billsportsmaps.com

March 5, 2015

2014-15 FA Cup, Sixth Round Proper (aka Quarterfinals): location-map with current average attendances./ Plus, an illustration with photos of the 8 clubs’ managers and photos and stats of the 8 squads’ top scorer (or scorers).

Filed under: 2014-15 FA Cup — admin @ 9:12 pm

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2014-15 FA Cup, Sixth Round Proper (aka Quarterfinals): location-map with current average attendances


FA Cup fixtures bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup/fixtures.
BBC.co.uk/FA Cup.

    2014-15 FA Cup 6th Round (aka Quarterfinals). Below: the Fixtures, 8 teams’ managers & their top scorer(s)

2014-15_fa-cup_6th-round_8-teams_managers-and-top-scorers__arsenal_aston-villa_blackburn_bradford-city_liverpool_man-utd_reading_west-bromwich-albion_f_.gif
Photo credits above –
Arsene Wenger, photo of Wenger at 2014 FA Cup winners’ celebration in North London, by Stuart MacFarlane/Getty Images via huffingtonpost.co.uk. Alexis Sanchez, photo unattributed at iran-daily.com.

Tim Sherwood, photo by PA via telegraph.co.uk. Gabriel Agbonlahor, photo by Aston Villa FC at javaImages /avfc.co.uk/page/PlayerProfiles. Christian Benteke, photo of him congratulated by teammates after scoring from the spot in the 94th minute v West Brom [2-1 to Villa] on 3 March 2015 – a score which put the Villans above the drop-zone, photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Europe) via zimbio.com. Andreas Weimann, photo by Aston Villa FC at javaimages/ avfc.co.uk/page/PlayerProfiles.

Gary Bowyer, photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Rudy Gestede, photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.

Phil Parkinson, photo at League Cup Final at Wembley 2013, by Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/sport/football.ort/football. James Hanson, photo from i3.getwestlondon.co.uk.

Brendan Rodgers, photo by Liverpool FC via Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/sport/football. Steven Gerrard, photo of him after scoring v Wimbledon in 14/15 FA Cup 3rd Rd, photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Raheem Sterling, photo unattributed at eatsleepsport.com.

Louis Van Gall, photo at ‘long-ball press conference’ by Niche via dailymail.co.uk/sport/football. Wayne Rooney, photo by Getty Images via express.co.uk/sport/football.

Steve Clarke, photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Simon Cox, photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.

Tony Pulis, , photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Saido Berahino, photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
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Thanks to Soccerway.com for attendance figures and for league placements. You can find attendance figures (updated daily) for levels 1 through 6 of the English football pyramid at Soccerway, http://us.soccerway.com/national/england/premier-league/20142015/regular-season/r25191/.

Thanks to bbc.com/football team pages such as West Bromwich Albion Top Scorers (bbc.com/sport/football/teams).

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2014–15 FA Cup.

February 13, 2015

2014-15 FA Cup, Fifth Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances/ with update.

Filed under: 2014-15 FA Cup — admin @ 7:34 pm

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2014-15 FA Cup, Fifth Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances

Update: biggest upsets in the 2014-15 FA Cup 5th Round
The chart below shows the 3 biggest upsets in the 2014-15 FA Cup 5th Round (from Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th of February 2015/if there is an upset Monday [Preston v Man Utd], the chart will be updated). Note: league placements were from the start of the weekend (that is, Friday morning the 13th of Feb. 2015)…

http://billsportsmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2014-15_fa-cup_5th-round_upsets_feb2015_f_.gif







FA Cup fixtures bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup/fixtures.
BBC.co.uk/FA Cup.

Broadcast games (en.wikipedia.org).
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Thanks to Soccerway.com for attendance figures and for league placements. You can find attendance figures (updated daily) for levels 1 through 6 of the English football pyramid at Soccerway, http://us.soccerway.com/national/england/premier-league/20142015/regular-season/r25191/.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2014–15 FA Cup.

January 21, 2015

2014-15 FA Cup, Fourth Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances./ With a brief illustrated article on the biggest winners in the 3rd Round…the supporters of the Cardiff City Bluebirds./ Plus update, with Cup-upsets chart (featuring Bradford City, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Cambridge United).

Filed under: 2014-15 FA Cup — admin @ 10:55 pm

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2014-15 FA Cup, Fourth Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances




FA Cup fixtures bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup/fixtures.
BBC.co.uk/FA Cup.

Broadcast games (en.wikipedia.org).

Update: biggest upsets in the 2014-15 FA Cup 4th Round
The chart below shows the 5 biggest upsets in the 2014-15 FA Cup 4th Round, plus the best result for the lower-placed club which resulted in a draw (from Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th of January 2015/if there are any more big upsets, the chart will be updated further). Note: league placements were from the start of the weekend (that is, Friday morning)…
2014-15_fa-cup_4th-round_upsets_jan2015_e_.gif

The biggest upset of the 2014-15 FA Cup 3rd Round
The biggest upset of the 2014-15 FA Cup 3rd Round was when plucky minnows/overacheiving-3rd-division-side Rochdale AFC (of Greater Manchester/originally of Lancashire), beat 2nd-division-mainstays/twice-European-champions Nottingham Forest 1-0 before 6,791 at Spotland. That crowd was almost double the ‘Dale’s current home crowd size. Here is an article on that by Daniel Taylor at the Observer, Peter Vincenti the toast of Rochdale as penalty puts out Nottingham Forest (theguardian.com/football). This is the second straight season Rochdale has upended a second division giant in the third round (last year it was Leeds Utd whom they embarrassed). Rochdale’s reward for the win is momentum in the League – the life-long lower division club is up to 5th place and Keith Hill’s squad could actually be in position to be campaigning for the club’s first-ever promotion to the second tier. Rochdale’s other reward for the win is a sweet (and lucrative) 4th Round home tie versus an in-form Stoke City. That match is on the Monday (26th Jan.), and will be televised.

