I played against Man Utd in FA Cup but it ended with shirt-swap snub – although I had a great chat with Wayne Rooney
HARRY BEAUTYMAN is hoping for some Cup luck with Sutton after a shirt snub the last time he tried to be a giant-killer.
The midfielder, then at Northampton, faced Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United in a League Cup clash in 2016.
Not only did Beautyman end up on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline, he then failed in his bid to get a souvenir jersey from Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford AND Michael Carrick.
Beautyman recalled: “Mourinho was manager that day. No matter who he plays against he plays a strong team. Some managers rest the big guns but Rooney played, Rashford came on, Carrick, Ashley Young and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“I remember going up to Rooney and asking him for his shirt and he said ‘I’m so sorry, I’ve given it to one of your other lads’.
“Then I’ve gone up to Rashford and he said exactly the same and so did Carrick.
“As soon as those three were done I thought I’m not asking for any more!
“But at the end there was a brilliant picture of me and Rooney chatting on the pitch and that will stay with me for ever. He was such a sound guy.”
Today’s game at Championship outfit Plymouth is only Sutton’s sixth appearance in the third round in 126 years.
But the League Two side, based on the borders of South London and Surrey, will always be remembered for one of THE great FA Cup giant-killings.
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Back in 1989 the then-Conference outfit hosted a Coventry side that had won the Cup two years before and were fifth in the top flight.
The Sky Blues fielded nine of the team that had beaten Spurs 3-2 at Wembley.
But Sutton triumphed 2-1 at Gander Green Lane in front of the Match of the Day cameras — making a star of their manager Barrie Williams, a pipe-smoking former English teacher who quoted Shakespeare to his players.
Then in 2017 they humbled Leeds on their way to the fifth round, before losing 2-0 to Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
Now Sutton must face a free-scoring Plymouth outfit who have bagged 19 goals in their last seven home games.
But lifelong West Ham fan Beautyman, 31, is dreaming of meeting the Hammers in the next round.
The East Ham-born star added: “For me, if we draw West Ham away it would be massive.
“All my dad wants is to watch me play at West Ham against them, so if we got that draw it would be amazing.”
For Sutton, this FA Cup run is a welcome break from the battle to climb away from the League Two relegation zone.
They axed manager Matt Gray three weeks ago after an 8-0 battering at Stockport and Jason Goodliffe has continued in interim charge.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the squad given Gray became manager in 2019 and led Sutton to the Football League for the first time in their history in 2021.
Beautyman added: “We didn’t know he was going to be sacked until he told us the news himself. We were deflated but we have to pick ourselves up and go again.”