G.O.A.T. - Sutton United

 

Tony Rains (left0 with Matthew Hanlan

 

Tony Rains was an insurance clerk and goalscorer when Sutton beat Coventry in the FA Cup and admits that Sutton United hadn't read the script when they reached the Anglo-Italian Cup final ten years earlier. Making his debut aged 18 he ended the 1978/9 season with Anglo-Italian success. Selected to play in the tournament by the FA, Sutton made it all the way through the competition after winning two and drawing another of their four group matches. In fact the only defeat they suffered was in their final qualifying match against Chieti, who ironically were to be their opponents in the final, this time on Italian soil. Sutton then went on to reach two of the next three finals but were defeated by Triestina in 1980 and then Modena two years later. However Tony admits winning the competition kick started a golden period in the club's history which saw them reach an FA Trophy Final, win the Isthmian League and then most famously knock Division One Coventry City out of the third round of the FA Cup.

When Sutton United club captain and legend Tony Rains buried his FA Cup header on that famous day at Gander Green Lane in 1989, he was so surprised he had no idea how to celebrate. The left back beat Coventry City's Steve Ogrizovic to put United ahead and triggered one of the biggest cup shocks in recent history. The 8,000 fans packed into the ground, compared with today's official capacity only 5,013, would go on to witness the 1987 FA Cup winners dumped out of the competition 2-1 by the part-timers from Sutton. Tony who worked in insurance at the time, said: “We'd matched them for 80 minutes but they battered us for the last 10; I don't know how we managed to hold on. We celebrated with the fans after the game, but of course as part-time players we were back to work on Monday, so it was a bit of a reality check. 

Tony was inducted into the Sutton United Hall Of Fame in recognition of a playing career in which he recorded 724 appearances for the club.  At home anywhere in the back four, he played in two championship sides and in the 1981 FA Trophy final, and scored one of the most celebrated goals in Sutton history, the first in the 2-1 win over Coventry. He returned to the club as assistant manager to his brother John and helped secure another title in 1999 and a place in Conference South five years later. He later ran the club’s academy and served as assistant-manager to brother, John. Following his life in football he has been a cab driver.