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The FA cup doesn’t just begin when the Premier League teams enter in the 3rd Round proper. It began in summer with the First Qualification Round and one pre qualifying round before.
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 started our series, “Moneyfields to Wembley“ with their visit to Aylesbury United, the Ducks, now playing their home games at the Meadows, home of Chesham United.
The Moneys however lost to London’s oldest club Cray Wanderers. Wanderers went to the West Country on October 17th and won through on penalties against Bristol Manor Farm.
Cray Valley beat Aveley 2-0 in the 3rd Qualifying Round
Photo: Dave Cumberbatch
Fascinating derby possibilities surround 4th Qualifying Round draw
The draw for the Fourth Round Qualifying of the Emirates FA Cup will be aired live on Talksport2 from 1pm on Thursday 15th October.
The matches themselves are due to take place on Saturday 24th October 2020.
Round 3 is now mostly in the books. Here are some highlights:
Step 5 club North West Counties League Premier Division Skelmersdale beat Longridge Town 1-0 and are in the hat. Chatham Town are at Waterlooville on Wednesday night.
The other two Step 5 clubs did less well. National League South Eastbourne Borough beat Sheppey United and Christchurch went out on penalties to Dulwich Hamlet.
Nine other clubs Chippenham Town, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Cray Wanderers, Hayes & Yeading United, Leiston, Banbury United, South Shields, Wimborne Town and St Albans City are all in the hat after penalty shoot out wins.
No such help was needed for Weston-super-Mare, Oxford City and Darlington all of whom scored six on their way to easy wins.
Also in the hat from London, the Home Counties and the south west are Canvey Island, Maldon & Tiptree, Tonbridge Angels, Cray Valley, Eastbourne Borough, Haringey Borough, Hartley Wintney, Sholing, Bath City, Taunton Town and Concord Rangers.
From the north and midlands Bury Town, Cambridge City, Chester, Chorley, Fylde, Guiseley, Ilkeston, Marine, South Shields and Stafford Rangers will be in the draw.
FC United v Alfreton was abandoned after a COVID test and Alfreton have withdrawn from the competition.
There are three more games tonight:
Bishop’s Stortford 3 : 0 Royston Town
Havant & Waterlooville 4 : 1 Chatham Town
Marske United 1 : 0 Blyth Spartans
Joining them in the hat will be the National League clubs with some bigger names such as Notts County, Wrexham, Halifax and Chesterfield among them.
Also in the draw are:
Aldershot Town
Barnet
Barrow
Boreham Wood
Bromley
Chorley
Dagenham & Redbridge
Dover Athletic
Eastleigh
Ebbsfleet United
Hartlepool United
Maidenhead United
Solihull Moors
Stockport County
Sutton United
Torquay United
Wealdstone
Woking
Yeovil Town
There are some fascinating possibilities in the draw following last night’s 3rd Round Qualification matches
Most notoriously both Cray clubs survived the last round so the possibility of a Kray Twins derby remains.
Ilkeston, the Level 8 club from Derbyshire who are having their best FA Cup season by far, could face local giants Chesterfield. They play in the Northern Premier League Division One South East and this would be their biggest tie ever.
There are derby possibilities for Weston-Super-Mare, Bath City, Wimborne Town and Chippenham Town who will all be eyeing up Torquay and Yeovil in what crueler folk than us will doubtless term Yokel derbies.
There us still a chance of a Cray Twins derby in the FA Cup
London had a pretty good night in the cup which sets up some interesting possibilities.
In North and West London, National League Barnet, Boreham Wood and Wealdstone will be lucrative ties for the likes of Hayes and Yeading, Haringey Borough, and Hampton & Richmond Borough.
Cray Wanderers and Cray Valley Paper Mills are both still in the hat and have never met before in a competitive game.
Other than the Cray Twins, south and east London has many possible derbies.
National League Dagenham & Redbridge, Bromley and Sutton United will be looking out for Dulwich Hamlet, Canvey Island and Concord Rangers, although the latter two will be looking out mostly for each other given less than three miles separate them.
In the north east, South Shields v Hartlepool would be mouth watering and you can throw North Yorkshire club Marske United into that mix. There’s also the small possibility of a Darlington v Hartlepool meeting of old friends, replete with references to hanging monkeys.
Maldon & Tiptree and Ebbsfleet United may meet in an Essex derby (as may Concord and Canvey), and there are Lancashire derbies too many to mention with Chorley, Fylde, Marine, Skelmersdale, Stockport, plus FC United of Manchester all still in the competition.
St Albans v Maidenhead and Royston v Cambridge City are among the other potential derbies. Hartley Wintney is 20 minutes from Aldershot too, for whom Woking would also be a derby.
All will be revealed on Thursday afternoon.
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