The qualities required to succeed as a financial adviser held Tamworth number 8, Ben Milnes, in good stead as the midfield dynamo and his team took on Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup third round last weekend.
Following Tamworth’s terrific performance in which they took the Premier League club and former cup winners to extra time before going down 3-0, Milnes, whose day job is director at OCS Financial Planning, spoke to Health & Protection.
He spoke about how surreal his experience on the day was, knocking out Robbie Savage’s Macclesfield in the early rounds, and his pride at what Tamworth has achieved. And he also spoke about which of the skills and attributes picked up on a football field are most important in the world of financial advice.
Surreal day
“It was a pretty surreal day overall really, Milnes (pictured with mascot in black track top) tells Health & Protection.
“We met at a hotel before the pre-match meal, went for a walk and then got the coach to the stadium,” Milnes continued.
“Obviously there was a lot more fans than there usually is.
“All of the TV crews, photographers, it was so many people and so much media attention.
“And then the game went better than we expected to be honest.
“Holding Tottenham to a draw after 90s when you consider some of the players that they had out, it was crazy really. Surreal. I’m still trying to work out whether it actually happened in my head.
“When you look back on it, it was just a surreal experience overall.”
Robbie Savage
Reflecting on the Tamworth’s run which started back in autumn, Milnes points to a day where he crossed paths with former Leicester player and radio pundit Robbie Savage who owns Macclesfield FC.
“We joined the competition in the final qualifying round in the autumn,” Milnes explained.
“We played Macclesfield which is who Robbie Savage manages.
“They got quite a bit of media attention because he’s the owner and manager there.
“We beat League One Huddersfield in the first round. We beat them at home in the first round which was live on the BBC as well.
“Then we beat Burton away in the second round which is a local derby as they are 20 minutes apart.
“It was a really good crowd away. We beat them on penalties in the second round. The third round was yesterday.”
Parallels with work
But the team’s run has also seen Milnes draw on the transferable skills necessary to be successful on the football pitch and in the world of financial advice.
“I think there are quite a few transferable skills that come across from football that not many people think about,” Milnes said.
“There’s the stereotype of the footballer not being the most intelligent, but there are quite a few transferable skills that can come across into the workplace.
“There’s a never-give-up attitude. I’m a competitive person and obviously always wanting to win at sport.
“Making sure you do things right in the workplace, you never want to fail and put in those extra hours to make sure that you’re the best in your job – whether that be on a football pitch or outside of football – which is one of the main traits that I feel like that I have and a lot of sports people would say the same.”
Massive achievement
As for Tamworth’s run in the cup, Milnes said he was proud of their achievements, and even a little disappointed.
“We’re really proud,” Milnes said. “We’re actually a little bit disappointed.
“It almost felt like that we could have won it and it would have been one of the biggest shocks in FA cup history if we had.
“But even to take them to extra time with the team they had out is a massive achievement in itself.
“I’m really proud of the team, staff and the club as a whole.
“All of the Tottenham fans were really respectful, had all the time in the world for us and gave us shirts and hung round for pictures. Brilliant day all round.”