In the wake of Woking Football Club announcing that they are to come under new American majority ownership, it is a good time to reflect on one of the club's most memorable triumphs: their 4-2 win over West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup, in the hope that more are to come in the future in this exciting time for the club.
For smaller lower division teams such as Woking FC, the FA Cup is an opportunity for teams and their players to play teams at the top on the English footballing pyramid. This is an opportunity which Woking FC had on their hands in 1991, as they had been drawn against West Bromwich Albion.
West Bromwich Albion are what some would consider a 'classic' Premier League football team, having most recently competed in England's top division in the 20/21 season. The Birmingham-based team also won the top division title way back in 1919.
Currently, the team, colloquially known as West Brom, is competing in the Championship, England's second division, where they have a strong chance of being promoted back to the Premier League.
Let's set the scene; it was a cold day in January 1991. Woking FC, who were off the back of promotion to the Division One South in the 1989/90 season, travelled up to Birmingham to face West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the FA Cup.
To get to the third round of the FA Cup, Woking FC had to beat three Conference sides, one of which was Welsh side Merthyr Tydfil who they thrashed 5-1.
The later rounds of the FA Cup generally are played on national television, which give the chance for smaller teams to get extra eyes on them, particularly if they put on a performance against bigger teams.
And at the Hawthorns, Woking FC did perform producing a shock result which no one expected, beating West Bromwich Albion 4-2.
Despite Albion struggling in the second national division that season, no one would have expected that the Diadora League side would have the capabilities to oust the Baggies from England's oldest football competition.
The first half of the game went how the bookies would have predicted it, with Woking FC going into the second half 0-1 down at the Hawthorns.
The second half however, would go down in Woking FC folklore, with the Surrey team coming out of the changing rooms with fight and passion. And it showed on the pitch, most notably in the Woking legend's performance, Tim Buzaglo; who went on to score a hattrick for the Cards.
Sadly, the Cards went on to face First Division Everton in the fourth round a few weeks later, where they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in another spirited display.
Arguably, the result against West Brom is one of Woking FC's biggest triumphs in there time as a professional football club, however the side has recently come under ownership with US-based company Cardinal Football Group LLC all but agreeing a deal to acquire a majority share in the football club.
Cardinal Football Group, which is controlled by US businessman, Todd Johnson, who is the former vice chairman of Dagenham & Redbridge FC, and also is a member of the ownership group of Major League Soccer team Minnesota United.
Generally, when a football club comes under new ownership, they tend to see an influx in cash roll in to spend on new faculties and players. While Cardinal Football Group are yet to announce their plans for the future of Woking FC, it is fair to say that the next few years will be exciting for the club as we again may see triumphs on a national scale as we did in 1991.
