bunch of players here and we didn't want it to end. They deserve all the plaudits they will get because they have been absolutely awesome.
"To have played 10 Cup ties and got as far as this is just a dream and I just love every single one of them. They have been brilliant."