Cardiff City: back to blue, thanks to a well-organized fan-boycott…
There was another victory for the little guy…a victory that had nothing to do with what happened on the pitch, but, rather, what didn’t happen in the stands. In Cardiff, irate Bluebirds supporters organized a match boycott to show owner/dictator’s crony Vincent Tan that they had had enough of his juvenile re-branding of the blue Bluebirds of Cardiff City into the red Red Dragons. A re-branding done so as to magically start selling loads of shirts in Asia. A re-branding that has left the Cardiff City house divided and bitter (and it no doubt soured their promotion to the Premier League in May 2013, and it no doubt contributed to their relegation a year later).

[Here are some relevant figures...Cardiff City averaged 27.2 K per game last year (2013-14) in the Premier League, are currently averaging 21.3 K this season back in the Championship, and drew 6.4 K for a League Cup 3rd Rd match in September 2014.]

Cardiff City season ticket holders were loath to have a boycott during matches they had paid for (and who can blame them), so they waited for a match which they would have had to pay for out-of-pocket to attend – and a Friday night FA Cup 3rd Round match (with the media attention the third round offers), fit the bill perfectly. Only a little over four thousand showed up for the match versus Colchester United (which Cardiff won 3-1) (you can see a photo of the empty stands in the illustration below). As it says in the following article from Wales Online by Steve Tucker (linked to after the quote)…”it was the silence from the stands that was most deafening with a crowd of just 4,194 turning out to watch the encounter. It was the lowest ever attendance for a match at Cardiff City Stadium since the venue opened back in 2009 and the empty seats were a stark indicator of where the Bluebirds stand as a club right now. Calls for a boycott to protest against owner Vincent Tan’s rebranding of the club’s home shirts to red looked to have been answered with just a glance around the embarrassingly empty stands all the confirmation one needed.” {end of excerpt from Cardiff City 3 – 1 Colchester match report: Bluebirds record win in front of record low home crowd, by Steve Tucker at walesonline.co.uk/football).

And guess what? The boycott was successful! Just one week later, this news came in…The Bluebirds are BACK! Cardiff owner Vincent Tan agrees to return of blue home shirts (article by Joe Short at express.co.uk/football). This article at the Telegraph by James Corrigan reports that Tan’s 87-year-old mother convinced him to drop the red and bring back the blue, Cardiff to wear blue again after Vincent Tan takes advice from his mum; Malaysian owner forced change to red two years ago but fans revolted (telegraph.co.uk/football). Cardiff City actually then asked the FA for a special waiver to allow them to start wearing the blue again at home immediately, and that request was allowed (and Cardiff wore blue their next home game, v Fulham on 10 Jan. 2015/see a photo from that below). In the FA Cup 4th Round on Saturday 24th January 2015, Cardiff host fellow Championship side Reading. There will probably be a bit more than 4 thousand attending [note: there were 11,750 in attendance as Cardiff fell to Reading 1-2].

Old content disclaimer. I posted the original version of this illustration below 13 months ago; I could not resist updating it & re-posting it…
cardiff-city-fans_see-red-and-boycott_jan-2015-fa-cup_back-to-blue-for-the-bluebirds_b_.gif
Image and Photo credits above –
Old Cardiff City crests from kassiesa.nl/uefa/clubs/html/C; uefa.wikidot.com/england:cardiff-city-fc. [Template for CCFC crests from last 25 years from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_City_F.C.#Club_logo_history.]. Photo of Vincent Tan (in classic Bond-villian look), flanked by 2 local toadies, both of whom sport flourishes of red (in true suck-up fashion), photo from Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2402081/Cardiff-owner-Vincent-Tan-adds-teams-kit-shirt-tie-combo. Photo of Cardiff City fans (some in red but more in blue), photo from Reuters via mirror.co.uk/sport/football. Photo of ‘Tan Out’ T-shirt uploaded by mugitmugit at ebay.com, ebay.co.uk/itm/Tan-Out-Cardiff-City-Bluebirds-t-shirt. Photo of Cardiff City fans’ protest banner from msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/premierleague/story/cardiff-fans-stage-protest-against-owner-vincent-tan-before-boxing-day-fixture. Photo of Cardiff fans with ‘Hate the red/love the blue’ banner, photo by Getty Images via telegraph.co.uk/football. Photo of empty seats via fan-boycott at Cardiff City Stadium by Huw Evans Picture Agency via walesonline.co.uk/football. Photo of Cardiff players back in blue, photo by Wales News Service via bbc.com/football.

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Thanks to Soccerway.com for attendance figures. You can find attendance figures (updated daily) for levels 1 through 6 of the English football pyramid at Soccerway, http://us.soccerway.com/national/england/premier-league/20142015/regular-season/r25191/.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2014–15 FA Cup.

January 1, 2015

2014-15 FA Cup, Third Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances./ Plus a look back at the 1988 FA Cup Final (Wimbledon 1-0 Liverpool). /Plus, an illustrated article on the Blyth Spartans, the Non-League club that went the furthest in the FA Cup in the post-War era (in 1977-78).

