Ramsgate chairman James Lawson on their ‘sensational’ FA Cup victory over Woking and building a club for the community | Rams drawn away to AFC Wimbledon in round two

Chairman James Lawson couldn’t believe what he was seeing as Ramsgate upset Woking in the FA Cup First Round.

A sell-out crowd of 3,000 at Southwood on Saturday saw goals from TJ Jadama and Lee Martin secure a 2-1 win over the Cards.

The hosts - 62 places below their opponents in the pyramid - came from behind to win the biggest match in their history.

Their reward - a place in round two for the first time - and a trip to League 2 club AFC Wimbledon at the start of December.

Lawson was just happy to have a home draw against Woking, to give as many locals as possible a chance to be there.

But he was in for a surprise as Ramsgate, who upset AFC Totton 1-0 in the final qualifying round, raised their game again to pull off a far bigger scalp and take their prize money this season to just over £63,000.

“We said we wanted a home draw so local people could have the party, the kind that 400 of us had in Totton, but I never really believed we could do this,” said Lawson.

“Woking are 12th in the National League but what a team we’ve got - those boys out there were sensational.

“I think going a goal down actually settled them on the pitch. It seemed to.

“I just can’t stop saying this enough, for local people in this town to have that moment, it will never be forgotten.

“It will probably never be repeated - sensational.

“We had 3,000 people in and we could easily have sold 5 or 6,000 tickets.

“What a day. The fan group are so young now.

“You look around, how many kids are here? They’ll always remember it.”

Lawson has put the community at the heart of everything he’s done since becoming chairman in 2019, whether it’s the club coaching kids, feeding them or even sending them on helicopter rides during the school holidays.

He’s rebuilt