CHERTSEY Town chairman Mark Turner believes that a win against Southend United in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round would be his club’s 'biggest ever achievement', reports Leon Imber. 

Blues are set to host the Curfews in both side’s first ever involvements in this stage of the competition.

And the Shrimpers’ opposition, who currently play in the Isthmian League South Central Division, are now on their best FA Cup run in the history of the club.

“We’ve had a difficult tie every single round, I’m really proud of the lads,” said Turner.

“Especially when you consider how many months we had off during lockdown.”

A hugely historic fixture for the eighth-tier outfit, the Chertsey owner feels a win would be particularly great for the club’s long-standing secretary.

“Winning would be massive, more so for our secretary Chris Gay,” said the Curfews’ owner.

“He’s approaching 50 years at the club and one of his goals was to play at Wembley, the other was to reach the first round proper.”

“His dad comes from Southend, so there are a few omens, I’m hoping the stars align for us.”

Blues’ rich Football League history and full-time setup makes them the Curfews’ toughest ever opposition and Turner has not played down the magnitude of the match.

“I think it would be our biggest achievement, my biggest achievement, the club’s biggest achievement and all the players’ biggest achievements,” the chairman claimed.

“We played at Wembley and won the FA Vase, which is an unbelievable achievement, but I would say this is bigger.

"It is potentially the biggest game the club has ever played, certainly financially wise too.

“It’s the biggest task we’ve ever faced.”

The Shrimpers go into the match having lost five of their last six matches in the National League, but Turner insists that Southend’s plight will have no bearing on Saturday’s clash.

“I don’t want to get drawn into the situation at Southend, we just need to look after ourselves,” he said.

“But it’s clear from the results that they haven’t been having a good time and we hope we can capitalise on that.

“We’ve had a different training week this week because it’s the cup and that’s why form goes out the window, you can forget about the league.”

The Shrimpers’ chairman Ron Martin revealed last week that his side are operating on a £1.4 million playing budget this season and Saturday’s opposition work with a much different budget.

“Our players get expenses, and our expense budget is probably five per cent of Southend’s weekly playing budget,” Turner revealed

"There’s no one on the pay roll as such

"I’ll be hanging up the players' kits before the game, and I’ll be taking them home and washing them after, I’m not sure the Southend chairman will be doing that’