Father and son sharing Hemel FA Cup adventure

Back in the 1980s, Ian Allinson reached the FA Cup semi-finals with Luton Town and the last eight with Arsenal.

But the former midfielder will be just as delighted if Hemel Hempstead Town, managed by his son Lee, can pull off a first-round shock against Wigan Athletic.

The Tudors are fourth in National League South, three levels below the 2013 winners, and will have to do it the hard way as the game will played at Wigan's Brick Community Stadium.

They will not lack confidence, however, after winning four of their past five league games - and Lee has vowed to have a commemorative tattoo done if they can reach round two for the first time in the club's history.

He certainly will not have to look far for advice on the pitch as his father is the club's head of football operations and had a 30-plus year management career of his own, most recently with St Albans City from 2016-22.

"We speak three or four times a day and his experience is invaluable to me," Lee told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"The good thing is I'm not sharing a bedroom with him on Friday night so I'm over the moon about that. The chairman has let me have a nice single room."

Hemel reached the first round proper with a 2-1 victory over Yeovil Town from the division above, thanks to goals by captain Kyle Ajayi and Finley Wilkinson.

It is the Hertfordshire club's first appearance in the main draw since 2014, when they also faced north-west opposition and lost 3-1 to Bury.

"These times don't often come around - in my dad's career in management, in 30 years he probably got there five or six times," said Lee.

"We're going to have a right go at it (against Wigan). The one thing we'll do is be difficult to break down and if we can stay in the game, I firmly believe we'll get a chance.

"It might be a chance to win us the game, it might be a chance for a consolation. On Saturday we'll find that out, but nothing will surprise me with this group (of players), they're a good group.

"The league is non-stop and you're never able to enjoy a victory because you've got one (more game) round the corner, so this week is just about enjoying it, having some fun, doing things properly and then applying ourselves the best we can on Saturday and trying to get the result."

Lee had plenty of opportunity to observe his father's approach to management while growing up.

"From [when he was] five years of age, I had to take Lee to every single game I went to as a manager so he was in every changing room," said dad Ian, who also played at Wembley in the 1988 Full Members' Cup final for Luton against Reading.

"If he wasn't in the changing room, he was banned from grounds because he wouldn't put the ball down, he was smashing it against walls, smashing it against windows, and he'd come home filthy and go to school (next day) with dirty legs."

He isn't the only 'name' in the Hemel Hampstead backroom team.

"Eric Cantona creates some sort of Cup final record, stroking in two penalties," were the words of famed BBC commentator John Motson as Manchester United beat Chelsea at Wembley in 1994.

The goalkeeper sent the wrong way twice by the Frenchman that day was Dmitri Kharine, now a member of Hemel's coaching staff.

When the draw against Wigan was made, he said: "It's a good ground to go and play against a professional club.

"I would probably prefer to take them home and play here but what happens happens and we will go there with chin up and hopefully we'll get the right result."

Kharine, now 57, also played for Celtic during his career and won 23 caps for Russia and an Olympic football gold medal.

"He's been crucial from the moment I walked into the football club - his experience and what he's done in the game is massive and what he does with the goalkeepers is different class," said Lee.

"You've only got to see Michael Johnson's performances since he arrived to know we've got a top goalkeeper coach. We'll lean on him and my dad as well because they've both seen it and done it."

After Watford, Hemel Hempstead is the second largest town in Hertfordshire - bigger than Stevenage, which has a League One club - and they are eager to take the next step to the top tier of non-league football.

They are doing well under their manager, who left Hendon to take charge last December, and is happy when his dad throws in a "curveball" during his deliberations on the right tactical approach for games.

"He wants to know my reasoning behind things but I always go with my gut if I can - it's non-stop for me, it's what I've always wanted to do, be a manager rather than a player," Lee said.

"No-one told me about the stress but I'm very fortunate to have some good people around me, this is a brilliant football club and I'd love to take them as far as we can - and Saturday is going to be an unbelievable day."

Asked about his son's strengths, Ian said: "His man management is very good, he's probably better than me on that side of it.

"He's always on the phone talking to people, whether it's players, whether it's managers, and he's excellent on the training pitch, puts very good sessions on and then it's just 'can we fine tune this, can we fine tune that?'"

Hemel hope to take around 1,000 supporters to Wigan for the tie, so the celebrations will be loud if they do manage a shock win.

But what about that tattoo for the manager, who already has several?

"I'm going to get a Hemel badge, with the score and a picture of my chairman's face on my leg," he said.

"I've got a lot but we'll find some space. They've all got a little bit of meaning to them so to have one with a Hemel result against Wigan, I'll take that all day long."