FA Cup Third Qualifying round time again and the players and officials of every team can be forgiven if their thoughts start to turn to the ‘propers’.  Win this game and they are 90 minutes away from that chance to draw a fallen giant *cough* Sheffield Wednesday or even a big local league side. The words ‘spinner’ and ‘money’ must also spring to mind for the officials, the words ‘TV’ and ‘live’ for the players.

We’re a whore for the underdog here so, in a rare moment of madness, we’ve decided to take a break and have a look at the big lads at this level. Who are the teams with FA Cup previous, who will the league clubs want to get a taste of their own giant killing medicine, if that’s not a contradiction in terms?

Lancaster City.v. FC Halifax
There have been fairly regular trips to the propers for City and in fact they were prevented from adding another journey by no other side than Halifax (Town) themselves, in 4th Qualifying in 1994.  On one of the occasions they did manage it, in 1972, they lost 2-1 to Notts Co in Round 2.  As Halifax Town, the Shaymen got to the 5^th Round in 1952/53, losing 3-0 to Spurs but having beaten Stoke and Swansea on the way.  They famously beat a troubled WBA in Round 1 in 1993 and, more amusingly, a less troubled Man City 1-0 in Round 3 in 1979/80.

Whitby Town .v. Blyth Spartans
This fixture has happened twice before – in 1967/68 in the 2nd Qualifying Round Whitby won 2-1 and in 1996/97 by the same margin for a place in the propers. When there they drew 0-0 with Hull City which didn’t really set up expectation for the replay, which featured a whopping twelve goals, finishing 8-4 to Hull.  Whitby beat the aforementioned Halifax 1-0 in Round 1 in 1983/84 before losing 1-0 to Wigan.

Given Blyth Spartans are one of the great giant killers in FA Cup history, you have to wonder how Whitby managed to twice beat them. They’ve got to the propers on numerous occasions and in 1977/78 equalled a non league record and got to the 5^th round. On the way they beat Chesterfield and Stoke before drawing 1-1 with Wrexham. The replay was put centre stage at St James’ Park Newcastle and Wrexham squeaked through 2-1.

The 5^th Round is the joint furthest a non league side has got in the modern era and the draw with Wrexham made Spartans the first one to make it into the Round 6 hat. Most recently they played Blackburn in Round 3 but probably the most notable thing about Blyth’s cup exploits is that, regardless of opposition, they’ve rarely been thumped by the bigger boys, even in defeat the games have been close and they’ve often taken teams to replays.

Cray Wanderers .v. Dartford
This one is a bit of a derby, despite Cray being based in Bromley at the moment. And, despite being one of the oldest clubs in the world, Cray’s FA Cup record is virtually non existent. 4th Qualifying round the best. Dartford of Blue Square South are almost non league mainstays in the competition, making the propers over 30 times. Despite the disparity in records, given the regional nature of the early rounds and the proximity of the clubs, it means this is the 4^th meeting in the FA Cup and the previous three happened within four seasons between 1960-64. Dartford took the first 5-4, Cray won the second 1-0 and Dartford thumped Cray 5-0 in the most recent.

Hyde .v. Bradford Park Avenue.
1956/57 will long be remembered by those fans of Hyde still alive to tell the tale.  It was a festival of goals. They played 10 FA Cup games that season, both they and the opposition scored in every game, there was at least 5 goals in every game, 71 in total and an average of 7 per tie.  Three of the ten games ended in 4-4 draws, two of those against Stalybridge Celtic alone.

(Kind of) Like Halifax, Bradford Park Avenue are the odd team out in this round, on account of them being a professional league side until 1970 and having finished 9th in the top flight on one occasion.  Consequently, their best-in-article Quarter Final appearances are less surprising than everyone else’s achievements.  However, their greatest Cup successes were when they were in the old Division 2.  In 1919/20 they lost 4-1 to Chelsea in the QF after beating Forest 3-0 and Notts Co 4-3. They beat Everton in 1923/23 and again got to the quarters in 1945/46 but lost 6-0 to Brum after a 2-2 draw at home. They returned to propers in 2003/04 but got humped 5-1 by Bristol City.

Slough Town .v. Hanworth Villa
They’ve fallen on hard times and they’ve been on here a few times this season but, once, Slough Town were a force. They’ve knocked out Wycombe, Walsall and Millwall and taken Cardiff, Orient, Reading and Macclesfield to replays. In contrast Hanworth Villa are in their inaugural FA Cup season and, with patronisation not intended, they’ve already done superbly well to get this far.