Filed under: 2014-15 FA Cup — admin @ 12:39 pm

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2014-15 FA Cup, Third Round: location-map with current average attendances



FA Cup fixtures, bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup/fixtures.
BBC.co.uk/FA Cup.

Televised matches (all the matches live in the UK and in the USA & Canada)…
Friday 2 January 2015:
Cardiff City v Colchester United, 7:45 pm GT at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, South Wales, Wales, UK (live on BBC-Wales only).
Saturday 3 January 2015:
Tranmere Rovers v Swansea City, 3 pm GT [/10 am ET] at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, South Wales, Wales, UK (live in USA & Canada only on Fox Sports 1 at 10 am ET).
West Bromwich v Gateshead, 3 pm GT [/10 am ET] at The Hawthorns in West Bromwich [Greater Birmingham], West Midlands (live in USA & Canada only on Fox Sports 2 at 10 am ET).
Sunday 4 January 2015:
Dover Athletic v Crystal Palace, 1 pm GT at the Crabble Athletic Ground in River [adjacent to Dover], Kent (live on BT Sport in the UK; and in USA & Canada on Fox Sports 1 at 8 am ET).
Manchester City v Sheffield Wednesday, 3 pm GT at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester (not broadcast in the UK; only in USA & Canada on Fox Sports 2 at 10 am ET).
Yeovil Town v Manchester United, 3:30 pm GT at Huish Park in Yeovil, Somerset (live on BT Sport in the UK; and in USA & Canada on Fox Sports 1 at 10:30 am ET).
Arsenal v Hull City, 5:30 pm GT at Emirates Stadium in Hollloway, Greater London N5 (live on the BBC in the UK; and in USA & Canada on Fox Sports 1 at 12:30 pm ET).
Monday 5 January 2015:
AFC Wimbledon v Liverpool, 8:55 pm GT at Kingsmeadow in Kingston-upon-Thames, Greater London KT1 (live on the BBC in the UK; and in USA & Canada on Fox Sports 1 at 2:45 ET).
Tuesday 6 January 2015:
Everton v West Ham United, 7:45 pm at Goodison Park in Walton, Liverpool L4 (live on BT Sport in the UK; and in USA & Canada on Fox Sports 1 at 2:30 pm ET).

For the first time in their twelve-year existence, AFC Wimbledon have qualified for the FA Cup 3rd Round…
And wouldn’t you know it, supporter-owned AFC Wimbledon, heir to Wimbledon FC (1889 to 2004), will host Liverpool, at their Kingsmeadow ground in southwest London. It will be a re-match of Wimbledon FC’s greatest win, the 1988 FA Cup Final, which saw First Division upstarts Wimbledon beat the-just-crowned-champions-of-England Liverpool, 1-0, at the old Wembley Stadium in front of 98,203. Northern Ireland international MF Lawrie Sanchez headed in the winner on a cross from MF Dennis Wise in the 37th minute. The match featured the first-ever penalty save in an FA Cup final – a full-stretch diving-save by the captain of Wimbledon, Dave Beasant – off of a John Aldridge penalty attempt in the 60th minute. Then Wimbledon held Liverpool scoreless for the final 30 minutes after that brilliant save, and Wimbledon FC of Plough Lane [aka the Crazy Gang], were the improbable FA Cup champions of 1988. It is generally viewed as one of the greatest FA Cup upsets ever {see this article from Jan. 2014, where it is ranked #3 … Are these the greatest FA Cup upsets ever? (thescore.ie)}.

{See this 6:38 youtube video, [goal at 2:10 / penalty call (blown call) at 3:10 / save at 3:55], 15/05/1988 Liverpool v Wimbledon [1988 FA Cup Final] (youtube.com)}.

Wimbledon FC (1889-2004), improbable FA Cup winners of 1988…
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Photo and Image credits above -
Lawrie Sanchez heading in the winner, photo by Getty Images via mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/vinnie-jones-remembers-crazy-gang. Lawrie Sanchez celebrating the goal, photo unattributed at liverpoolkits.com/liverpool1988fa-cup. Dave Beasant making the first-ever goalkeepersper-save in an FA Cup Final, photo by David Cannon/Allsport via Guardian.com/football. Wimbledon manager Bobby Gould jumping into the arms of Vinnie Jones in celebration of the upset win, photo unattributed at i4.coventrytelegraph.net. Dennis Wise clowning with the trophy lid, with Dave Beasant in the background, photo by Foto Sports International via dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/413742/Chelsea-legend-Dennis-Wise-Football-crazy-days. John Fashanu on image from T-shirt at punkfootball.com/John-Fashanu-1988-AFC-Wimbledon-Navy-T-Shirt. Crazy Gang still celebrating while getting the team photo in after the win, photo unattributed at port.bt.com/sportfootball/football/where-are-they-now-wimbledons-fa-cup-final-winning-team.
Plough Lane, photo unattributed at ebay.co.uk/itm/Wimbledon-FC-Inside-Plough-Lane-Football-Stadium-Photo-Memorabilia. “Not in the greater interests…” [infamous quote from FA report which consigned Wimbledon FC to to the dustbin of history by allowing ownership to move the club to Milton Keynes], image from a banner at afcwimbledon-mad.co.uk. Wimbledon FC’s boarded up HQ in South London, photo by Getty Images via telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/AFC-Wimbledon-ready-to-go-back-to-Plough-Lane.

