ANDY PEAKS will never forget his first match in charge of Tamworth.
Instead of battling for points in a relegation dogfight, he was sinking PINTS with his Lambs squad after a trip to Leiston was postponed.
But Tamworth’s boss believes that boozy afternoon session in Suffolk was the springboard for their incredible turnaround in recent years.
After beating the drop in 2021-22, Peaks led the Staffordshire minnows from the Southern Premier League to the National League with stunning back-to-back title wins.
Now, as the lowest-ranked team left in the FA Cup, the part-time manager is relishing a showdown with Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham on Sunday.
It is without doubt the biggest game in Tamworth’s 92-year history.
Yet Peaks doubts they would have made it this far without that afternoon on the lash on his first full day in his new job.
He revealed: “I’d just agreed to join Tamworth from Rushden & Diamonds and I took in our first training session on Thursday night.
“I could see we had some good players but I sensed there was a divide in the squad and I thought, ‘I’m not having that’.
“We turned up in Suffolk for my first game against Leiston and discovered the pitch was waterlogged and the game was called off.
“But Leiston had put on some food for us so I said to the lads, ‘Right, we’re going to have an hour in the bar and get to know each other’.
“I had a gut feeling that the players never socialised together. One or two of them even said, ‘I’ve got to get home to the missus and the kids’.
“But I told them, ‘If we’d played the game, you’d be playing until 5pm and wouldn’t get home until 8.30pm. This way you’ll be home by 5.30pm!’
“So that was effectively my second session with the team — an hour or so in the bar.
“We had some food and some beers and everybody mingled.
“Afterwards on the team bus, some of the lads were saying, ‘I haven’t really spoken to Jas [goalkeeper Jas Singh] before and didn’t realise he was a building surveyor’, stuff like that.
“Before that it had just been a job to them and they came to the club, got changed, trained and went home.
“I’m a great believer that if you have got friends beside you, you’ll try that bit harder for them. From that day on it just clicked.”
Peaks became Tamworth manager in February 2022 with the club fighting relegation but kicked off with a 6-0 win against Barwell.
That sparked a 13-game unbeaten run until the end of the season.
The 54-year-old added: “We trained again during the week and then we had a big, convincing win and we went on from there.
“It’s easier to bond after a big win and the players think, ‘This guy must know what he’s on about’.
“Success breeds success and we went on a bit of a run after that, the fans started turning up and everyone was happy.
“I tried to bring the club together more, with no grievances and a lot of togetherness. Players used to rock up five minutes before training.
“Now they turn up half an hour before because they enjoy each other’s company and have a laugh.
“If not, we’d definitely be bottom of the league.”
Instead, Tamworth are 16th in National League, seven points above the relegation zone.
But it is Tottenham’s visit to The Lamb Ground in the third round that has Peaks’ full attention now.
He said: “We will give them the respect they deserve as a Premier League giant and Champions League-level club.
“But when the game starts we’ll be horrible and nasty and in their faces because it’s the only way we can be to stand any chance.
“Hopefully, they have a few players who don’t fancy it and we have 11 players who play out of their skin.”
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