Hednesford Town .v. Corby
In the halcyon days of the mid/late 90s, Hednesford were a notorious Cup side, remember their famous, epic 3-2 loss to Middlesbrough in 1996/97?  They got to at least the 1^st round for the next four seasons too.  Corby themselves had a healthy Cup record in the post war years, culminating in a Round 2 replay victory over Luton in 1965/66.  Hednesford won the only FA Cup meeting between the sides, 3-1, in 1995/96.

Solihull Moors .v. Grantham Town
This could be a record at this stage … Grantham’s first ever FA Cup game was against Clapham Rovers in 1877. One hundred and thirty four years ago. We weren’t even alive then. They lost either 1-0 or 2-0 depending on who you believe, Rovers say 2, the Gingerbreads say 1. Who knows?  Since then they’ve accounted for Bradford Park Avenue, when they were good, and they also despatched Stockport and Rochdale between the mid 60s and 70s when they got to the propers 9 times in eleven years.

Billericay Town .v. Leatherhead
Billericay will be one of the more annoyed non league sides in the FA Cup.  They’ve twice got to the propers and twice drawn non league sides. No glory tie for them. They also lost both times. Doh!  Leatherhead are right up there with the giants though. In 1974/75 they got to Round 4 beating Brighton and Colchester before facing Leicester at Filbert Street. The tanners were even 2-0 up at one point but got pegged back to lose 3-2.  They got to the propers 6 times in 7 years after that.

Lowestoft Town .v. Chelmsford
Not really quite a derby but this one’s one of the hottest tickets of the round.  Town got to the propers twice in the 60s losing to Leyton Orient and Watford by just one goal. They managed the same in the 70s against Cambridge and recently aginst Wrexham. Like their Blue Square South foes Dartford, Chelmsford City have been regular toe-treaders in the FA Cup over the years. They  got to Round 4 in 1938/39 beating Darlington and Southampton.

Maldon & Tiptree .v. Hendon
Only recently merged neither Maldon nor Tiptree have done much in the FA Cup as a unit or individually. Hendon on the other hand are from the same semi-pro minefield as Chelmsford and Dartford. The Greens famously held Newcastle to a 1-1 draw at St James in Round 3 in 1973/74 and beat Reading 2 years later and Leyton Orient in 1997/98. Not only that but the club’s now sadly forgotten Claremont Road ground was opened to some fanfare for an FA Cup tie and provided the backdrop for Hendon’s largest attendance, 9000 against Northampton in the FA Cup.

Stourbridge .v. Evesham United
For a team that first entered the FA Cup in 1896 and has entered nearly 70 times, Stourbridge only managed to get past the fourth qualifying round two years ago when they drew near neighbours Walsall. They lost 1-0 but over 2000 people turned up to watch for the first time in over 30 years. It’s a similar story for Evesham, although they hadn’t quite been trying for as long and managed it a year earlier, losing 2-0 to Torquay. The two teams have met before, though, in 1995/96 when Evesham won 3-0 after a replay.

Nantwich Town .v. Kendal Town
Nantwich have only managed this stage before, so could be on the verge of greatness.  Kendal, though, were relative regulars in the first round proper (as Netherfield) between the 40s and 60s and twice got to the second round, including their record attendance versus Grimsby of 5184.  But we’ve included them here for their what-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger attitude.  In 1980/81 before the stupid (or kind, as Kendal might be more apt to say) abolition of multiple replays, they managed a whopping 6 replays against Bridlington Trinity in the FA Trophy, which nearly killed them.  The postponed games and rearrangements cost them £1800 and they had to drop down a league the following season. Won’t happen this year though. Phew.

Sutton United .v. Bognor Regis Town
Still the last non league team to dump a top flight side out of the FA Cup.  And they were the current holders to boot. Much has been written about Sutton’s win over Coventry in 1988, my god even we’ve had a bash.  Bognor Regis are not short of giant killing themselves, in their heyday of the mid/late 80s they got to Round 1 five times, beating Swansea and Exeter along the way.

This is by no means an exhaustive list so if your team is in the hat, not on this page but has got some form in the propers, please feel free to add a comment. We could go on, of course, Dover were one of our teams of the season last year and don’t get a mention, but we can sense you nodding off … so [end].

With thanks to the superb Football Club History Database. Someone please keep this going and update, if only we had time …

The Real FA Cup Awards 2010.

