The Giant Killer's Second Act...

When Jack Duggan walks into a room, you notice. Tall, broad-shouldered, and possessing the natural presence of a classic non-league central defender, he commands respect before he even speaks. But when he does, the voice is soft, warm, and engaging. On the pitch, he is a vocal leader; off it, he is one of football’s genuine good guys - a player who thought his time in the sport was over due to injury at Step 3, only to experience a remarkable career renaissance at Knowle FC.

His return has been integral to Knowle’s treble-winning season and back-to-back promotions into Step 5, earning the club a place in the FA Cup for the very first time in their centenary year. Three weeks ago, Knowle made history by winning their Extra Preliminary Round tie against Darlaston Town. On Saturday, they travel to Pack Meadow to face Coleshill Town - a club sitting a step higher in the football pyramid - in the FA Cup Preliminary Round.

If anyone at Knowle knows what it takes to create magical FA Cup history against the odds, it’s Duggan. Back in 2016, he became an immortal figure at Stourbridge FC when his late goal knocked League Two side Northampton Town out of the FA Cup, sending the seventh-tier club into the Third Round Proper for the first time in their history.

I sat down with Jack to talk through his memories of that legendary cup run, the chaotic match preparation, that historic goal, and what it feels like to live through the romance of the FA Cup.

I began by asking Jack to take me back to the start of that famous cup run with Stourbridge, and how his season had begun prior to the magic unfolding.

"It was my first season after I moved to Stourbridge from Rushall," Jack recalls. "I was injured for the first couple of months believe it or not!. I was watching the team play the preliminary rounds. I think we played four or five games in the preliminary rounds, and we were looking really good."

"We got into the First Round Proper of the FA Cup against Whitehawk. I don’t remember the preliminary rounds that year so well, as I'd played quite a few of those over the previous few years, but unsurprisingly I clearly remember my first “proper” FA Cup appearance - that season, the First Round “Proper” against Whitehawk. 

The Whitehawk tie was far from straightforward. I asked Jack about the dramatic finish that almost put them out before the journey had truly begun.

The game was away from home at Whitehawk, and the score was 1–1 heading to a replay, and I came on up front for the last 10 minutes of the game to see if we could squeeze a goal and make it through without needing a replay. As it turned out it nearly went the other way!"

"I cleared a header away, and it was literally the last second of the game," Jack says, leaning back with a smile. "As the header went out of the box, the referee raised the whistle to his mouth. On the blow of his whistle, they rattled a volley in the bottom corner! They all celebrated, but the referee had blown the whistle. Looking back it was hilarious…but at the time it was a huge controversy and absolute chaos - a nightmare for them!"

"Anyway, it finished in a draw, so we took them back to our place, and it was a very different game - we absolutely destroyed them 3–0. Again, I came on up front for the last 15 minutes, playing as a striker. That was the First Round of the FA Cup for you, always a bit of controversy!"

With Stourbridge advancing, and a big second round tie coming up, Jack's focus shifted from just making appearances to establishing himself back in the starting XI. I asked him how he and the team prepared for that historic second round tie.

"First of all, my job was to perform well and ensure I got myself back into the starting line up, even though the team was doing really well, for the next round against Northampton - which thankfully I did."

"Now, we were supposed to play on a Sunday, and we got to the ground - at home against Northampton - and one side of the pitch was frozen, so the game was called off, with the players and fans suddenly left with a free Sunday"

“What followed was legendary non-league preparation" Jack chuckles. "Faced with a free day, the whole team and a load of fans - about 300 of them I think - we all went for a drink…and got absolutely clattered! But the rearranged fixture was arranged for the following Tuesday, so it wasn't the best match preparation!"

"Anyway, the match came about, and we were the better team on the day. I was playing, and we limited them to a couple of shots. We were at home in front of 2,500, I think it was, with about 300 or 400 of their fans in the corner."

As the match remained deadlocked at 0–0 deep into the second half, the tension at the War Memorial Athletic Ground was palpable. I asked Jack what was going through his head as the clock ticked down towards the 86th minute.

"The truth is, I actually don't remember too much about what happened before the goal," Jack admits candidly. "I was getting my head on a few throw-ins, I was... we had a long throw, someone that took a long throw, and I was winning my battles and I felt like I could be dangerous."

"Then it got to the last...I think it was our last free-kick that we had. I hung back…I just had a feeling, and then as the keeper got a tip on it, it landed right in front of me and I've just hit it with my left foot!"

I pressed Jack to describe the exact moment the ball hit the back of the net and the immediate aftermath on the pitch.

"Truthfully, it just felt like I didn't know what to do when it went in!" he laughs. "I did an awful Ronaldo celebration, which was terrible. I don't regret it, but I was thinking, 'What the hell am I doing?' I had no idea, I had 2,500 fans just screaming at me!"

"But the feeling...I don't quite feel like I've ever felt like that in football, ever. The feeling when we won was incredible. The feeling of knowing that you've made history for a football club that's never got to the Third Round of an FA Cup - I mean, Stourbridge have had really good FA Cup runs over the years, but they'd never got to the Third Round. Scoring that goal and putting the team into the Third Round of the FA Cup was absolutely incredible."

That victory set up a dream Third Round tie away at League One Wycombe Wanderers. I asked Jack to reflect on that final chapter of their historic run.

"Next we had an amazing Third Round tie against Wycombe where, again, we were probably the better team at their place in front of I think about 8,500," Jack remembers. "We took a full stand of about 3,000 fans."

"Unfortunately, for one of their goals, I lost the main man, Adebayo Akinfenwa, at the back post! So... I was a bit gutted. But we had a great, great run. An amazing day at Wycombe, and we were very, very unlucky not to come out of there with a minimum of a draw. We lost 2–1 after going 1–0 down, having brought it back to 1–1..."

"But what a feeling. Absolute amazing feeling, that cup run. I don't think I'll ever repeat it again... unless it's this year as well! You never know."

As Knowle FC step out onto the pitch at Pack Meadow against Coleshill Town this Saturday, they carry the momentum of back-to-back promotions and the pride of a centenary year. In Jack Duggan, they have a defender who knows precisely what it takes to slay giants and write unscripted history in the world's most famous cup competition. Everyone connected with Knowle FC - players, staff, and supporters alike - will be hoping that lightning can strike twice for their big central defender, that history repeats itself for Jack, and that a brand new chapter of FA Cup magic is created for Knowle FC.