The club that never ‘ducks’ from a challenge look 12 stations down the Met Line for inspiration

The FA cup doesn’t just begin when the Premier League teams  enter in the 3rd Round proper. It begins this week with the First Qualification Round.

In the truest traditions of the grassroots tournament, we are following a side from the outset and hope to stay with them and be at their games, or those of the side who eliminate them, all the way to Wembley.

This site already sponsors the manager of Carlisle City, James Nichols. So in the interests of geographical balance, we selected a club at the other end of the nation, Portsmouth’s own Moneyfields FC. Our assistant editor Conor Smith claims to have played against their reserves for Netley which may have influenced our choice. 

The decision was cemented by their opposition Aylesbury United. The Ducks are a club with an FA Cup pedigree, who currently play their home games in Chesham, agonisingly far from their own Buckinghamshire home town, but agonisingly close to Wembley which is where this story ends next May.

So we start our series, “Moneyfields to Wembley” with a look at Aylesbury United, the Ducks, a club with a legendary family, a unique goal celebration (flapping like a duck) and a desire to return to their roots.

Aylesbury United kick off their FA Cup campaign tonight against Portsmouth side Moneyfields FC with dreams of glory.

Aylesbury welcome Portsea side Moneyfields FC tonight

Time has not been kind to the side affectionately known as the Ducks  since 1994/95 when they had their most glorious run in the FA Cup reaching the third round proper where they drew QPR out the famous hat.

They lost that match 4-0 having conquered Newport (IOW) and relative non league giants Kingstonian on the way.

In the same way young Hereford fans must be sick of hearing about the day they beat Newcastle United, there have been far fewer occasions to spawn tales of Buckinghamshire footballing folklore in the interim.

The Ducks are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League but have lost their connection to their home town, having been evicted from their Buckingham Road ground in 2006. 

Tonight’s match will be played at the Meadows, home of Chesham United, and it is Chesham, not Aylesbury that is a 12 stop 46 minute hop and perhaps a much larger hope from the National Stadium.

A South Midlands Premier Division Cup winners 2012–13 and some local FA trophies have been the highlights since but the irritation caused by being out of their home town is a pain that only fans of the likes of Wimbledon and Coventry City can share.

Of course those two  clubs have FA Cup memories of their own to treasure, Coventry having won it in 1987 and Wimbledon in 1988 the following year.

It is such dreams that the FA Cup is made of and while memories of club legend Cliff Hercules’ famed Duck impersonation celebration are long past, a club has a right to dream.

The Aylesbury United Supporters Trust, the 21st Century Ducks, was set up in 1999 when the club entered administration. It is now major shareholder in the club and the committee chair sits on the club board as a representative.

Despite the apparent gloom, Ben Williams’ side made an encouraging stat to the season on Saturday with a 1-0 win at Corby Town in front of 400 people.

The Steelmen were among the title challengers last season, so the result was perhaps a little unexpected, but nonetheless very welcome.

Ollie Hogg, known as Scholesy to the fans, scored the winning goal in the first half with an incredible volley that has to be seen to be believed. Luckily, matchday substitute Lee Stobbs was able to either record or get ahold of the video so here is Hogg’s match winning volley:

For any @AylesburyUtdFC fans who haven’t seen it, here is @ollie_hogg AKA Scholesy’s weapon of a winning volley at the weekend. ??

More of the same tomorrow night! ?⚽️ pic.twitter.com/BfsN0HimqX

— Lee Stobbs (@LeeStobbs06) September 21, 2020

The Aylesbury side included one legendary surname, with Max Hercules eldest son of the clubs record scorer Cliff in the line up. The legend may be in attendance tonight.

The Ducks line up was: James Weatherill; Harry Jones, Jake Bewley, Jack Wood (c), Dave O’Connor, Mark Riddick, Max Hercules, Ollie Hogg, Ty Deacon, Sonny French, Juwon Akintunde (Lee Stobbs 70′).

You can read a very good match report by Leon O’Sullivan on the Aylesbury United FC website.

From the other viewpoint, Jon Dunham, writing in the Northamptonshire Telegraph, Corby’s local paper said of them:

“But let’s give Aylesbury United some well-deserved praise. They’re no mugs, they were in the play-off places when last season was ended early and they turned in an impressive away performance.

“They were solid defensively, they worked hard and they were dangerous in the final third.

“It was a terrific finish from Ollie Hogg for the goal as he volleyed into the top corner from just inside the penalty area. And, much to the home side’s frustration, they managed the game well in the second half.

“They slowed things down when they needed to and they were also a real threat on the counter-attack. Aylesbury might just be a team to keep an eye on.”

There is still a chance to keep an eye on them tonight.

Tonight’s match still has capacity for extra fans and will not be all ticket, but to comply with COVID-19 restrictions and comply with Track and Trace requirements, the club will be requiring supporters to register their names to the club, along with a contact telephone number.

If you want to attend,  you can email these details to the following email address covid19@aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk.

Payment, by cash, will be taken on the day, correct money would be appreciated by the club. Adults can enter for £9, Concession £6, U16 (when accompanied by an adult) £1.

The Meadows is a five minute walk from Chesham Station.

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