NORWICH born and bred, a young Mark Tyler stood on a milk crate on Carrow Road's old River End terrace every other week in the late 1980s and early 90s to watch and learn from his hero, Bryan Gunn.
The budding keeper trained with his favourite club from the age of nine to 14, travelling around the world to play for
Canary Rangers, and “dreamed of playing” on City's pitch.
The closest he got was as an unused substitute on loan at Hull City and by the age of 35, playing for a Non-League club, the chances of getting to run out on that pristine Premier League surface were minimal.
Then, after Norwich had beaten Peterborough United – the club he would join on associate schoolboy forms and go on to make almost 500 appearances – Tyler's current employers, Luton Town, would be handed an FA Cup fourth round trip to his home club. The one he dreamed of representing.
We all know the rest. The veteran stopper earned the man-of-the-match award with three vital saves before the Hatters nicked a winner to become the first Non-League side to beat a top-tier side in the Premier League era.
Five days on, Tyler is sitting in a Costa coffee shop in Peterborough, sipping cappuccino and eating a chocolate muffin. He's still on “cloud nine”, explaining: “It was just a dream to go there and play – it still hasn't really
sunk in.”
Tyler isn't one for personal glory. Immediately after Saturday's game he praised the “lads in front of me”, his manager Paul Buckle's substitutions and goalscorer Scott Rendell for his finish. A more unassuming, less controversial professional footballer you couldn't wish to meet.
But the man who has been comfortably the best between Blue Square Bet Premier sticks since joining the Hatters in 2009 adds: “If you ask any player, they'll want to go back to where it all started. Yes, you do want to go and prove them wrong, but to go back and play where it all started was a dream for me.”
You could forgive him for thinking he was still living in fantasy land when, after a family meal, well-deserved drinks and a few hours' sleep, he drew back his curtains on Sunday morning and could still see his teenage field of dreams.
“With all the big games I've played in, like the Wembley and Manchester City play-off finals, my partner Cindy likes to stay over and have a drink with all the family that have come to watch,” says Tyler.
Perfect
“The Holiday Inn in the corner of Carrow Road was perfect for her to meet everyone to hand the tickets out, then get together afterwards.
“I had loads of family there; 14 in the Luton end, my dad and a few others in a box and my cousin's boss is Norwich's deputy chairman, so he was sitting up with Delia.
“I didn't realise we were going to have a room with a view of the pitch. They could have just bundled in and watched the game from there. It was a great day – and a great sight to wake up to.”
The fifth round draw handed the Hatters a second shot at a Championship club, with Millwall due to visit Kenilworth Road for a live TV game on February 16, banking Town £233,000.
“In the Wolves and Norwich games the roles were reversed from what we're used to in the Conference,” says Tyler.
“We've got nothing to lose. In the league, we've got to dictate play and take the game to the opposition.
“This Cup run has shown another side to us where we don't have the ball so much, we keep a good shape and defend well – and while we've got Andre Gray up front with his pace and power, we've got a chance.
“He's on fire at the moment since the manager moved him through the middle to play off the shoulder, rather than out wide. We know we'll score goals, because if we get the ball in the box, we've also got Jon Shaw or Rens making the right runs to get on the end of them. We've been working on that in training for the last six weeks and it's paid dividends.”
What may also pay off for Luton is the midweek FA Trophy exit at league leaders Grimsby.
“Don't get me wrong, we all wanted to get to Wembley,” says Tyler, one of four changes to Buckle's starting line-up for
Tuesday's 3-0 quarter-final defeat at Blundell Park.
“But I think losing could be a blessing in disguise. Everyone knows the league is more important and if we'd had a two-legged semi-final to fit in again, we'd have been playing Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday, which would have been ridiculous.”
With four clean sheets in his last five games before yesterday's trip to Barrow, Tyler is confident the Hatters can finally put a consistent league run together and avoid a fourth successive play-off lottery.
Mad
“This year the league is mad, because no-one has run away with it, which has helped us,” says Tyler, who has seen Buckle bring in ex-Southend winger Dave Martin and Fleetwood's title-winning captain Steve McNulty, the centre-half, this week.
“We've got four games in hand on some teams and yes, of course you'd rather have the points on the board. But if you start winning those games and get the right mentality, then maybe the momentum to go on and establish a ten, 12, 15-game winning run takes you to the title.
“From the first day of pre-season, there has only been one goal for us and that's to win promotion. We don't want the
play-offs. Personally, I think that if we get on a roll, no-one will stop us. That's how confident we are at the moment.”
And unlike last week, Mark Tyler isn't dreaming. Let the business end of a barmy BSBP season begin!
