Two of the most important clubs in Gary Breen’s career meet in the FA Cup on Monday night.

He’ll be involved in that most unlikely of fifth-round fixtures, too, providing overseas commentary of Maidstone United’s history-making trip to Championship club Coventry City.

Breen’s links to the tie don’t end there, either, as he’s also a former team-mate of Stones manager George Elokobi - the pair playing together under Mick McCarthy at Wolves.

Centre-back Breen started his career as a 17-year-old in the first team at Maidstone in 1992 while it was Coventry where he became a Premier League player, joining the Sky Blues from Birmingham for £2.5 million in 1997.

Breen, who won 63 caps for the Republic of Ireland, joined United after turning down an apprenticeship at Charlton so he stay on at school for his A-levels.

He’d study Monday to Friday and play for the Stones on a Saturday.

He made his debut in a Division 4 goalless draw at Wrexham, the week after the Welsh club had beaten league champions Arsenal 2-1 in one of the biggest FA Cup shocks of all time.

As a go-to story, it even trumps reaching the semi-finals with Sunderland, particularly being a boyhood Gunners fan.

“I just have wonderful memories of Maidstone,” Breen told KentOnline.

“That was one tough learning curve for a young player, playing in that group. It was a tough, uncompromising dressing room.

“When people talk about the Crazy Gang at Wimbledon, I’d argue that dressing room I went into at Maidstone was a particularly difficult one.

“There were some lads who were really good footballers but were playing at that lower end because they maybe weren’t the most professional bunch in the world.

“I’d be doing my A-levels and I’d go and meet up on a Saturday, which must have been difficult for those lads when some 17-year-old’s coming along and just playing.

“They wouldn’t have been particularly happy about that but they were great to me and I forged friendships there that lasted a very long time.

“At 17 I’m tall but I was very slim and I’m coming up against these giants up front.

“You have to learn very quickly and those lads were very protective of me.

“It’s wonderful that Maidstone are back in the news.

“I even have people now who say I remember watching you at Maidstone.

“You feel like you have a real connection to that club and probably my happiest time was at Coventry, certainly in terms of making my Premier League debut.

“For them to be meeting in the fifth round of the FA Cup, I don’t know what odds you’d have got on that, but they’d have been very long.

“It’s an incredible achievement for Maidstone and they should be so proud.”

Breen played for Gillingham and Peterborough before a move to Birmingham helped him into the international set-up with Ireland.

He’d been at St Andrew’s less than a year when Gordon Strachan and Coventry came calling.

“That was a steep learning curve there as well because you’re going into the Premier League with no experience of it and you’re up against the best centre-forwards in the world, so you have to learn quickly,” said Breen, now 50.

“It was a brilliant education, I loved playing football there.

“I played with some really good players.

“We had Gary McAllister, Dion Dublin, Mustapha Hadji and then younger guys like me, Darren Huckerby, Robbie Keane and Craig Bellamy.

“One season, we were called the entertainers.

“The fee doesn’t seem like much now but it was at the time.

“I’d made my debut for Ireland by that stage.

“I was an international so you kind of think teams are looking at you, as such, but Coventry were the ones to make the move and I loved my time with Gordon Strachan.

“He wasn’t an easy manager, he was of the school of Alex Ferguson, Aberdeen and Manchester United, and he had his own version of the hairdryer.

“It was a tough baptism but I thoroughly enjoyed playing under him. He was brilliant for me.

“He’s small but he’s got such presence.

“I played for Mick McCarthy, a big, 6ft3in hulking man but Gordon Strachan had rapier wit, he was as sharp as anything and if you were to say anything, he would just put people in their place like you wouldn’t believe.

“As a young player, I’d be sticking up for people when I shouldn’t have been.

“I should have just kept my head down, so we had some confrontations unfortunately, but nevertheless he knew my heart was in the right place.

“Certainly in terms of the Premier League, I played my best football at Coventry.

“You’re young and your career’s ahead of you.

“From 22 up to 27, or whatever, that’s probably your best years, certainly in terms of the innocence you have because you think it’s never going to end.

“You get a bit grizzly as you get older and you’re not as wide-eyed but I really loved playing for Coventry.

“It’s sad to see the struggles they’ve had because when I went there, there was talk about them getting this brand-new stadium and the directors and the chairman were projecting this on to you, saying this is where we’re going to be playing.

“I was there almost six years and we still never got the stadium.

“Lo-and-behold, they chased that dream and it was a disaster because they sold their ground for this shiny new stadium that they never owned and they’ve been paying for it ever since.”

Breen stayed with Coventry following relegation in 2001, captaining them in what’s now the Championship.

He’d go on to star at the 2002 World Cup as Ireland reached the last 16 under McCarthy, scoring in a 3-0 group-stage win against Saudi Arabia.

After a spell at West Ham, he linked up with McCarthy once more as Sunderland won the Championship title in 2005.

He followed McCarthy to Wolves, which is where he met Elokobi, a young left-back who moved to Molineux from Colchester in 2008.

“That would have been my last season as a professional,” recalled Breen.

“George came in after we’d lost in the play-offs the season before.

“Mick McCarthy did it at Sunderland when the more established players were let go and he had to find gems in the lower leagues.

“He did it to great effect there, where we ended up comfortably winning the Championship, and he repeated the trick at Wolves.

“That second year at Wolves, he had to find even more of those players and George was one of them.

“You knew as soon as George came in, he was such a great athlete, which is obvious when you look at him.

“He’s got that big barrel chest and he was a flying machine. It’s great to have that athleticism.

“It wouldn’t be easy defending under Mick McCarthy in terms of how kind of demanding he would be.

“As an older player, I’d probably be able to help those younger players which would have been the likes of George, and of course Rob Edwards, who’s excelling as a manager at Luton.

“That following season, after I retired, I had no doubt Wolves would get promoted and they did.

“George seemed to be a real crowd favourite which is great because when Wolves fans like you, they really get behind you, and they certainly did with George.

“He’s very engaging, a unique person.”

Elokobi’s determination made him a darling of the Wolves fans - and gave him a secret talent off it.

Jay Bothroyd was the squad’s table tennis king at the training ground - but there was a new man in town.

“George used to drive the lads mad at table tennis,” said Breen.

“He would never play an aggressive shot - he just kept getting the ball back.

“And do you know what? This Maidstone team in this FA Cup run just keep staying in the game, like he did in table tennis.

“Jay Bothroyd was probably the best table tennis player.

“He was so flamboyant and had all the shots, flicking it, knocking it past you, you wouldn’t even see the ball, and yet George just kept getting it back and getting it back and it was driving Jay, more than anyone, absolutely insane.

“George would be sitting there waiting for his game and they just couldn’t beat him. He just sucks the life out of you. He drains you. That’s what he does.”