SALFORD CITY will make sure they unleash their new star signing against Hartlepool on Friday night – Rick Astley!
The 80s hit Never Gonna Give You Up has become the Ammies' anthem since Manchester United legend, and one of their five famous owners, Paul Scholes joined in with a dressing room sing-song after their FA Cup first round upset of Notts County.
The Evo-Stik NPL Premier side won 2-0 in front of the live BBC cameras to set up a second round date with Pools on Friday.
And joint-boss Anthony Johnson reckons the cheesy pop is helping the team spirit of a side pushing for a second successive promotion while also winning 17 away league games in a row before last Saturday's defeat at Grantham.
“It started when we went away to Nantwich in the FA Trophy recently,” Johnson told The NLP.
“Our coach trips are legendary and it came on. It's one of those songs; everyone's ashamed of it, but they know the words. After the Notts County game it was on again, everyone was bouncing and it's been on for every game ever since.
“It seems to be the official anthem of Salford City at the minute – I heard there's talk of trying to get it to number one for Christmas! The coach trips are like a lads' holiday. They love being together. Everyone works hard during the week and when we get on the coach it's a massive release for everybody.
“If we win we enjoy it afterwards. All of us, the committee, management, players and fans. I wish we could get on a coach two hours before a home game!”
This time it's under the Moor Lane lights again. With their Class of '92 owners, some feel their story is not the typical FA Cup fairytale. Something Johnson – joint-manager with Bernard Morley – feels is unfair.
While their first round exploits mean they are less of an unknown quantity, Johnson has warned of what could go wrong.
“The reality is, if we're not at it we'll get beat four or five-nil,” he said. “Because of what we did to Notts County, people can lose sight of this level of football.
“The fact remains if we don't turn up right, don't prepare right and we don't have that same desire we could end up getting turned over big time. I think everyone understands that.
“It's a fine balance. The lads know they can get something out of the game, but also understand how hard we're going to have to work and how tough it's going to be.”
