NEWPORT County will in January 2016 entertain Blackburn Rovers of the Championship in the third round of the FA Cup.

It will be the first time County have reached the third round since 1985/86 when the Exiles were beaten 2-0 at Sunderland’s Roker Park.

One of the County players that afternoon was Darren Peacock, who would go on to enjoy a fine professional career in the top flight – playing over 300 times in the First Division and Premier League - including a spell at Ewood Park before injury forced his retirement at the age of 32.

Now seeking a return to the professional game as a manager, Argus football writer Michael Pearlman caught up with Darren, who will be a guest of honour at Rodney Parade for the big game.

MP: What do you remember of your time with Newport?

DP: Where to even start. For me personally, coming to Newport came about when I was rejected by Bristol Rovers. Tony Pulis got me a trial at Newport and pretty quickly they offered me a two-year apprenticeship.

It was a strange time for the club, for the players, the supporters, because obviously people were coming to the club and pledging sums of money that would never materialise. They were in the Third Division in my first season.

It was absolutely great for me to see Newport County get back in the Football League a couple of years back. They were my first club, I owe them a lot in that regard and remember them fondly.

I have so many vivid memories of doing my apprenticeship at Somerton Park, because in those days, an apprenticeship was exactly that, we would sweep the stands and clean boots and all the things I do not suppose young professionals have to deal with today.

That was the norm in the 80s, but we didn’t mind and the people at Newport were always friendly, it was always a club you felt at home with. I had great teammates there, guys like Roger Freestone and Terry Boyle, too many to mention really.

MP: Do you remember the Sunderland game? Having thought to try and get hold of you, I was thrilled when I saw your name on the teamsheet!

DP: I do actually remember it vividly, because you’ve got to remember, that was by far the biggest game I’d played in at the time.

It was a big deal to play at Roker Park and I think there was probably a decent crowd (12,352).

I remember the team talk from (ex-County manager) Bobby Smith, I remember Eric Gates played upfront for them (he did) and mostly I remember it was absolutely freezing up there! But it was a good experience for a young player.

Unfortunately, I broke my leg at Newport later that season I think and was out for 18 months. And by then things had become hard…

MP: Financially?

DP: Exactly.

MP: You moved to Hereford and then to QPR who were in the First Division. What was it like moving upwards at a time when football was booming, post-Paul Gascoigne and Italia 90? And do you think starting at Newport made you appreciate it more?

DP: When I went to QPR, it was just before they re-branded the Premier League and it was boom time, although not to the level it is today. But football was being totally re-branded, you had the Sky Sports strikers and Monday Night Football and all these things we weren’t familiar with.

But for me personally, I always had a feeling of where I’d come from and how hard it had been to reach that level. I had 18 months out at Newport and when I was fit, the club had been sinking. If I am honest, at that time, I feared I wasn’t going to make it in the professional game at all.

But we had some good success at QPR under Gerry Francis.

MP: From memory, weren’t you the top London side one season?

DP: We were. We were incredibly well organised defensively and we finished above Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham, which was a big achievement.

MP: Which led you to St James’ Park. You were signed by Kevin Keegan to play in the Premier League. It must have been an incredible time? Every football fan of a certain age remembers that team with fondness.

DP: It’s certainly the subject that comes up the most, when I look back on my career. The main thing I remember, to be honest, was the intensity of the training.

It was very relaxed, but the quality and the speed of some of those players was just absolutely incredible. We would have 6,000 Geordie fans coming to watch us train! You couldn’t have a bad session, let alone a bad game.

The press, the TV stations, everyone was all over us. It was an incredible time.

Everyone always talks about the Man United game (Newcastle won 5-0 and Peacock scored) but it was just a great time in my career.

MP: I said you were a great side to watch and how much fun it must have been, but you were a defender, so did that make it tougher?

DP: As a defender it was sometimes a challenge, as it was an incredibly attacking team, the total opposite of QPR when Gerry Francis had us incredibly well-drilled in training and defence was always the focus.

Gerry was meticulous about defence, but Kevin Keegan was totally different, but the personnel we had were excellent.

MP: Reels off defenders’ names… (Albert, Barton, Beresford, Howie etc)

DP: Exactly. And we had a good goalkeeper and good defenders and we actually kept a lot of clean sheets. Our attacking players all did their part defensively as well.

MP: Except David Ginola?

DP: (Laughs). Those were your words!

MP: After Newcastle it was onto Blackburn. It seems like your career kind of bookends here? You were injury hit at Newport and at Blackburn, retired aged just 32?

DP: Yeah, opposite ends of the scale at the time, but Newport and Blackburn were similar experiences for me.

I suffered a serious injury on-loan at Wolves.

I damaged my neck and spine and knew I felt wrong, but the severity wasn’t clear until I went to see one of the top surgeons in the country.

I was suffering damaged vertebrae in my neck and compression to the spine and his advice was that I should never kick a ball again.

I’d had a decent career and he said one knock or clash could be very serious.

There was an operation I could have had, to fuse my spine and neck, which is the operation Dion Dublin had. But I had a beautiful young family and had to make them the priority.

Surgery obviously carries risk and we didn’t want to take that risk. I couldn’t jeopardise my health to prolong my football career.

MP: You’ve recently spent two seasons managing Lancaster City. Are you looking to get back into management?

DP: Certainly, that’s a very big priority for me, and I’m involving myself in the game as much as I can, be it in management, ideally, or development.

I am currently doing some work with the development side of the game in Lancaster (working with a development centre).

It’s a huge area that hasn’t had a top level player come through in a long time, and we want to change that.

I’m progressing with my badges and generally enjoyed my time managing Lancaster, I’d love to have another go at management.

For Darren Peacock’s verdict on the big game between Newport and Blackburn and his thoughts on returning to Wales for the clash see www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport in the coming weeks.