WHEN Josh Coulson dons his tin helmet for the 200th time in a Cambridge United shirt this lunchtime against Sheffield United, he will think back to his first big FA Cup game and wonder whether he's ever woken up in the last six years.
It's not often you will find a Non-League footballer admitting he is “living the dream” in the English game's fifth tier.
But it's not often either you find one who can genuinely say he loves the club he's playing for.
Cut the big defender open and he'll bleed amber and black is a cliché not wasted on the 24-year-old who has served Jimmy Quinn, Gary Brabin, Martin Ling, Jez George and now Richard Money with honesty, endeavour and no little talent in recent years.
Mainstay
“I supported the club as a boy so to even play one game was an honour,” says Coulson, who made his debut as a sub against Halifax Town on October 6, 2007. Friday marked the sixth anniversary of his first start, away at Kidderminster.
“To get 200 under my belt – if selected – is amazing. I never thought it would happen.”
Coulson's dad, Dave, a lifelong U's fan, has travelled home and away to all his son's game, whether at Needham Market in the fourth qualifying round this term, or Molineux, where his boy took on Championship high-fliers Wolverhampton Wanderers in only his fourth start in January 2008.
That was alongside fellow teenager Michael Morrison, who has since gone onto play in the Championship with Leicester City and Charlton Athletic.
“We trained at West Brom the day before and I remember Jimmy naming the team. We played three at the back at the time. I played right side, and Morro played left, and we were both quite young at the time.
“I was thinking, ‘As long as I could get on the bench at Molineux, that'll be ledge for me'. So to start was unreal. We were 1-0 up for ages, then Michael Kightly came on and changed the game. We were unlucky.”
As a rookie, Coulson could also consider himself unlucky that after making 17 appearances in his breakthrough campaign, he missed out altogether when the U's went to Wembley for the Conference promotion final they lost to Exeter.
It was the same 12 months later. He made 14 appearances under Brabin, but was again left out of the 16 selected to take on Torquay under the arch.
Their current position at the top of the Skrill Premier, four points clear of second-placed Luton with a game in hand, is their best since those near-misses – and it is nothing to do with luck.
With travelling partner Ian ‘Dusty' Miller alongside him, Coulson has been a mainstay of a defence that conceded only its third goal of the season at home in Tuesday's 2-1 win over League Two strugglers Bury.
The U's have won all 11 of their games at the Abbey this term, and will fancy their chances of continuing that run against Nigel Clough's Blades.
Prospect
“We were disappointed to concede on Tuesday, but we got the tin hats on and got ready for everything Bury could throw at us,” says Coulson.
“Dusty and I have got a great bond going – he's come in and he's a great bloke,” he adds of the 30-year-old signed from Grimsby in the summer.
“On and off the pitch, I always talk to him. He talks well, he leads well and he sets an example to you. It's nice to play alongside someone who's like that. Every team needs an Ian Miller. I'm just glad we've THE Ian Miller.”
With another two goals taking his haul to eight for the season, Coulson is glad they also have THE hot prospect in the Conference – midfielder Luke Berry.
“There's a few of us, like Bez and I, who have come through the youth system here and it's testament to the work the coaches and Jez do,” says Coulson.
“I'm living the dream as a Cambridge fan. I still live at home, I've got all my family here, all my friends, and it's the club I supported as a boy.
“The FA Cup is ledge to be in, but it's an added bonus. This club needs to be in the Football League and we want to be there, but we'll stay humble, keep it together and what will be will be. There is a long way to go and a lot of hard work to be put in, which I'm looking forward to.”
Spoken like a veteran.
