Stand-in Plumley still full of pride

He will be sat watching the FA Cup semi-final between his two favourite teams with a drink in one hand, though not at the wine bar where he was plucked from semi-obscurity 20 years ago. He is not available. Not this time. Not at the age of 51.

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Plumley's tale is steeped in the romance of the FA Cup. While it may lack a happy ending, there is a striking similarity between his one and only appearance in Watford's colours and the club's latest Cup adventure.

Today, like then, they go into a semi-final at Villa Park without their first-choice goalkeeper, thanks to the small print on Ben Foster's loan deal from Manchester United.

In 1987, the circumstances were not quite so simple.

When Tony Coton suffered a broken finger two weeks before the game, manager Graham Taylor needed to find cover for Steve Sherwood outside of the transfer window.

Irish veteran Pat Jennings turned down the chance to come out of retirement and Watford dared not risk youth-team keeper David James in case a bad performance under the spotlight blighted a career that was heading for the heights.

In desperation, Taylor went to see chief executive Eddie Plumley and asked to sign his son Gary, 31, who had just retired after a career spent at Newport County, Cardiff and Ebbw Vale.

Even though it was only as a precaution, Plumley felt a sense of destiny. "We were going to the game anyway and my wife, Debbie, asked me how we'd get to Villa Park," he said. "I told her to sort it out with my parents, because I was going to be playing. It was a silly thing to say but I started to believe it.

"I suppose it was a sixth sense, just something I picked up on. I had such a positive attitude."

He knew exactly why his father was calling when the phone rang at Romans, the wine bar he owned in the Welsh village of Caerleon, on the Wednesday before the game. Sherwood had dislocated a finger in training. Get to Lilleshall.

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"I was punching the air," said Plumley. "There was a Tottenham fan standing at the bar and he didn't believe me. When I got home, nobody was there so I just left a note on the kitchen table."

Some would say the fairytale ended there, but Plumley is proud of his 90 minutes of fame.

The montage of photos from April 11, 1987, framed with the original teamsheet and match programme, is the only football memorabilia on show at the family home.

It does not mention, however, that Plumley was beaten three times in the opening half an hour as Tottenham won 4-1.