World Snooker Champion Kyren Wilson Supports Kettering Town’s FA Cup Journey

Kyren Wilson, the world snooker champion and a Kettering supporter, who recently claimed his first world title by beating Jak Jones 18-14, will be supporting his hometown club, Kettering Town, in their FA Cup second-round match against Doncaster Rovers. Wilson previously served as a ball-boy at the club’s former venue, Rockingham Road, and continues to monitor the team’s progress notwithstanding his professional obligations on the World Snooker tour. Kettering has already eliminated League One side Northampton Town. A win on Sunday against Doncaster, a League Two team, would advance them to the third round for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Wilson conveyed his support to BBC Radio Northampton’s Non-League Scene, stating, “The lads are doing great, it’s great to see the whole town behind them; keep the belief, keep the dream going and up the Poppies.” The 32-year-old had to await the outcome of Kettering’s match against Northampton, having experienced jetlag while in China. He recounted, “It got to about 2.00am and unfortunately the jetlag hit and I didn’t find out the result till the following morning when I turned up for my practice session. It was a tight one but they managed to get the job done.” Kyren Wilson returned to Kettering with the World Championship trophy after his victory at the Crucible earlier in the year. When asked about his memories of ball-boy duties, he stated: “My dad would take me to Rockingham Road. I was just desperate to get my hands on the ball and kick it back to (former player) Craig Norman.”I’ve lived in Kettering all of my life, I was born in Kettering and all of my family are from here. I remember at half-time my Dad treating me to a Cup-a-Soup because it was absolutely freezing, typical UK weather. “He used to travel around (to watch them)… he’s got a video of one of the FA Cup games where he runs on the pitch with a giant banana, he’s proud of that sort of stuff.” Kettering, which was formerly a prominent non-league football team competing one division below the English Football League, currently resides in the seventh tier. Nevertheless, they hold a four-point lead at the summit of the Southern League Premier Central and remain undefeated in nine matches across all competitions, following their 2-1 victory over Leiston on Saturday, where midfielder Isiah Noel-Williams scored the decisive goal. Wilson considers the club to be “a bit of a sleeping giant” and elaborated: “They always have good numbers watching them no matter where they play, they’ve got good FA Cup history, they are top of the most goals scored in the FA Cup and the likes of (former managers) Gazza (Paul Gascoigne), Ron Atkinson, big high-profile people coming to the club (in the past) – and it’s looking good for the league as well. “Hopefully promising times are ahead for the Poppies.” Kettering’s director of football, Fabian Forde (right), was seen celebrating the win against Northampton alongside owner George Akhtar. Kettering was acquired by George Akhtar in May, at which point Fabian Forde also joined the club as director of football. Forde, who participated in a Football League match for Watford in 2001, maintains that “all roads lead to promotion,” identifying the league as their primary objective. He stated, “”We do have ambitions of going up this season so we really had to knuckle down and concentrate (since beating Northampton). Part of my role is making sure the players and even some of the staff understand how big the league is for us.”” Forde added, “”This FA Cup run is a bonus. We’re under no illusions – we’re probably not going to win the FA Cup, but (getting) as far as we can get would be good.”We’re going for the win. We’ve done our homework on Doncaster, we know how they play, we know who their dangermen are. The pitch is not the greatest and it’s not going to be comfortable for them, by any means.”” The match against Doncaster, scheduled for Sunday, 1 December, with a 12:00 KO, is anticipated to draw a record attendance at their current Latimer Park ground and will be broadcast live on the BBC. Forde also expressed optimism that there would be no complications in the aftermath of Storm Bert, which caused flooding in certain areas of the county. He further commented, “”It was cutting up a little bit on Saturday. But it’s been fine since then and there’s not going to be anything on there. We’ve stopped the Under-18s and other fixtures and we’re gearing up for the big game on Sunday.”It should be fine, the weather forecast looks good, so fingers crossed.”” Kyren Wilson and Fabian Forde provided these statements to Chance Litchfield of BBC Radio Northampton.