Well you were right there! Friday 7th November on BBC2 - Kick off 7:55. The club didn't move the game to The Halliwell Jones Stadium (Warrington Wolves ground) but have chosen to stay at Cantilever Park where the pitch is bobbly, on a bit of a slope, right next to the Manchester Ship Canal (so it gets a bit breezy) and it's a tight ground only holding a couple of thousand at most. Hopefully I can get a ticket. Just right for an cup upset!!!!!
So as we all know, FA Cup First Round weekend is approaching and quite a few Non-League teams are at home to league teams. I reckon there could be a few shocks on the cards. Maybe even Warrington?! Not much local interest here for me personally, but Hemel and Forest Green are still in the competition! Mansfield Town v Concord Rangers Gosport Borough v Colchester United Yeovil Town v Crawley Town York City v AFC Wimbledon Walsall v Shrewsbury Town Notts County v Accrington Stanley FC Halifax Town v Bradford City Warrington Town v Exeter City Eastleigh v Lincoln City Basingstoke Town v AFC Telford United Dagenham & Redbridge v Southport Weston-super-Mare v Doncaster Rovers Peterborough United v Carlisle United Cheltenham Town v Swindon Town Bromley v Dartford Braintree Town v Chesterfield Barnet v Wycombe Wanderers Gillingham v Bristol City Portsmouth v Aldershot Town Norton United v Gateshead Crewe Alexandra v Sheffield United Grimsby Town v Oxford United Tranmere Rovers v Bristol Rovers Southend United v Chester FC Luton Town v Newport County Stevenage v Maidstone United Bury v Hemel Hempstead Town Cambridge United v Fleetwood Town Northampton Town v Rochdale Dover Athletic v Morecambe Port Vale v MK Dons Wrexham v Woking Plymouth Argyle v AFC Fylde Barnsley v Burton Albion Hartlepool United v East Thurrock United Coventry City v Worcester City Oldham Athletic v Leyton Orient Havant & Waterlooville v Preston North End Blyth Spartans v Altrincham Forest Green Rovers v S****horpe United
I hope all the non-league sides that get through to the second round are drawn against each-other. I want as many non-leaguers in the third round as possible.
No, I didn't! They sold out in 40 minutes!!! I know the romance of the Cup is important to the smaller clubs in particular but I can't help feeling that Warrington Town have shot themselves in the foot. They've sold out (2,500) but had lots of people who queued up that didn't get tickets. Quite a few disgruntled people up here. I know people will say 'Well you don't go regularly so why should you get a ticket" but in a Rugby League town that has a large proportion of Man C, Man U, Liverpool & Everton fans a lot of people, me included, wanted to support their local team. That would change of course should they get to the 3rd round and draw Watford! Had they moved the game to the Halliwell Jones Stadium, modern and with a 15,500 capacity right in the town centre, they would have got a bigger crowd and been able to have pay on the day for those who decide to go at the last minute. Cantilever Park only has 4 turnstiles, one stand that holds about 80-100 and one that holds about 40, a covered terrace 7 steps high and the rest of the ground is just level footing against the advertising hoarding.
Would the (real) Wire allow the Halliwell Jones be used for that? I s'pose as the season is over now it wouldn't be too bad. Fair play to teams like Warrington Town, St. Helens Town, Wigan and Hull City AFC for existing in league towns. Would quite fancy an away trip to Warrington in the 3rd Round.
I appreciate it's a live environment and "anything can happen", but to refer to Warrington as MK Dons once and Karl Robinson as Karl Pilkington is just unprofessional. Good game though, should definitely have been moved to the HJ.
Warrington win. BBC get what they desired. Fair play to Warrington, but lovely biased coverage this evening.
Wow, you do not often get level 8 teams beating league teams. What a performance. I'd love Watford to play a team like this one day.
Exeter were so unlucky last night! That Grimes looks very promising. I sincerely hope that Robbie Savage doesn't get any more live commentary gigs in the competition. Unlistenable shrieking and nothing of any interest to say, he sounded like a drunken old Welsh lady. Not a Savage hater at all, but he can't commentate for toffee.
Sore head here today! My local was rocking last night. What a gutsy performance from Warrington. Just what the FA Cup is about. Didn't ever think they'd get this far. Here's hoping for a nice home draw again and then get Watford in the 3rd round (I'd love that). The HJ is a Community Stadium and has hosted football matches in the past so if they draw a local or well supported team I reckon they could move it. They reckon they could have sold 9,000 tickets for last night's match!!
Am I the only one who doesn't want non-league teams, or indeed underdogs, to win in these games? I think I'm a terrible person.
I'm not entirely sure why, I just really wanted Exeter to win last night! I'd hate for Watford to play one of these non-league teams because it just seems that they enjoy kicking the **** out of pros.
I don't think Warrington did that! They tackled hard and in the main, fairly - there were a couple of over zealous tackles but you get that in the Football League.
Sad about the result for Hemel but it was a grand day out! Must get an award for the longest chant though - started in the 65th minute and carried on right through to the end of the match (including right through the two late Bury goals conceded!). RBB/1881 would've been proud of that one. Definitely the longest chant I've been part of!
Game reminded me of us playing in the championship. Team with guts, spirit and endeavour overcoming a more technically gifted side.
I remember playing Harlow Town at The Vic in 80/81 I think. Could see the nightmare happening when they went 1-0 up!
Not sure what division they were in at the time but mid to late 90s we beat Ashford 5-0 despite it being 0-0 at half time. Fairly sure we brought on Connolly at h/t and he bagged a hat-trick.
Yep I remember this, last time we played non-league oppo in a competitive game. Weren't we in Division 2 (League One) then though? So our odds of being drawn against non-league teams were much higher as we entered in the 1st Round.
Here is the BSaD match report on the game from 96/97! Watford v Ashford Town. Unfortunately it seems this version of Ashford went out of business in 2010. Now replaced by Ashford United. Highlights seem to include: * A David Connelly hat-trick * Jack Petchey was our owner * Brighton had no stadium * Kenny Jackett was our manager * Gifton played * Mooney played I was probably at this game, but have absolutely no memory of it at all. http://www.bsad.org/9697/reports/ashfordh.html
I may be wrong, but think it was a quickest hatrick scored by a sub in the fa cup proper round at the time. I am sure it was some sort of record
Could have been interesting if Hemel had hung on to win at Bury, they'd have got the scum at home! Warrington got a bit of a naff draw away to Gateshead (no disrespect to them) but it would have been nice to get a home tie or a local away match.
Agreed, reckon they'll scrape past Bury again and get ridiculously hyped up when they draw us in the next round.