Blyth Spartans, the lowest-placed (and lowest-drawing) club still alive in the 2014-15 FA Cup..
From Blyth, Northumberland (population ~35,000 {2001 figure}), Blyth Spartans play in the 7th-level Northern Premier League Premier Division and are the lowest-placed club still in the competition. In the Second Round, on Friday 5th December, at Victoria Park in Hartlepool, County Durham, Blyth Spartans took a scalp of a team three divisions above them when they beat League Two/4th-division side Hartlepool United 1-2 to advance to the FA Cup Third Round. The winner was scored by 21-year-old striker/newstand clerk Jarret Rivers in extra time. 1,100 Blyth supporters traveled the 66 km (41 mi) down the coast to Hartlepool to root their club on {see this, Hartlepool United 1-2 Blyth Spartans (bbc.co.uk/fa cup)}. At that point in time, the league-placement difference between Blyth Spartans and Hartlepool was 65 places and 3 levels.

Blyth is located 21 km (13 mi) north of Newcastle in England’s northern-most historic county, Northumberland. Blyth Spartans are the northern-most club in the England football leagues system (of clubs within levels 1 through 8 within the English football pyramid). [Although Berwick Rangers from Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumbria are located further north...but they play in the Scottish football leagues system (in the Scottish 4th division).]

Blyth Spartans wear green-and-white vertically-striped jerseys. They play at Croft Park, which has a capacity of 4,435 with 556 seated (see illustration below). The ground’s Main Stand (aka the Port of Blyth Stand), looms over the rest of the terraced ground in all its brick-walled and bright-green-metal-roofed glory. Blyth Spartans are managed by Tom Wade, who is 56 years old and supported the club in his childhood. Wade is back for his third spell with the club in a coaching capacity (previously as caretaker-manager and as an assistant coach), and also has coaching experience with Gateshead, Newcastle Blue Star and Harrogate Town.

Blyth Spartans had their highest league placement in 2006-07, at 7th place in the 6th-level Conference North. This was during a 6-season spell in the Conference North, which they had won promotion to after winning the NPL PD in 2005-06 (as well as the league cup that season). Since relegation in 2012, they have remained in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. They currently sit 16th with several games in hand, and are averaging 450 per game, which is an improvement of 90 per game over their average crowd size last season.

In the 2014-15 FA 3rd Round, on Saturday 3rd January, Blyth Spartans will face 2nd division side Birmingham City. Prior to winning 3 of their last 5 league matches, Birmingham City (currently in 14th place), had been struggling yet again in the Football League Championship, so that suggests that another giant-killing is not out of the question.

Blyth Spartans qualify for the FA Cup 3rd Round once again…
Blyth Spartans have now qualified for the FA Cup 3rd Round for the fourth time in their history (in 1971-72, in 1977-78, in 2008-09, and now in 2014-15/ see this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blyth_Spartans_FA_Cup_exploits). Of course Blyth Spartans’ greatest moment was 37 years ago. On 6th February 1978, they qualified for the FA Cup Fifth Round, after a massive 4th Round upset – beating then-2nd-division-side Stoke City 2-3 before 18,765 at the old Victoria Park in Stoke-on-Trent. Blyth Spartans then went on to face 3rd-division-side Wrexham in the 5th Round, taking them to a replay before bowing out (note: Wrexham won the Third Division that season [1977-78]). Wrexham advanced to the Quarterfinals instead of Blyth, but only just, because Wrexham had forced a replay by scoring late in the match on a controversial retaken corner kick (re-taken twice), which the ref ruled on, due to a downed corner-flag on the initial corner kick (as you can see in the video at the link below). The replay was played on 27 February 1978 at St James’ Park in Newcastle before 42,167 (with over 10,000 locked outside the ground). But Blyth Spatans fell to Wrexham 1-2.

Here is a 5:44 youtube video with match highlights and interviews, about the Blyth Spartans 1978 FA Cup Run (5:44 video uploaded by GriefTourist at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70j23pg6S5g). [This video is from a broadcast from the 2008-09 FA Cup 3rd Round circa first week of January 2009.]

There have been 7 Non-League teams to make it to the 5th Round of the FA Cup since 1945-46 {see this, List of non-league clubs in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup since 1945}, but only one of those sides forced a replay – Blyth Spartans. So, regardless of that cruel twist of fate with respect to that pesky corner flag, Blyth Spartans are to this day the only Non-League club in the post-War era to have made it to the FA Cup Quarterfinals draw. Had that corner flag not fallen over twice in the half-frozen mud in North Wales (and had the ref not been such a stickler), Blyth Spartans would have hosted Arsenal in March of 1978, in the FA Cup Quarterfinals.

Here is an article on Blyth Spartans’ 1977-78 Cup run, from the When Saturday Comes site, by Ken Sproat from April 2005, Blyth Spartans 1977-78 (wsc.co.uk/the-archive).

Here is an another article on Blyth Spartans’ 1977-78 Cup run, from the Blyth Spirit blog, The Goal That Made History – Classic Matches – Stoke City FA Cup 1977/1978 Stoke City 2 Blyth Spartans 3 (blythspirit.wordpress.com).

