Leeds United legends at Butlins, sitting with Jesse Marsch and a £300k reward for EFL chairman

For Andy Holt, whose late father was a card-carrying Whites supporter, it's a treasured memory. So is peering through the window of Rediffusion in Burnley's market square to watch that team take on Sunderland in the 1973 FA Cup final. Standing with his dad at Turf Moor watching Leeds, albeit in defeat, is yet more family history.

So when Emile Heskey pulled ball nine from the 'hat' and made real a possible home tie against Leeds, the Accrington Stanley owner was halfway to dreamland. Actually he wasn't quite halfway because Stanley first had to overcome Boreham Wood and Leeds had to get past Cardiff in respective third round replays.

The Whites did their bit with a 5-2 thrashing of the Championship side and on Tuesday night Accrington completed the job, just, with a 1-o extra-time victory over their National League visitors.

"It was a struggle but we got there in the end," Holt told the YEP.

"That's the beauty of the FA Cup, everyone goes the extra mile, it's a one off game and if you can get through, you get through. "They had the same desire as we had to get through, because we knew the prize."

The League One owner sat next to Jesse Marsch at The Wham Stadium, one man scouting the possible opposition for Saturday's fourth round and another wishing desperately to provide it.

"For me personally it's fantastic," he said.

"My dad was a big Leeds fan, he died in 81, he was only young when he died. He always supported them. I was a big Leeds fan too. He died when I was younger and I moved on to other things, more local teams. I remember Burnley beating Leeds and he was the only one on the ground who was furious on Turf Moor. There's a lot of family history as far as Leeds goes.

"I actually met the best team that ever lived, the early 70s Leeds teamat Butlins in Filey as a kid. Peter Lorimer, Billy Bremner, Reaney, Madeley, Trevor Cherry, Eddie Gray, Frankie Gray, you name it, the whole squad were there. My mum has a photograph."

Joe Holt wasn't from Leeds and his son grew up on the Stoops Estate in Burnley, among pit workers and 'proper folk, like Leeds,' in Andy's words. But like so many across the country at that time, geography was no boundary when the team in white played football.

"They were the best team in the world, so good to watch," said Holt.

"I watched the FA Cup final against Sunderland when I was nine outside Rediffusion shop window because we didn't have a tele. They kept shooing us off but we kept going back."

It won't just be a special occasion for the owner of the club. A Premier League side coming to town is a big deal for any League One outfit, never mind one who have to punch above their weight most of the time. They sit 20th in a table that shows five former Premier League clubs in the top seven. Founding members of the Football League, the current incarnation of Accrington Stanley had to fight their way out of non-league in 2006 after years in the Lancashire Combination, Cheshire County League Division Two, Northwest Counties and Northern Premier. This is just their fifth season in League One.

"We're so proud to be playing them, it's a great local match, somebody from just over the hill and it should be a fantastic day," said Holt.

"We're Accrington Stanley, we're living the dream, we're thriving. We're a great little community club but we're not a Premier League club and we're never likely to be. Getting to play Leeds is just phenomenal, it's what the FA Cup is all about. It's a dream come true. It means a massive amount to our town. We've been fortunate enough to draw a magnificent club like Leeds at our place. You can't beat it. It'll be great to see all the Leeds fans, we're not like most clubs they'll enjoy a bit of freedom and they'll have a great day. We're looking forward to welcoming them. Leeds are great fans, a top group of fans, they follow them everywhere, proper fans. I know a lot of them, a lot of our staff are Leeds fans."

Holt has never been shy of telling it like it is for a club like Accrington in the EFL. For years, until he left the social platform, he was active on Twitter and laid bare the club's financial challenges. This game means so much more than just nostalgia.

"Beating Boreham Wood will probably make a difference of about a third of a million quid by the time we've had all the TV income," he said.

"We've had extra advertising revenue, it'll be a sell out. It'll be really good. You're looking to break even or not make too much of a loss and hopefully this year we'll do that. It is tough.This one match is nearly equivalent to 50 per cent of what we get from the EFL in a year in terms of TV distribution for an entire season. It's that sort of order. It's massive. We only turn over £3.5m so this one win alone is worth 10 per cent of our annual turnover. We don't overspend, we try to keep within budgets and be sensible. We are ambitious, we try to go as far as we can with what we've got but we'll never be Leeds."

They can't be Leeds, but can they beat Leeds? In John Coleman, Holt has a manager in his second spell in charge. All told he's been at the helm for 21 years and one month. He will be rubbing his hands at the thought of pulling off a famous upset and making life difficult for the Premier League side with a taste of football's real world. That said, this game will be not be played on a 'cow field' as trips to lower league sides sometimes are.

"Last night I was sat next to Jesse Marsch and his wife," said Holt.

"He was really gracious. He came to see what he's got to beat and the way we played he might not be too worried. He was really pleased to see we've got a good pitch. It's installed by that same people that put the pitch in at Elland Road, exactly the same make-up. So they've no excuses on Saturday, I'm not putting pressure on but it's not like it'll be a strange pitch.

"John wants to win every game, I want to win every game but realistically it's going to be a very tough ask. I don't want him to beat himself up too much like he does when we don't win, he's been doing a bit too much of that. I hope he can enjoy Saturday but knowing him like I do he'll be out to try and pull off an upset."

Accrington, in Holt's own words, aren't going to win the FA Cup this season, so soaking up as much enjoyment as possible from Saturday's tie and only their fourth experience of this stage of the competition in their history, is a priority. Whatever the result, another chapter will be written in the Holt family's Leeds United history book.

"Hopefully it's good quality football, we'll have a couple of pints of beer and get on with it," he said.

"I feel honoured and lucky that we get to play these games. It's brilliant. We'll see what happens. I've got a lot of memories of a fantastic club and hopefully my dad is looking down and I can say we played them, or better yet that we got a draw or beat them and all."