- Lincoln City's managerial duo Danny and Nicky Cowley are lifelong Hammers
- The Imps have reached the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals by winning six ties
- Essex-born pair will lead their side into last-eight battle with Arsenal on Saturday
West Ham United’s own Emirates FA Cup dreams may have faded and died, but the Hammers have three reasons to be interested in Saturday’s sixth-round tie between Arsenal and giant-killers Lincoln City.
The Imps’ historic run to the last-eight has been led by manager Danny Cowley, his assistant and brother Nicky and goalkeeper coach Jimmy Walker, all of whom have close ties to Claret and Blue.
The Essex-born Cowleys are lifelong Hammers, while Walker played 20 times for the Club and won promotion to the Premier League in 2005.
On Friday, all three will be at West Ham’s historic Chadwell Heath training ground, where Lincoln have been invited to train ahead of their trip to the Emirates.
“Nicky and I are West Ham supporters,” Danny confirmed. “We went home and away as kids, all over the place. One season we went to 36 of the 38 league games so we’ve loved our time supporting West Ham and we still support the Club now from afar.
“We watched the third-round game against Manchester City on the Friday night in the hotel ahead of our game at Ipswich. We were disappointed that night that West Ham lost, but quite proud we had managed to stay in the competition longer than them!”
Lincoln’s FA Cup odyssey began back in October, when they beat Guiseley in the fourth qualifying round, and they have followed that with wins over Altrincham, Oldham Athletic, Championship club Ipswich Town, promotion-chasing Brighton & Hove Albion – managed by former Hammer Chris Hughton – and Premier League Burnley.
While that is recent history, Danny still readily recalls his and Nicky’s first game at Upton Park.
One season we went to 36 of the 38 league games so we’ve loved our time supporting West Ham and we still support the Club now from afar
Danny Cowley
While the Cowleys’ new-found fame – they were still teaching PE at an Essex school less than two years ago – and youthful appearances suggest a lack of management experience, the truth is that they spent eight seasons honing their craft with Canvey Island-based Concord Rangers.
There, they led the Beach Boys to three promotions, three Essex Senior Cups and the Isthmian League Cup and the FA Cup first round in 2015, before replacing Alan Devonshire as manager at National League Premier club Braintree Town 18 months ago.
After guiding the Iron to third place and a play-off semi-final, the siblings moved to Lincoln, who are now on course to end a six-year absence from the Football League.
“This is my tenth year in football management,” Danny confirmed. “We had eight great years at Concord and managed three promotions in that time, we learnt an awful lot in that period.
“We had a great year last year at Braintree and have managed to come into Lincoln. We are respectful that if you get ahead of yourself in football it can come back to bite you on the bottom.
“We have a fantastic fan base and support, who are right behind us, we want to keep working hard and see where it takes us.”
*Lincoln City’s Emirates FA Cup sixth-round tie at Arsenal will be screened live by BT Sport on Saturday 11 March, with kick-off at 5.30pm