Below,
Croft Park, home of Blyth Spartans, w/ a sidebar on the 1977-78 Blyth Spartans: the Non-League team that went the furthest in the FA Cup (post-War era)…

blyth-spartans_croft-park_1977-78-fa-cup-run_2014-15-fa-cup_d_.gif
Photo credits above -
Panoramic photo of part of Croft Park featuring Main Stand (Port of Blyth Stand), photo by tigerroar.co.uk/blythspartans.
Main Stand (Port of Blyth Stand), photo by chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/blyth-spartans-afc.
Terry Johnson celebrating with traveling Blyth fans after scoring v Wrexham in the 1977-78 FA Cup 4R at the Racecorse Ground in Wrexham, image from a screenshot from Blyth Spartans 1977 78 FA Cup Run Remembered (video uploaded by Brian Grey at youtube.com).
1978 FA Cup %th Round replay programme, photo unattributed from chroniclelive.co.uk.
Blyth Spartans supporters with banners at Croft Park terraces, photo unattributed at therealfacup.co.uk/2011/02/27/blame-it-on-a-corner-flag.
Jarret Rivers after scoring v Hartlepool in 2014-15 FA Cup 2R at Victoria Park, photo by Jason Cairnduff at chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football.

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Thanks to these sites for attendance figures -
Levels 1 through 6 at soccerway.com.
Level 7 (Blyth Spartans) at nonleaguematters.co.uk.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2014–15 FA Cup.

November 29, 2014

2014-15 FA Cup, Second Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances.

Filed under: 2014-15 FA Cup — admin @ 8:57 pm

2014-15_fa-cup_2nd-round_map_w-current-attendances_post_e_.gif
2014-15 FA Cup, Second Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances



2014-15 FA Cup fixtures, bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup/fixtures.
BBC.co.uk/FA Cup


Televised matches,
UK
Friday 5th December, on BBC: Hartlepool Utd v Blyth Spartans at 7:55 pm GT (live).
Saturday 6th December, only on BBC Wales: Wrexham v. Maidstone Utd at 2:30 pm GT (live).
Sunday 7th December, both on BT Sports: Gateshead v Warrington Town at 12 noon GT (live); Colchester Utd v Peterborough Utd at 4;30 pm GT (live).
{see this, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014-15 FA Cup/Broadcasting rights.}

USA & Canada, all on Fox Soccer Plus…
Friday the 5th of December, Hartlepool Utd v. Byth Spartans (on 2-hour delay at 5 pm ET).
Saturday the 6th of December, Sheffield Utd v. Plymouth Argyle at 10 am ET (live); Wrexham v. Maidstone Utd at 12:30 pm ET (live).
Sunday the 7th of December, Gateshead v. Warrington Town at 7 am ET (live); Scunthorpe Utd v. Worcester City at 9 am ET (live); Colchester Utd v. Peterborough Utd at 11:30 am ET (live).
+ 2nd Round Highlights show on Monday the 8th of December at 5 pm ET.
{see this, foxsoccerplus.com/schedule}.
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Thanks to these sites for attendance figures -
Levels 3 and 4 at soccerway.com, at us.soccerway.com/national/england/league-one/20142015/regular-season, and us.soccerway.com/national/england/league-two/20142015.
Levels 5-8 at nonleaguematters.co.uk.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2014–15 FA Cup.

November 3, 2014

2014-15 FA Cup, First Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances./ Plus, an illustrated article on the four FA Cup First Round debut clubs: Gosport Borough, Concord Rangers, Warrington Town and Norton United.

Filed under: 2014-15 FA Cup — admin @ 9:34 pm

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2014-15 FA Cup, 1st Round Proper: location-map with current average attendances





2014-15 FA Cup 1st Round fixtures, bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup/fixtures.

This is the 134th competition of the FA Cup – the oldest sports tournament in the world. Holders are Arsenal (of north London), who beat Hull City AFC (of the East Riding of Yorkshire) in a thrilling final at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2013, by a score of 3-2 in aet, with the winning goal scored by Aaron Ramsey in the 109th minute. That changed the top-of-the-list of most FA Cup titles, putting Arsenal even with Manchester United, at 11 FA Cup titles each {see this, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FA_Cup_finals#Results_by_team}.

From the Real FA Cup site, from 30 October 2014, by Phil Annets, From Smallthorne to Big Time (therealfacup.co.uk).

    Clubs which are making their FA Cup First Round debuts in 2014-15 (four clubs)…

There are four clubs making their FA Cup First Round debuts – 8th level club Warrington Town (of north Cheshire), 8th level club Norton United (of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire), 6th level club Concord Rangers (of Canvey Island in Essex on the north side of the Thames Estuary), and 6th level club Gosport Borough (from Greater Portsmouth in Hampshire). Warrington Town play in the Northern Premier League Division One North. Norton United play in the Northern Premier League Division One South. Both Concord Rangers and Gosport Borough are playing their second season in the Conference South. One of these three FA Cup 1st Round debut teams – Norton United – have the lowest average crowd size of the 80 clubs in the First Round (at 131 per game). Three have home ties in the 1st Round, while Concord Rangers will play away to Mansfield Town.

