'I matched Cristiano Ronaldo's FA Cup feat - now I'm out to cause more shockwaves'

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Neil Danns achieved a rare feat for a lower-league player by becoming the FA Cup top scorer, matching the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo , Nicolas Anelka and Robin van Persie.

But he didn’t realise he did so until years later. Now manager of Southport, in the sixth tier of English football, he made history as a player, and this weekend, he will look to do it as a manager as they look to cause an upset in the fourth qualifying round.

Danns enjoyed a successful professional career, playing in every division from the Premier League to League Two with the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham, Crystal Palace and Bury to name a few. Arguably, none were more memorable than the 2005-06 season in the FA Cup , the same year that his boyhood club, Liverpool , beat West Ham United in the final.

Then at League One side Colchester United, he netted five goals to finish as the joint top-goalscorer, in a giant-killing run that was ended by Chelsea in the fifth round.

Danns’ crucial moments helped slay the higher-league opposition. He struck in a third-round win over Sheffield United before a double against Derby County along the way to his five goals.

Their dream run ended at the last-16 stage against a Chelsea side boasting Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole with Jose Mourinho in the dugout.

“Even to this day, I don’t grasp the magnitude of the achievement enough,” says Danns. “It is brilliant, especially doing it at a club like Colchester United.

“I wasn’t really focused on my goals in the FA Cup at the time, it was more challenging on both fronts in the league and cup.

“Even when I think about it now, I didn’t think about it at all - it was only a few years later when I found out.”

Barnsley’s Paul Hayes and Steve Basham of Oxford United share the honour alongside Danns, but with fond memories come ones to forget.

Including a red card against Liverpool as Philippe Coutinho capped a late fightback against Bolton Wanderers, during a replay in 2015.

As the away end went into raptures, in the bowels of the Trotters’ stadium, Danns was in the dressing room, head in hands.

Nine years later, he witnessed his son, Jayden, 19, score twice on debut in the same competition, for the club he’d been sent off against and in front of the Kop.

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“Definitely a love-affair, it’s a cup that holds dear to this family - even more so now,” Danns says.

“It is a full circle moment. I’m not looking back yet [at Jayden’s career] - even though I do still watch the YouTube clips a lot.”

The Liverpool youngster capped a memorable week for the family, spanning a Premier League debut against Luton Town, winning the Carabao Cup at Wembley and topping it off with goals against Southampton .

The 42-year-old says: “It was already one of the best weeks of my life then he goes and scores his second in front of the Kop, gets Man of the Match, (laughs) this is everything you’ve dreamed of and more.”

Injury means the 19-year-old will be cheering on his dad from the stands at Haig Avenue as he looks to guide Southport FC to a giant-killing in what would, arguably, be his biggest management feat to date.

The 42-year-old took over the Sandgrounders in the summer, with the club at the beginning of their transition under new owners after treading dangerously close to extinction prior to the takeover under the previous stewardship.

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History and form isn’t on their side, 2019 was last time Southport made it past the fourth qualifying round, when the former Guyana international was at Bury in League Two.

They now find themselves bottom of the National League North and welcome FC Halifax Town, unbeaten in their last five and the playoff-chasers from the division above, 90 minutes from the first round proper.

“We are underdogs,” Danns says. “We’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a tough game.

“It’s the FA Cup, we all know that things can happen in the competition. We will do all we can to continue our story in it.”

When it comes to the FA Cup, fewer families have a richer history in the competition than the Danns’.