I won Gladiators and faced Gareth Southgate as a player – now I’m looking to cause FA Cup upset with minnows

HARBOROUGH TOWN’S contender is ready . . . 

Dave Staff, adjunct brag of the seventh-tier club, is simply a erstwhile victor of the TV amusement Gladiators.

But being portion of his home-town club’s travel to a second-round necktie astatine League One Reading feels bigger adjacent than reaching the apical of the Travelator first.

Staff was a non-league subordinate erstwhile helium became the 2009 antheral champion — and past champion of champions — successful the Sky One reboot of Gladiators.

Staff, 45, said: “About 10,000 radical applied for the series. I’m truly arrogant of it.

“My champion lawsuit was astir apt Powerball. I could transportation my ain bodyweight good and determination beauteous quick. I besides retrieve coming up against a Gladiator called Doom successful a happening called Earthquake.

“You’re connected a Perspex sheet 50ft successful the aerial oregon something. You person a wrestle and effort to propulsion each different disconnected — and helium broke my nose. But the video referee said I won.

“I got £25,000 for winning the main series.

“The missus spent astir of it connected a room successful a location that we ended up moving retired of astir six months later.”

Gladiators is not Staff’s lone brushwood with fame.

He was successful the Nuneaton Borough broadside that faced Premier League Middlesbrough and their squad of stars successful the FA Cup 3rd circular successful 2006.

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Gaizka Mendieta enactment Boro up with a fantastic free-kick. But Gareth Southgate’s handball led to a punishment — that Gez Murphy scored to gain a replay.

Staff said: “There’s a representation of Mendieta curling the free-kick implicit my caput and in.

“Unfortunately, I came disconnected injured aft 18 minutes truthful I missed the replay.

“After the 90 minutes successful the crippled astatine Nuneaton, Mark Viduka said to 1 of our lads, ‘What happens now?’.

“‘We’re going backmost to your place!’

“‘OK, cheers, fella’. He didn’t adjacent know!

“We went retired successful Nuneaton that night. I hobbled astir the pubs and watched Match of the Day — Lee Dixon called maine ‘Davy’ Staff for immoderate reason!

"We got the papers successful the greeting aft staying successful a edifice and the lad I shared a country with, Matty Collins, was connected the backmost pages. It was a large experience.”

As a coach, Staff was portion of Brackley Town’s FA Trophy triumph astatine Wembley successful 2018.

But thing matches the feeling of occurrence with the nine from the Leicestershire municipality wherever helium was calved and bred.

Staff joined Harborough 18 months agone arsenic adjunct to brag Mitch Austin and past play they won promotion to the Southern League Premier Division Central — the highest level successful the club’s history.

In this campaign, Harborough bushed Tonbridge Angels successful their first-ever FA Cup first-round necktie to gain the clash with Reading.

Staff said: “I’ve ever lived successful the town.

“I knew truthful galore radical down the extremity erstwhile we scored those goals astatine Tonbridge, I kinda wished I was determination alternatively of the dugout.

“I’m walking astir municipality with my canine and determination is specified a buzz. It’s the biggest crippled successful the club’s past by far.

“As a section boy, it’s a spot of a imagination and we’re each hoping it tin spell connected arsenic agelong arsenic possible.”

And if you person already defeated Doom, wherefore not Reading?