The Nominations Are: Click Link For All Polls

Best Player:
Sanchez Ming – Dulwich Hamlet
Marcel Jones – Enfield 1893
Ryan Ashe – Wealdstone
Jack King – Farnborough
Danny Forrest – Crawley
Danny Kedwell – AFC Wimbledon
Sam Duncum – Ilkeston

Best Game:
Broxbourne Borough V&E 1 Enfield 1893 4
Ashford Town (Mx) 2 Hendon 2 (9-8 on pens)
Farnborough 2 Hastings 1
Dartford 1 Chelmsford City 4
AFC Wimbledon 2 Crawley Town 1
Wealdstone 2 Rotherham 3

Best Ground: This one is not easy either.
Champion Hill – Dulwich Hamlet
Princes Park – Dartford
Beveree Stadium – Hampton & Richmond Borough

Most Helpful Club:
Wembley
Basildon United
Wealdstone
AFC Wimbledon
Sevenoaks

Team Of The Tournament:
Lowestoft Town
AFC Wimbledon
Tooting & Mitcham United
Aylesbury
Wealdstone
Enfield 1893
Forest Green

I’d just watched my train to Ashford pull away from platform 15 at Waterloo, meaning that I would be cutting it very fine indeed if I was going to make it to Short Lane in time for kick off, if indeed I made it at all! The next train was timetabled to arrive barely 5 minutes before kick off and the 25 minute walk from the station to the ground seemed now to be a deal breaker. After some deliberation, I took a gamble and jumped on a train to nearby Feltham, hoping to wing it in a cab from there. It was one of the best decisions I have made in a long while.

Arriving at the ground having spent more than £15 to get there and still missing the first 10 minutes, I was not optimistic. The original tie between these two Ryman Premier rivals on Saturday had ended 0-0 and there was little early evidence of the drama to come in the first period of play that I witnessed. Neither side could create much of a chance and the only entertainment was the atmosphere, provided by the combination of a surprisingly noisy bunch of Tangerines fans behind the goal (who insisted on doing the “oooooooOOOOOhhhhHH” shout during every back pass) and the regular lift off of flights from nearby Heathrow.

On 24 minutes, Hendon took what was probably a deserved lead through Lewis Ochua after a superb cross from the right. The home side, always (even by the stadium announcer) referred to as “Ashford Town (Middx)” in order that they may be distinguished from their namesakes from deepest Kent, had mostly matched Hendon without ever threatening the Green goal but that almost changed just before half time.

Referee Quelch had apparently not been “at his best” so to speak on Saturday, according to the locals, and he did his popularity in this part of the world no favours when turning down what looked like a very strong penalty shout which, had he given it, would almost have certainly meant red for the Hendon defender. Luckily for Mr. Quelch, half time was only seconds away at which point he was given the privilege of having to leave the pitch in the corner, right next to the tea bar whereby he could receive some congratulations for his performance. “Worst decision I’ve ever seen”, “Cheat” and “Did you get your whistle in a cracker, ref?” were a few.

The second half started with referee Quelch insisting, almost continually it seemed, on the Hendon players getting a move on and not wasting time at throw-ins – a fact mocked by one defender who pretended to take a throw without a ball, it having not yet been returned from the stand.

On 67 minutes, the ground came alive when Ashford captain Paul Johnson curled a free kick into the top right hand corner of the Hendon net with his left foot. The Ashford Trees were back in it and the odds were further swung in their favour 10 minutes later when Wayne O’Sullivan was sent off for an elbow which, it seemed, no-one saw apart from the ref and his “George from ‘George and Mildred’-alike” assistant (left). Surely now, the home side would make their dominance tell?

They started well, Brian Haule managing to do something I’ve never seen done before by hitting the crossbar twice with a single shot – the ball bouncing straight up in the air the first time, only to come back down and strike it again. But as time ticked on, it was actually Hendon who looked the more likely to score – their efforts though, did not produce the vital goal in normal time, meaning that we were to be treated to an extra 30 minutes of what, by now, was a very good game indeed.

It took Ashford only six minutes to take the lead in extra time, with a superb cross from the much-maligned Hone Fowler (‘Kiwi’ to his management) which was headed in at the near post by Byron Harrison.

Ashford, however, began to show their nerves despite their numerical advantages both on the scoresheet and on the team sheet and, once the Hendon manager had thrown on some attacking subs in an effort to try and claw back their place in the Cup, the game swung back towards the Tank End (pictured). Lubo Guentchev was only just beaten to a short back pass by the Ashford keeper in one of many efforts the Dons carved out.

When all looked lost, however, and with 1 minute of injury time in extra time having already been played, Hendon substitute Glenn Garner curled an identical free kick to Ashford’s equaliser into the top left corner to send the Hendon fans and bench into delirious celebrations. Barely had the game kicked off, once the referee had calmed everyone down, when Mr. Quelch blew his whistle to indicate that time was up and we would have to settle for a penalty shoot out.

