‘This is just the start’ - Stafford Rangers owner’s vow after FA Cup heartbreak

Stafford Rangers owner Nathan Owen vowed they are only just getting started after the club’s incredible FA Cup run came to an end.

A strong cup run was high on the agenda for Owen, who bought the club earlier this year, but he insists he is merely the ‘custodian’, with the club owned by its fans.

Those supporters turned out in their numbers again as Stafford suffered a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat to League Two Grimsby Town in the first round on Sunday. But Owen believes the adventure has provided a glimpse of what can be achieved at Marston Road.

“Whatever the outcome, this doesn’t end today. Let’s be realistic, we were never going to go to Wembley,” he said.

“We had already won by reaching the first round proper for the first time in 20 years.

“This really proves that the journey is very much at its beginning, it is not ending, and hopefully nobody feels that way.

“The people who have come here for these four sell-out games, they have had an amazing experience.

“We didn’t lose today. We lost on penalties, we didn’t lose at football. We are a great team and they were rocking. There were a great few chances at 2-0.

“If we had scored those, I really think we would have nailed it. But fair play, Grimsby are a professional team and dug in there.”

Owen is determined to build on the momentum generated by a remarkable journey which began in the extra preliminary round.

Stafford overcame several sides from higher divisions to reach the first round proper for the first time in 20 years.

And while the dream of a second-round tie has been extinguished, Owen is delighted to see the run capture the town’s imagination.

He added: “It’s kind of what I dreamed of. But for it to come so fast - it has been six months of bang, bang, bang, bang of the sell-outs.

“It’s deeply personal. There is no financial return on this. Unless you are some kind of oil tycoon you don’t go into football trying to make money.

“This is really about the community, giving back, helping this area, and reconnecting the town and the club. Mission on.

“I went to Stafford between January and April, we were struggling to survive, and didn’t see a single shirt or scarf. You saw Stoke City and Wolves, and others. But I thought ‘that’s got to stop’.

“Fair play to Stoke and Wolves, and everybody else, but our fans, we needed to give them something to come back to, and I think we have done that with this run.”

The progress has not been confined to the pitch, either, with major improvements made to Marston Road and the club’s infrastructure since Owen and his fellow investors came on board.

An emotional Owen, who regularly stands among supporters in the Shed End, admitted the appreciation from fans had been “crazy”.

“I am not going to say ‘gutted’ or anything like that, I am just so proud,” he added.

“I had written to boss Graham Deakin a few days ago and said I had a sneaky feeling it would go to penalties. I really wasn’t surprised.

“The running those guys did out there. Remember, these guys are part-timers. They ran and ran.

“You wouldn’t know there were four divisions of difference there, that was what stood out to me. I am just so proud of everybody.”