FA Cup preview: Boreham Wood vs Burton Albion – Luke Garrard is living the dream once again

By Andy Mitchell

Another FA Cup scalp might make Boreham Wood talk of the town, but proud dad Luke Garrard would be far happier with pick of the playground.

High-flying Wood’s love affair with the world’s favourite competition saw the likes of Blackpool, AFC Wimbledon and AFC Bournemouth chopped down to size during Garrard’s previous tenure, culminating in a last-16 trip to Premier League Everton in 2022.

Much has happened to the club and its iconic boss since, particularly the heartbreaking relegation in 2024 that saw Garrard leave before returning in September to mastermind an immediate return to Non-League’s top table.

Emotional but necessary, the break gave Garrard a new lease of life with Saturday’s third-round tie at home to League One Burton Albion giving him a shot at showing boys, Logan, 10, and Lucas, seven, the good side of a game that took so much from dad, and perhaps reward the patience of wife and “football widow” Lauren.

Memories

“Everyone wants the dream,” Garrard told The NLP. “It is all about memories and moments and I have a 10-year-old and a seven-year-old living every one of them with me.

“To have the opportunity to potentially walk out at a Premier League club again with them watching alongside my beautiful wife would be something special.

“My eldest was seven and my youngest four when we went to Everton; they didn’t have a clue what daddy was doing.

“Now they have a bit more of an understanding, particularly Logan – he could potentially tell everyone that his dad managed against a Premier League manager (in the next round) and that’s my aim.”

CROWD PLEASER: Boreham Wood manager Luke Garrard salutes the fans after their FA Cup trip to Everton in 2022, inset, his side in action at Goodison Park.
PICTURES: Alamy

Fairytale

While nothing could beat his motivation as a dad, the wish to scrub out that blot on Boreham Wood’s copy book by etching yet another “fairytale” is driving on Garrard, too.

“Not having a job was a humbling experience,” he admits. “After 10 seasons here, I had no purpose, nothing to do and nothing to prepare. You feel like you’re letting down your family.

“Everyone said ‘you’ll get a job’ and I did get an offer, but it wasn’t best for me. I had options, but people also told me that I wasn’t on the list and never would be – it was not a nice place to be.

“I was low and cried on the sofa many times.

“When I had the chance to come back here, I jumped at it. My family love it here, I love it here and the big task was to get promoted. I needed to right a lot of wrongs.

“We have changed our style, we are a different beast and I look at the game differently now. I went into a lot of clubs during my time away and had probably my best growth space as a manager.

“When you are fully involved in it, you don’t have time to think; you neglect your family at times.

“To have that time away and the opportunity to grow, be a part of ideas at other teams and clubs, was massive for me.”

Ladder

The speed and certainty with which Garrard answered the next question – the biggest thing he learned – was telling.

The response came without a blink or a pause: “Who is with me and who is not.

“When certain people don’t ring it isn’t nice, but I knew who my mates were.

“I went to watch clubs. The smart learn from the smart, the average learn from mistakes and the dumb have the answers.

“I wanted to learn, find out why people do things and get explanations, answers and ideas.

“We are still in a process here, we are just scratching the surface. We have to present different things, that was what I learned from a certain club and manager who works in the Premier League, someone who has forgotten more than I know.

“You can learn how and how not to do things. I want to progress and get as high up the ladder as possible.

“I felt I needed to change and evolve and we’re seeing some of that at the minute.”

Luck

And the secret to success against Burton? Make your own luck and ride it as far as it will take you.

“I have played and managed in many cup upsets, I know we will have to play at our maximum – carrying passengers won’t work,” said Garrard.

“We will go into the game full of confidence and belief – we have won nine out of 11, so there has to be a belief, but we also have to get lucky, I am not foolish enough to think that doesn’t play a massive part.

“That has been the case for me recently. I have lucked out and fallen on the right side of a lot of things; we just need to carry on working smart and make sure that luck continues.”