The F.A.Cup

The Football Association Cup has begun.

Yesterday morning there were 368 clubs in with a chance of winning the cup, most had no realistic chance of winning but you never know. A series of upsets can see a lowly club go a long way but realistically it will be a Premier League Club that wins the cup next spring.

This morning there are only 367 clubs left with that chance of winning. London Colney are OUT having been beaten 3-1 by Woodford Town in the Extra Preliminary Round, which takes place before the Preliminary Round, which takes place before four Qualifying Rounds and only then do we get to the First Round of the cup when the Football League Clubs join in.

I enjoy the F.A. tournaments and sometimes I enjoy the F.A.Trophy and F.A.Vase more because in those competitions a lowly team is guaranteed to win. The Trophy is for levels 5 to 8 and the vase is for levels 9 and 10. This year I found that no level 11 clubs have been included which was not the case in the past. I learned about Level 11 leagues by tracking and tracing the Level 11 clubs that appeared in the F.A.Vase.

The F.A. do seem to want to cut off amateur teams from the professional game which is why they changed the structure of the South West Peninsula League. I thought that it was the best league which allowed teams to develop from the amateur game to the professional game without having the trauma of changing leagues and having to deal with all new contacts and all new clubs.

Tonight sees the bulk of matches in the Extra Preliminary Round take place. I shall be watching with interest as another 183 teams are knocked out of the competition. I used to think that there was no point competing if you cannot win but the money the F.A. offers to competing teams which increases with every round is important to the coffers of the little clubs so a good cup run can keep a team going for another season or several.

Let me pick just a few ties for you to follow. Bear in mind that I have virtually no knowledge of clubs at this level so I usually pick on those with unusual names.

Crook Town v. Yorkshire Amateur : What is an amateur team doing in the professional game? Are they capable of dealing with a town full of crooks?

Wythenshawe Amateurs v. Shelley : Another set of amateurs competing in the professional game and this time they are taking on a bloke with high intelligence who refuses to work and hates the establishment. COME ON SHELLEY!

Maine Road v. Squires Gate : Do we want to keep the traffic moving or ensure that it comes to a halt?

Romulus v. Coventry Sphinx : I had no idea that a mythical creature was taking on the founder of Rome. Can sphinxes play football? How much training has Romulus had?

Blackstones v. Boston Town : Will Boston survive the bombardment of black stones coming their way?

Diss Town v. Framlingham Town : How much dissing can Framlingham take. Will they use foul language in response? Listen carefully.

Park View v. Hashtag United : Do you go for the country walk in the park or stick to twittering about the matches that you choose to watch?

Hullbridge Sports v. Hadley : I picked this match because as a young man I played at both of these places and they hold some good memories. I did have a little too much to drink in one of these places.

Oxhey Jets v. Bishop's Cleeve : I picked this one for the Science v. Religion angle.

Royal Wootton Basset Town v. Chipping Sodbury Town : Because the first sounds posh and the second sounds as if it could not give a shit.

Lordswood v. Hanworth Villa : Two posh clubs

Oakwood v. Cobham : Two clubs from the trees.

Lancing v. Phoenix Sports : The home team will keep stabbing and the away team will keep rising from the dead. What better match could you watch?

Badshot Lea v. Amesbury Town : One team high and wide of the target, the other more carefully taking aim at the goal.

Now we are approaching my area of the country I will pick two of my selections for this season.

Keynsham Town v. Exmouth Town : Exmouth have high hopes that this is the start of a long run.

Wells City v. Bovey Tracey : This is the first experience of the F.A.Cup for Bovey Tracey and I fear that experience at this level is very important.

Roll on tonight. I may not be able to watch live but I will keep an eye on the results. I do normally visit one of the local clubs for the start of the F.A.Cup but this is Coronavirusyear.