The arrival of Emirates FA Cup third round weekend brings back fond memories for former West Ham United defender Paul Konchesky – and not just while sporting Claret and Blue.
With the Hammers travelling to Priestfield Stadium on Sunday to take on Gillingham, the left-back enjoyed plenty of memorable moments in the competition for West Ham between 2005 and 2007 and, in the twilight of his career, the Gills in 2016/17.
Now working at the Academy of Football as an U15s coach, Konchesky’s personal pinnacle came when he netted what tens of thousands of Irons at Millennium Stadium hoped would prove an FA Cup final winner in 2006 against Liverpool.
“Let’s be honest, it was a cross, but maybe the more you look at it, I can get away with saying I saw [Pepe] Reina off his line!” Konchesky joked. “That goal will live with me forever.
“When it goes in, you go 3-2 up and in the heat of the moment you have no idea how long is left. You think ‘That could be the winner’ – or at least you hope so – but then in injury time it drops to Steven Gerrard, and if it falls to anyone else it probably doesn’t go in.
“What a fantastic game it was. I know it went to penalties and the result didn’t go our way in the end, but what a game for any individual to sit down and watch.
“To go to Cardiff and play in an FA Cup final for my club, the club that I supported as a boy and still do, meant everything to me. I’m still gutted about the result, but just to get there was fantastic.”
The FA Cup means a lot to myself, and I like to think it’s still a big occasion for every team. Certainly, my best experience was getting to the final with my club West Ham
Paul Konchesky
For Konchesky, who would later go on to represent Fulham, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Queens Park Rangers and Gillingham, that 2005/06 run was a pinnacle of a fruitful career that also saw the Barking-born left-back win two international caps for England.
“The FA Cup means a lot to myself, and I like to think it’s still a big occasion for every team,” he noted. “Certainly, my best experience was getting to the final with my club West Ham.
“Other than the Champions League, it’s probably the next best Cup you can win as a player in England. It’s an extremely important bit of silverware.
“I made it to both the FA Cup final and the Europa League final [with Fulham], as well as playing for England, and those were probably the best three things that happened during my career.”
Konchesky looks back on his solitary season with Gillingham – during which time he played at Priestfield Stadium in a first-round tie against Brackley – with a measure of fondness.
“I was towards the end of my career and I was desperate to keep playing,” he remembers. “Sadly, he’s passed away now, but Justin Edinburgh took me there and the six months that I had with him were fantastic.
“I kept playing and enjoying my football. It’s a hard place to go and play football down there. Steve Evans is the manager now and people know what he’s like and what style of football he likes to play. He’ll make sure Gillingham are ready to compete for everything.”
Having witnessed the Hammers make an impressive start to 2020 with their resounding 4-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth on New Year’s Day, Konchesky now hopes that they can continue that winning feel by securing passage to the fourth round against his former club.
“You want to try and establish a winning mentality off the back of the 4-0 win against Bournemouth,” he observed.
“When you win a few games in the FA Cup, you never know where that might take you. You get that confidence and when everyone sticks together the sky is the limit.
“It’s hugely important to have the right mentality in games like these because it’s their cup final, they’ll get a massive crowd together, and get to play against some big players. The pitch might not be great and there are other advantages that the lower league clubs have.
“It’s not going to be easy, but the West Ham fans are fantastic away from home, and if they stick with them and sing their hearts out, I believe the boys will do it for them.”