Gosport Borough were formed in 1944. This is the club’s 70th anniversary. Gosport Borough wear yellow and navy blue, and their badge features an illustration of a Viking ship (in quasi-comic-strip style). They are located in Gosport, south Hampshire, on the small peninsula of the same name which lies just west of Portsmouth (the distance between Gosport and Portsmouth as the crow flies [or as the ferry sails] is 3 km or 2 miles; distance by road is 20 km or 12 mi). Gosport Borough played in the Hampshire League until 1978, when they joined the Southern League. They have seen several ups and downs since then, but are at present a club on the rise. Gosport Borough now are a 6th level club but four seasons ago (in 2011-12), they were in the 8th level. That season they won promotion to the Southern League Premier Division through the help of a wily old Football League veteran, the then-45-year-old (now 48-year-old) BBC 5-live/Guardian football pundit and analyst Steve Claridge (see him in 1st photo below). The Pompey-born Claridge came out of retirement to help a local club out, and because, why not? In the 2012 Southern League South play-off final, away to Poole Town, Gosport trailed 0-1 until the ex-Portsmouth/ex-Millwall/ex-18-other-football-clubs Claridge came off the bench to take the striker’s position and score in the 92nd minute to level the score at 1–1. In extra-time, Gosport scored twice, including one more by Claridge in the 98th minute, and Gosport won promotion back to the Southern League Prem for the first time in 22 years (the club had last been in the 7th level in 1989-90). Claridge scored 4 goals in 11 league games (and 7 goals overall) that season for Gosport, then he retired again.

The following season [2012-13], Gosport Borough again won promotion – to the 6th level for the first time. That season they squeaked into the Southern League Premier play-offs on the final day of the 12/13 campaign; then, after seeing off Stourbridge in the semi-final, Gosport beat Hemel Hempstead away in the 2013 Southern Prem play-off final (2-2 aet; 4-5 on penalties), to win promotion to the Conference South. Also two seasons ago in 2012-13, Gosport went all the way to the FA Trophy Final at Wembley, unfortunately losing 4-0 to ex-and-now-current-Football-League club Cambridge United (attendance at Wembley Stadium that day was a respectable 18,120).

Speaking of drawing good for Non-League, in the past few seasons, attendance has shot up considerably at Gosport Borough’s compact and nicely maintained Privett Park (capacity 3,000 with 1,000 seated). In just over three seasons, the club has more than doubled their turnstile count and have seen an increase of almost 300 per game. In 2011-12, Gosport drew 246 per game. Then Gosport drew 347 per game their last season in the Southern League in 12/13. Then they drew 437 per game their first season in the Conference South in 13/14. Now, currently, Gosport are averaging 539 per game (from home league matches to 4 Nov. 2014). Gosport’s Privett Park has a nice mix of old and new, specifically the wonderfully archaic Main Stand and the sparkling-new Harry Mizen Stand (see both below).

Gosport Borough are managed by Alex Pike, who has been manager at Gosport for quite a long time (for modern football) – since December 2005. In the 2014-15 FA Cup First Round, on Sunday the 9th of November, Gosport Borough will host 3rd division/League One side Colchester United (of Essex). From BBC.com/football, from 26 Oct. 2014, FA Cup: Gosport Borough relishing Colchester United visit.

Temporary stands at Privett Park will be allowed to be built, which will raise the capacity about 1,500 – from 3,000 to 4,500 {see this, Privett to gain extra seats and terracing for Cup tie (gosportboroughfc.co.uk)}. Gosport are confident they can fill that temporary capacity, this despite the fact that Portsmouth will also be hosting a First Round tie that same day (on Sunday the 9th Nov.) v. Aldershot of the Conference National (who are also Hampshire-based). And while on the subject of Hampshire-based Non-League clubs who qualified, I would be remiss if I did not mention another nearby club, Havant & Waterlooville (also of the Conference South and also very near to Portsmouth), who have now qualified for the FA Cup for the 5th time despite having only been formed (via merger) in 1998. Havant & Waterlooville will play host in the sole game (a televised game) scheduled for Monday the 10th Nov., v. third division side Preston North End of Lancashire. Hampshire is represented by the most number of clubs in the 14/15 First Round, with 6 (Aldershot Town, Basingstoke Town, Eastleigh, Gosport Borough, Havant & Waterlooville, Portsmouth). If you count Bury and Rochdale as from Greater Manchester (as opposed to their former situation in Lancashire), Lancashire has the second-most with 5 clubs in the Round; while Kent has third-most with 4 clubs in the Round.

[Note: Gosport ended up drawing 2,013 in their 3-6 loss to Colchester].

Below, Gosport Borough’s home ground, Privett Park, opened in 1937; capacity 3,000 with 1,000 seated…

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Action photo of the 45-year-old Steve Claridge playing for Gosport Borough from 10 Dec. 2011 by Paul Paxford at flickr.com/photos/paxie.
Semi-panorama photo of Privett Park by phildanmatt.weebly.com at phildanmatt.weebly.com/gosport-borough.html.
Photo of Main Stand by phildanmatt.weebly.com at phildanmatt.weebly.com/gosport-borough.html.
Photo of the Harry Mizen Stand at Privett Park by Andrew Ormerod at hoppingaroundhampshire.blogspot.com/2012/09/28-gosport-borough-fc.html.

Concord Rangers wear yellow and blue and are from Canvey Island in south-east Essex, just west of Southend-on-Sea. Canvey Island, now technically a peninsula, is a reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, located 49 km (30 mi) east of central London. Concord Rangers are the second-largest club from Canvey island, the biggest being former Conference side Canvey Island FC, who won the FA Trophy in 2001 and these days are a 7th level club which draws around 320 per game (Concord Rangers draw about 70 per game less than that at 250).

