Former Altrincham resident Kenny Jackett out to upset the neighbours in Portsmouth FA Cup progress

He was once a resident of Altrincham – but Kenny Jackett doesn’t want his former neighbours to remember him fondly come Saturday evening.
Kenny Jackett once lived in Altrincham - now he's facing them in the FA Cup. Picture: Daniel Chesterton/PinPepKenny Jackett once lived in Altrincham - now he's facing them in the FA Cup. Picture: Daniel Chesterton/PinPep
Kenny Jackett once lived in Altrincham - now he's facing them in the FA Cup. Picture: Daniel Chesterton/PinPep

The Blues will face non-league opposition in successive FA Cup rounds when the Robins visit Fratton Park this weekend.

Having already disposed of Harrogate Town on their artificial pitch, Pompey now host a National League North outfit.

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Jackett has history with Altrincham, having lived in Timperley, a village within the Manchester town, during 2007.

At the time working as under-23s boss with Manchester City, he stayed for seven months before installed as Millwall’s manager.

Ironically, Jackett’s maiden game in charge was an FA Cup first-round trip to Altrincham, the town where he was still residing.

It was a fixture safely negotiated, albeit Millwall fighting back from a 1-0 half-time deficit to triumph 2-1.

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And, 12 years later, he once again encounters the club from his ex-home town.

Jackett told The News: ‘Altrincham is a nice place. I used to live in Timperley, which is a village in Altrincham.

‘For a season I worked with Stuart Pearce at Manchester City, I was number three with my role involving taking the under-23s

‘At the time they had Stuart, Steve Wigley and Derek Fazackerley in the first-team, while I was doing the under-23s.

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‘Then when I got the Millwall job, my first game was Altrincham away in the FA Cup three days later. I was still living there at the time, half a mile from the ground.

‘I travelled from Millwall to Altrincham on the coach that day, we trained on the way up.

'We won 2-1 and Alan Dunne scored a penalty, with Will Hoskins getting the other.’

Altrincham are unbeaten in 10 matches and have won the last four to head to the south coast in fine form.

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And Jackett has been picking the brains of others to get the low down on the 15th-placed side.

He added: ‘We have done our research. A good friend of mine, Russell Slade, is manager of Hereford and they played them a few weeks ago.

‘Hereford lost 5-1, but some people at that level will always help you.’

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