Meet the Black Country footballers targeting an FA Cup giant-killing double

This weekend finds both preparing for the most high-profile matches they have ever experienced. On Saturday evening Tilt and Salford City take on Premier League champions Manchester City before, on Sunday lunchtime, Tonks’ Tamworth host Tottenham. 

Two televised FA Cup third round ties, two best pals aiming to take down a Premier League big gun. 

“It is a pretty surreal experience,” reflects Tonks. That might be an understatement.

Certainly, it is a far cry from Bentley West Park where as youngsters they would play for hours, whatever the weather.

“There would be a big group, probably 20 to 25 of us,” recalls Tilt. “We would play singles or doubles, Wembley knockout. It used to get very competitive!

“We would be out in the rain, snow, whatever. As long as we had a ball, we were all happy.”

Tilt and Tonks, who went to different primary schools but then both attended Willenhall School Sports College and played together for Walsall Schoolboys, quickly became close friends.

Completing the trio is Kristian Green, another member of the Bentley estate kickabouts who currently plays for Rushall Olympic in National League North. Through football and life, the trio’s brotherhood has remained unbroken. Their relationship can be best summed up by Green selecting Tilt and Tonks as “joint” best men at his wedding.

“He couldn’t pick one without the other, basically,” laughs Tilt.

There is a certain pub, on the outskirts of Walsall where, should their respective fixture schedules allow, the three meet on Saturday nights for an hour to share their experiences of that afternoon. 

“We sit there and talk about our games,” explains Tilt. “If we could have done this better, or that better. 

“We argue quite a lot, to be honest! If one thinks the other is in the wrong, we do tell each other. We are hard on each other. But we all have each other’s best interests at heart.”

The hope is this weekend’s debrief will include an FA Cup giant-killing or two, though the experience of these occasions alone ought to be enough to keep the conversation flowing.

Tilt’s career has climbed the highest and to that he owes some thanks to Tonks, for setting the ball rolling.

A useful striker in junior football for Pelsall Villa, Tilt had given up on the game entirely after leaving school and gone to work in a quarry. Then, one day at the age of 20, he accepted an invitation from Tonks to play in a pre-season tournament organised by his Sunday League team Punjabi Wolves at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall. That and a little white lie would begin an extraordinary journey taking Tilt to the professional game and eventually the international stage.

“They asked if I could play centre-half and I said yes, just to get on the pitch,” he says. “The truth was I had always played up front.

“But it went well. I played in three games that day and the Gornal Athletic manager, Ian Rowe, was there watching and asked if I wanted to join them. It all went from there, really.”

Gornal were then playing in the West Midlands Premier League, the sixth level of non-league football. Tilt’s ascent was swift, taking in stops at Tipton Town, Halesowen Town, Hednesford and Telford before, in 2016, he signed his first professional contract with Wrexham. 

“I was playing for Tipton when Curt joined Gornal and he always complains I never got him in there first!” chuckles Tonks.

“I remember on the day he didn’t play in the first game but as soon as he was on the pitch, he never came off it. He was that good.

“I guess I can claim a little assist for setting him on his way but he has done all the hard work himself. What he has achieved is incredible really.” 

From Wrexham, Tilt went on to play for Forest Green Rovers, Blackpool, Rotherham and Wigan, playing a season in the Championship for the latter before, in 2023, joining Salford City, where he is now club captain. Tilt also has two international caps for Jamaica.   

Even allowing for those special moments, there is an argument for Saturday being the biggest match of his career. Salford’s 4-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Burnley last season was the first and only time Tilt had faced Premier League opposition before now. In City, he and his team-mates are taking on one of the best teams in the world.

“I’ve not had much luck with cup draws,” he says. “There was one time at Blackpool when we drew Arsenal away in the Carabao Cup but because I had already been booked twice in the competition I was suspended, which was gutting.

“Obviously, with our ownership Manchester United would have been the best draw. But City aren’t a bad alternative! We’re going to give it our best shot and try to cause an upset.”

Tonks also has reason to believe he is finally getting some deserved rewards after Tamworth were pulled out of the hat alongside Tottenham.

The midfielder, who played alongside Tilt at Tipton, Halesowen and Telford before his pal’s move to the professional ranks, was a key member of the Stourbridge team which faced Wycombe in the third round of the Cup in 2017.

With the tie at Adams Park level at 1-1 with 15 minutes remaining, Tonks saw an effort clatter off the bar. A short time later Adebayo Akinfenwa got the winner at the other end. Wycombe went on to draw Tottenham in the fourth round.

“In some ways it does feel like it was written in the stars,” says Tonks. “That bar at Wycombe still haunts me.”

Tamworth have already dumped out Huddersfield and Burton to set up Sunday’s showdown with the eight-time FA Cup winners and Tonks has been one of the biggest stars, thanks largely to his long-throws which quickly went viral after earning the Lambs their first round victory over the Terriers when visiting goalkeeper Chris Maxwell fumbled one into the net.

“He’s always had that ability. I don’t know where it came from,” says Tilt, who is quick to point out there is much more to his friend’s game than just the ability to throw the ball a long way.

“Tom’s fitness levels are unreal to be fair and he is quite smart with how he plays the game,” he continues. “He needs more credit for what he can do with his feet than just his throw but obviously that takes centre stage and to be honest, I have never seen anyone throw a ball like that!

“But I speak to some of the young lads at Salford and tell them if they had the dedication Tom has, with their ability, they could play as high as they want to. 

“You need the mentality to want to keep going and keep striving to push yourself forward. That is what Tonksy has done, to be fair to him. He is playing at a level now he would not have reached had he not worked as hard as he has.”

That level is the National League Premier where Tamworth, promoted last season, are more than punching their weight in a division where they are among just a handful of part-time teams.

Tonks works for a catering firm, delivering food in a van around Wolverhampton and Bilston before heading off to training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or quite often a match.

“It is tough. We played away at Sutton on Tuesday and had to be on the coach at 2.45pm,” he says.

“The club are excellent and do everything they can but you do have lads turning up with laptops or with screwdrivers sticking out of their pockets.

“It is not easy at times but if you work at it, you get your rewards.

“I have spent most of my career playing at step three in non-league but I have worked my way up.

“When I was a kid I was mascot when Wolves played at Stockport. Then I went and played there for Telford. This season we’ve been to Yeovil and Rochdale. I love it.”

That word, love, keeps getting mentioned. Nurtured on those mornings, afternoons and evenings on the Bentley estate, it is the passion for the game which has pushed them on. At 33, their careers are a long way from finished but when the day does come, both will be able to say they gave it everything.

“If you don’t love the game, you don’t go on these journeys,” says Tonks. “In non-league the best players don’t always play at the best level they can because of the travelling. 

“If you have a young family and would rather spend the time at home, no-one can argue with that. 

“But Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays - at our level you can write them off because there are some very long journeys. If you didn’t love the game, you wouldn’t do it.

“It has been a long journey in the game and I have given everything, as much as I can to give the best to the teams I have played for. 

“I am not blessed with great pace of the ability to take three or four players on. So yeah, I have worked hard and I would like to think that now I am getting a few rewards from it.

“I have come from step six and park football, the same as Curtis really. He has gone on to do what he has gone on to do and now I am getting a bit of limelight myself. This is what we do it for, for moments like this.”