Andy Awford Andy Awford ( born July 14 , 1972 in Worcester , England a former football player and chief scout at Portsmouth F.C. , is currently the first team coach at Oxford United under Jim Smith . Awford began his career at his home-town club Worcester City F.C. , where he became the youngest player ever to appear in the FA Cup , aged just 15 years 88 days , when he came on as substitute in a tie at Boreham Wood . Impressive displays at left-back meant he signed professional terms with Portsmouth , for whom he went on to make almost 400 first-team appearances , and helped them reach the FA Cup semi-finals in 1992 . In this time he also played nine times for England under 21s . But his career is a prime case of what might have been . He missed out on the Cup final when they lost a penalty shootout to Liverpool , the following season Pompey missed promotion to the Premiership by one goal , and hopes of a big-money move were wrecked by a broken leg which kept him out of the game for 14 months . His subsequent knee problems never completely healed , and he retired following the 2000/01 season , taking up the position of chief scout at Portsmouth . In April 2006 , he was appointed the first team coach at Oxford United . This biographical article related to an English football defender is a stub . You can help Wikipedia by expanding it . Categories : 1972 births | Living people | Natives of Worcestershire | People from Worcester | English footballers | Portsmouth F.C. players | English football defender stubs 