While he’s rooting for Woking, Watford are more likely to emerge victorious in this FA Cup 3rd round clash, according to Chez Isaac, a consultant at rec-to-rec Aspire Rec2Rec who previously turned out for both clubs.

This weekend sees Premier League clubs enter the fray in this year’s FA Cup, with the likes of cup holders Chelsea and the competition’s most successful club Arsenal beginning their campaigns in the hope of making the trip down Wembley way next May.

But the fixtures also see National League, South club Woking take on the Premier League’s Watford. Ahead of the clash, Recruiter spoke to recruitment consultant Isaac, who, while he currently turns out in central midfield for Chelmsford City, played for Watford earlier in his career. Isaac only left Woking at the end of last season. His former Woking teammates include Anthony Cook, who also works as a recruiter at Harrington Starr.

Speaking to Recruiter this morning, Isaac revealed that while Woking are in good form, Watford are the “overwhelming favourites” going into this weekend’s fixture.

“I think everyone loves an underdog, don’t they? So I think it would be nice to see Woking win. I did have some good times at Woking. They went down last year but for a non-league club, they’ve got a great ground and a great stadium and fans… That was more recent than Watford. I was on the bench a couple of times [for Watford], but I never got on the field for the first team there. If you ask me, it would be nice to see an FA Cup upset for a non-league team.”

Isaac, who has also worked for agencies PE Recruitment and Corrigan Bentley Group, added he has got used to balancing the demands of his two careers.

“There are some long days – 14-15-hour days where you’ve had a long day in the office and you’ve got to get over to Essex and train, but you could say I’m used to it. I’ve been doing it for a while now.”

And having a sporting background has also paid dividends when Isaac has sought new roles in the sector.

“They [agencies] always like that you’ve got a sporting background because in recruitment you do need that competitive edge. It’s always something they bring up. You do need to be competitive and you do need to have that drive to do well so there is a lot of similarities.”

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