Richard O’Kelly, Assistant Head Coach, revealed to Brentford’s matchday programme – Bees Review – that it was no surprise that former club Walsall were drawn to play against The Bees in tomorrow’s Third Round FA Cup tie.
“I wish I could have had a bet on it,” said Richard. “I knew it was going to happen, it was written in the stars.”
Richard, who is 59 today, has mixed feelings about being reunited so soon with The Saddlers.
“It is weird because when we first got here, we spent the first couple of days looking at the players and we said ‘I wonder if this lot could beat Walsall’,” said Richard. “I had a great time and it was hard to leave as it had taken five years to get the Club to where they are now. One of my best moments as a coach was getting Walsall to Wembley last year. We had to battle for that and the players did.”
While Dean Smith and Richard’s First Team playing careers at Walsall didn’t overlap, they did meet at the Club.
“Dean became my apprentice and cleaned my boots,” said Richard. “He still says I owe him a Christmas tip. That was 27 years ago and our careers went off in different directions; I went to Grimsby Town and Dean made his debut at a young age for Walsall.”
You can read more of the interview with Richard in Brentford’s official matchday programme – Bees Review – available on Saturday.
Consisting of 84 pages and costing £3, additional highlights of the FA Cup edition include: