IN the week that Manchester United confirmed a £60m deal for Angel Di Maria, the realities of football for almost everyone else in the country was drummed home by Beaconsfield SYCOB manager Andy Hurley.

His team take on Didcot in the second qualifying round of The FA Cup licking their lips at the prospect of the £1,925 reward.

That windfall would go a long way to meeting their monthly wage bill – and the same is true for most clubs at their level – and Hurley admits it’s the cash more than the prestige that teams play for now.

He said: “Everyone is on an absolute shoestring. Cup games are important because they can bring in much-needed revenue.

“Those at the top of the game have no idea what’s going on at the bottom and I don’t think they’d want to know.

“But Non-League Football is the real football and people that come to watch it are the real fans. The rest is just showbiz.”

Beaconsfield go into the game in decent shape after a 1-1 Bank Holiday draw with Chalfont St Peter in Division One Central of the Southern League.

That came after a tough 2-1 loss to Daventry on Saturday and Hurley admits that both teams felt the effects of two games in 48 hours.

He said: “It was two evenly matched teams playing in appaling conditions. It had rained heavily on Monday morning and rained throughout the game. It was a heavy pitch and both teams looked tired.”

Meanwhile, Hurley is crossing his fingers he can freshen up his squad for tonight’s cup tie by recalling centre back Jonny Munday.

The centre back signed last Friday but went over on his ankle 25 minutes into his debut on Saturday.