Concord Rangers started out in 1966 as simply a group of boys literally playing on the beach. This group included Steve Lant, whose father Albert was a founder of the club and is still today club president. The kids played friendlies on a pitch located at a beach called Concord Beach on the sea-front in Canvey Island – hence the club’s name…and their nickname of the Beach Boys. The next year, 1967, the club was officially formed and fielded a youth team; by 1973 the club had a (junior) squad playing in the local District league. Here is an excerpt from the Concord Rangers’ website…{excerpt}…”[In] 1985 Concord secured some land at Thames Road, Canvey Island, the club developed the clubhouse and ground with Jack Smith, current club treasurer being the mastermind behind the project, he organised the funds, labour and materials and worked many hours himself on the site…” {end of excerpt from http://www.concordrangersfc.com/history/}.

Concord Rangers still play within a bow-shot of the sea front (about .25 km away). You can see that in the illustration further below, which features (at the top-left there) a screenshot of a satellite image of the area surrounding the Thames Road ground in Canvey Island.

In 1992-93 Concord joined the 9th level Essex Senior League. 5 years later in 1997-98, after winning the Essex Senior League, Concord were denied promotion to the 7th/8th level Isthmian League set-up (due to an inadequate ground). 7 seasons later in 2003-04 they won the Essex Senior again, but were again denied promotion. Their third time was the charm, though as Concord won the Essex Senior League once again in 2007-08, and this time were allowed promotion, to the 8th-level Isthmian League Division One North for 2008–09. It only took Concord two seasons to advance again, when they won the Isthmian D1N in 2009-10, and were promoted to the 7th-level Isthmian League Premier Division. Three seasons later in 2012-13, Concord Rangers won promotion to the 6th level. Here is an excerpt from the Concord Rangers page at en.wikipedia.org,…{excerpt}…” [2012-13] saw Concord finish 4th in The Isthmian League Premier Division, consequently qualifying for the play-offs; which they won – defeating Wealdstone F.C. away 2-1 (AET) in the play-off semi-final, and beating Lowestoft Town F.C. away 2-1 in the play-off final in front of a crowd of 2,490, thus winning promotion to the Conference South for the 2013/14 season – the club’s highest ever level of competition. The club were also winners of The Isthmian League cup that season, defeating Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 3-2 AET at The Gallagher Stadium (home of Maidstone United F.C.)”…{end of excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concord_Rangers_F.C.}.

In their first season in the Conference South in 2013-14, Concord Rangers finished a very creditable 7th place. They played to an average home crowd of 253 in 2013-14, having previously averaged 200 per game in the 7th level in 2012-13 and 190 per game the season before (2011-12). Concord currently (7 Nov. 2014) sit 11th in Conference South. Concord Rangers are managed by Danny Cowley, who is in his eighth season with the club, going back to when Concord were a ninth-level side.

On Saturday 8th November 2014, in the 2014-15 FA Cup 1st Round, Concord Rangers travel to Nottinghamshire to face 4th division/League Two side Mansfield Town at Field Mill (aka One Call Stadium).

From the Southend-on-Sea-based news site the Echo, from 26 Oct. 2014, by Luke Lambert, Concord Rangers hit new high after reaching FA Cup First Round (echo-news.co.uk/sport).

From BBC.co.uk. from 6 Nov. 2014, FA Cup: Good Vibrations for Canvey Island’s Beach Boys (bbc.com/sport/football).

[Note: the Mansfield v Concord match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch; on Tuesday the 18th of November, Concord drew 1-1 at Mansfield, and so a replay at Thames Road was played on Tuesday 25th November, and Mansfield beat Concord 0-1 in front of 1,537 at Thames Road in Canvey Island.]

Below, Concord Rangers’ home ground, Thames Road, capacity 3,300…

concord-rangers_thames-road_2014-15_fa-cup_debut_e_.gif
Photo and Image credits above-
Screenshots of image of satellite view of Thames Road ground in Canvey Island, Essex, image from bing.com/maps
Photo at front gate of Thames Road ground, photo by theballissquare.co.uk/concord-rangers.
Photo of Joe Gardner scoring the winner that put Concord Rangers into the FA Cup 1st Round, photo by Andy Smith/Dragons Photography at echo-news.co.uk/sport.

Warrington Town, formed in 1949, wear yellow and blue and are nicknamed the Wire, for the town’s history as a center of the wire-pulling industry. Their home ground is Cantilever Park, capacity 3,500, which is adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal and the town’s cantilever bridge (which spans that waterway and looms over the ground, and which gives the ground its name). Warrington Town play in the 8th level Northern Premier League Division One North. This is their 11th consecutive season without a promotion or a relegation (the Wire lost in the play-offs semi-final last season). The club is from an area that is within the Rugby-League-belt of northern England, and Warrington Wolves RLFC are a top-flight rugby team in Super League who draw around 10 K per game (and are the only team that has played every first-division-season of RL [since 1895-96]). In other words, rugby league’s predominance in this section of northern England is why a town the size of Warrington (population of around 202,000 {2011 figure}) has a football club so low down the English football pyramid…because the town’s rugby league team draws the lion’s share of attention and support there. In fact, Warrington is the largest settlement in England without a Football League club. That is not to say there are not many followers and supporters of association football in Warrington – it is just that they have to (and do) go elsewhere in northwest England to watch League and Premier League football. Warrington Town are currently (as of 4 Nov. 2014) drawing 197 per game, which is down a bit from last season’s average of 212. The Wire currently sit 15th in their league (the NPLD 1N).