In another first for me, all 5 initial penalty takers scored and, when the next 3 from each team did likewise, talk switched to what would be done if Hendon ran out of penalty takers, having seen their number 9 depart the pitch what seemed like hours ago. Eventually however, another O’Sullivan – Vinnie this time – saw his effort saved by keeper James Reading and it was left to Pat O’Donnell to power the Dons into a 4th Qualifying Round tie at home to Woking.

The jubilant Hendon fans behind the goal left singing “… and she wheeled her wheel barrow, through Wealdstone and Harrow …” long into the night and Ashford were left to wonder how they’d let things slip so late on after having fought their way back into the game.

I had missed my last train home but a very kind fan gave me a lift back into town and, after a game like that, I probably could have happily walked the 17 miles home.

That last statement was not true. But it was a very good game indeed.

Hendon FC’s Supporters Trust will be the lucky recipients of some benevolent love on Oct 12th when St Etienne & Richard X take to the stage as part of the Social’s 10th anniversary celebrations.

Tickets at the link below, some of us may well be there …

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/60109

One of the last fields Bontcho graced regularly as a player was Hendon’s famous old ground, which has featured in loads of films, TV programs and ads, it’s an icon. Sadly, in the week before this game, it was repossessed by developers and so Hendon had started playing their games at nearby Harrow Borough. Harrow were at home that day so the green and white army had to switch to WEMBERLEEEE!!!!

Imagine Roman pulling his rouble out of Chelsea and them having to switch their games to Fulham but having to switch to Griffin Park due to a fixture clash, hahahaha, if only. Anyway, Woohoo, we were off to Wembley already and we hadn’t even got to the ‘Propers’. Errr … no … Wembley FC, not Wembley Stadium. However, you can see the arch from the ground and we got the train with England fans on the way to the Kazakhstan game so it felt special. And a bit weird when they all got off and we carried on for another stop.

This was also the first ground we’d been to that vaguely resembled what you might call a stadium. Down the main side there was a bar set back from the pitch, with a kind of patio area in front. You really can’t beat football when the sun is blazing, you’re standing, beer in hand, twenty feet from a World Cup goalscorer watching the FA Cup.

The game was fairly good but Telford barely got out of second gear during a thoroughly professional performance and Hendon only scored in injury time with a dubious penalty. I definitely saw Bontcho this time, he looked old but then don’t we all? The Telford fans, though, were great, they were well up for this Cup malarkey. They only stopped singing at the start of the second half, they even sang all the way through half time and had a man with a twenty foot stick with a flag on the end. And a fucking bell ringer. Grrrr.

They did sing some good songs, including the Shrewsbury dissing ‘There’s only one team in Shropshire’, which sounded funnier in song than it does in print. The ‘No ground, no fans’ song sung to the boycotting Hendon fans, protesting about their ground repossession, was a bit harsh and, without any audible response was a bit hollow. Their most popular tune was their rework of the classic FA Cup song – ‘Wemberlee, Wemberlee’.

Now it’s getting serious, this was probably the biggest crowd we’d seen at Dulwich but even then the Dulwich fans generated precious little noise or atmosphere.  As with most league games the away fans do still tend to be the most fanatic and noisy. Hendon’s fans were no exception and they bought World Cup semi-finalist and Ipswich Town cult figure Bontcho Guentchev!

Well, we think they did, we were fairly battered by halftime and it was such a brilliant sunny day leaning up against the wall behind the goal that we (well, I mean, I) completely forgot about him.

This game was the proverbial game-of-two-halves, the first a turgid affair only enlivened by a well volleyed Hendon goal and Dulwich being reduced to 10 men thanks apparently to a brutal hack that we didn’t really get a good view of.  The second half, however, was excellent and entertaining.  Dulwich, a man down and looking like it, conceded a second goal only a few minutes in but it was disallowed for an earlier foul. This seemed to drag Dulwich’s bloody carcass off the canvas, they enjoyed relentless possession for about 20 minutes and scored twice to take a previously unlikely 2-1 lead.  The second goal was hilarious, during a melee a Hendon defender accidentally headed back towards his own goal and the keeper tipped it on to the bar, below which stood a forward.  The game then went end to end for ten minutes before Dulwich made the classic error of sitting back and trying to hold on to their lead, which they classically failed to do. Well worth eight quid.

Hendon 2 Dulwich Hamlet 1
Attendance 139
Price £9

The only thing of note Simon mentioned about this game was the Marcus Stewart-esque spectacle of Dulwich’s star striker Laurent Hamici wearing gloves. It was 1st October and I challenge anyone to find an earlier example of wussery this season.