Warrington Town are managed by Peter Reid’s brother Shaun Reid. Shaun Reid was a tough-tackling defender who played 240 league matches for Rochdale (in two different spells) as well as 107 games for York City, in a career that went from 1983 to 2000. Here is an excerpt from Shaun Reid‘s Wikipedia page,…”Reid holds a UEFA A coaching badge and has had spells coaching at Swindon Town and Plymouth Argyle. In January 2012 he was appointed as manager at Prescot Cables before leaving in March 2012 to become manager at Warrington Town.”

For the 2014-15 FA Cup 1st Round, on Friday evening the 7th of November, Warrington will host 4th division/League Two side Exeter City. The match has been selected as one of the televised matches for the First Round, and will be shown live on BBC in the UK, and on Fox Sports Plus in the USA and Canada (taped with a 2-hour delay at 5 pm ET/schedule here) [Broadcasting rights in UK, here].

[Note: Warrington Town drew a very solid 2,400 and had the biggest upset of the First Round, beating Exeter City 1-0. Exeter City is 4 leagues and over 100 places higher than Warrington Town. The goal was scored off a corner kick, by plasterer and defender Craig Robinson, in the 7th minute, {see this [Warrington Town 1-0 Exter City] (bbc.com/sport/football)}.]

Below, Warrington Town’s home ground, Cantilever Park, capacity 3,500 …

warrington-town_cantilever-park_2014-15-fa-cup-1st-round_debut_b_.gif
Image and Photo credits above -
Screenshot of image of satellite view of Cantilever Park in Warrington, Cheshire, image from bing.com/maps.
Photo of the Cantilever Park with the Warrington Cantilever Bridge looming behind, by skif at dubsteps.blogspot.com/2005/12/warrington-town-1-blyth-spartans-2.html.

Norton United are located in Smallthorne (population: around 4,161), which is in the northern part of Stoke-on-Trent [aka the Potteries]. Norton United’s location in Smallthorne is only about 3 km (or about 1.5 miles) east of Burslem, where third-division club Port Vale are located at Vale Park. [Note: Port Vale FC loaned Norton United their team coach (aka team bus), so the Norton squad were able to make the drive up to County Durham on Wednesday evening the 29th of October in comfort, which no doubt helped Norton beat Shildon AFC 1-2 in the 4th Qualifying Round re-play.] Also, Norton United are located about 5 km (or 3 mi) north of where Premier League club Stoke City are located in the Potteries at the Britannia Stadium.

Norton United now wear red-and-black-vertically-striped jerseys, but until a couple years ago they used to wear black-and-white-verticals {see this at the Boys in Black & White blog from August 2010}. Norton are a football club that has not even been in existence for three decades. Norton United were formed in 1989, initially, as the football team of Norton Cricket Club [named after the nearby Norton Colliery]. Joining the Staffordshire League in 1989-90, at the equivalent of the 13th level in the English football pyramid, Norton United have since won 5 promotions without a relegation. Their second-most recent promotion was in 2011-12, when they were North West Counties League Division One runner-up. Promoted to the NWCL Premier Division (into the 9th level), they won that league two seasons later in 2013-14, and now play in the 8th level in the Northern Premier League Division One South. Norton currently sit 13th in the NLPD 1S. Going by home average attendance Norton United are the smallest club to qualify for the 2014-14 FA Cup First Round. Norton Utd are currently drawing 131 per game, at their spartan and bare-bones ground, which is called the Norton Cricket Club & Miners Welfare Institute, and which has capacity of 1,500 with 200 seated (see below). Norton United have seen their current average crowd-size increase by 57 percent since last season (an increase of +48 per game) [in 2013-14 in the NWCL Prem, they averaged 83 per game].

Norton United are managed by former Stafford Rangers MF Scott Dundas, who is in his fourth season in charge and in 3 years has guided Norton from the 10th level to the 8th level. From 24 Oct. 2014, from BBC.com, FA Cup: Norton United boss keen to put Potteries side on the map (bbc.com/sport/football). On Saturday 8 November, Norton United will host 5th division/Conference side Gateshead (of Newcastle, in Tyne and Wearside).

[Note: Norton drew an overflow-capacity 1,762 in losing to Gateshead 0-4.]

Below, Norton United’s home ground, Norton Cricket Club & Miners Welfare Institute, capacity 1,500…

norton-united_norton-miners-welfare-institute-and-cricket-club_2014-15-fa-cup-1st-round_debut_b_.gif
Photo credits above -
Photo of Community Drive ground with view of Potteries in background, photo by pitch-side-stories.com at pitch-side-stories.com/category/nwcl.
2nd Photo by Uwdi Krugg at wherestheteahut.blogspot.com/2013/08/norton-united-4-runcorn-town-1.

___
Thanks to BBC.com/sport/football/fa cup, for fixtures list image, bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup/fixtures.
Thanks to sharpcroft at Flickr.com via hemelfc.com, for illustration of kit badge for Hemel Hamstead home jersey, here.

Thanks to these sites for attendance figures -
Levels 3-6 at soccerway.com, such as us.soccerway.com/national/england/conference-n–s/20142015/north.
Levels 7-8 at nonleaguematters.co.uk/steps/steps-3-4.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2014–15 FA Cup.

Thanks to Blue76 for pointing out that I missed Concord Rangers as a debut club in the FA Cup 1st Round/ no thanks to whoever put together this erroneous factoid in the yellow-info-box in the following article at BBC/football {here}, which omits Concord Rangers as a debut team in the FA Cup Proper (they also omitted Norton United in that article’s info-box I just linked to, but that had not occurred at the time of that article’s posting because Norton had yet to qualify via their 4th QR re-play).

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