2017-18 FA Cup 1st Round – map with attendances & Fixture List
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By Bill Turianski on 29 October 2017; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-The competition…FA Cup .
-First Round: fixtures/teams…2017-18 FA Cup 1st Round (en.wikipedia.org).
-Summary – FA Cup [2017-18 1st Round] (soccerway.com/national/england/fa-cup).
-Preview, from FA Cup Factfile… FA Cup 2017-18 1st Round Preview (facupfactfile.wordpress.com).
-BBC’s page on the FA Cup…FA Cup (bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup).
-From The Guardian/football, FA Cup first round dreamers: from a former Wembley winner to a lifelong fan (interviews by Ben Fisher at theguardian.com/football).
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The 3 clubs making an FA Cup 1st Round debut in 2017-18
(Hereford, Shaw Lane Association, Truro City)
Hereford FC.
Hereford, Herefordshire (population: around 86,00). Established 22 December 2014, as the Phoenix-club of Hereford United (1925-2014). Nicknames are the Bulls; the Whites. Colous: White with Black-and-Red trim and Black pants; their shield-shaped badge features a Hereford bull with red bridle, with the words ‘Forever United”. Hereford FC are a 7th-level club in the National League South [as of 2017-18]. Hereford have now won back-to-back promotions…in 2015-16, the brand-new Hereford FC were placed by the FA in the 9th level, and then won promotion from the Midland Football League Premier Division. In 2016-17, Hereford FC joined the 8th level, and then won promotion from the Southern League South and West.
Hereford FC, like the original Hereford United, play at Edgar Street (capacity 4,913; opened in the late 19th century). Hereford FC’s manager is Peter Beadle (age 45, born in Lambeth, South London). Peter Beadle was a FW who played for most notably for Gillingham, Bristol Rovers, and Bristol City (1989-2005). Beadle has been with Hereford FC since the re-start, and now has run 2 successful promotion campaigns. Local enthusiasm for the club since the rebirth remains, although crowds have diminished a bit since 2015-16 (down 13%, from 2.8 K to 2.4 K). Still, drawing well over two thousand per game, in the 7th division, is a massive achievement. Hereford currently [29 Oct. 2017] sit 5th in the Southern Premier League. And now Hereford FC have advanced to the FA Cup 1st Round Proper in just their second FA Cup campaign.
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Here’s a flashback of the greatest moment in football history from the town of Hereford…
Hereford United ‘s giant-killing FA Cup-upset of 1972 [Hereford 2-1 Newcastle (aet)]- arguably the greatest cup-upset of all time. Here is a link to an illustrated article I made in 2016, which features the Hereford United victory over Newcastle United in a replay match of the 1971-72 FA Cup 3rd Round…2015-16 FA Cup, Fifth Round Proper: location-map, with current average attendances & fixtures list (16 clubs)/ + illustrated article: the greatest FA Cup upset ever: 5 February 1972 FA Cup 3rd Round replay, Hereford Utd 2-1 Newcastle Utd (aet).
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To get to the FA Cup 1st Round, Hereford beat 9th-level-side Godalming Town 8-0 in the 1st QR (in front of 1,737 at Edgar Street). Then Hereford beat 8th-level-side Kempston Rovers 0-4 in the 2nd QR. Then Hereford beat 8th-level-side AFC Hornchurch 2-0 in the 3rd QR (in front of 2,440 at Edgar Street). Then Hereford beat 5th-division-side Eastleigh 1-2 in the 4th QR {see photos and captions, further below; also see a short video of the goals, below}. An impressive 650 or so Hereford fans made the 119-mile trip down the road to Eastleigh in Hampshire, to cheer the Bulls on to victory. For Hereford FC, it was a nice cup-upset, seeing as how their win over Eastleigh was a victory over a team 2 levels and 32 leagues places higher.
For the 2017-18 FA Cup 1st round, Hereford have drawn a home match versus AFC Telford United, on Saturday the 4th of November. Telford, in Shropshire, is just 54 miles (87 km) N of Hereford, so there will be a considerable amount of away fans for the match. {Update: SOLD OUT! FA Cup Game Complete Sell Out (herefordfc.co.uk).} AFC Telford United, like Hereford FC, are a Phoenix-club (of Telford United, who folded in 2004), and are a 6th-level side who draw 1.1 K; Telford currently are in 11th place in the Conference North. So, only one level, and 16 league places, separate the two sides, meaning this is a very winnable match for Hereford.
-Video, Hard Cam Goals: Eastleigh FC 1-2 Hereford FC (FA Cup 4Q Round) (1:23 video uploaded by Hereford FC at youtube.com).
Photo and Image credits above – Medieval bridge over River Wye, photo from royalforestofdean.info/herefordshire. Aerial shot of Edgar Street, from dailyecho.co.uk. Edgar Street, photo by Hereford FC from herefordfc.co.uk/about-us-hereford-fc. Photos from qualifying win over Eastleigh, photos by Hereford FC at herefordfc.co.uk/gallery-bulls-progress-to-fa-cup-1st-round. Players celebrate with traveling fans at Eastleigh, screenshot of photo from twitter.com/HerefordFC.
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Shaw Lane Association FC.
Barnsley, South Yorkshire (population: 91,000). Est. 1991; re-formed in 2012. Nickname: the Ducks. Colours: Royal-Blue with Black trim and Red socks; their circular badge features a Red-Orange rampant griffin backed by a Royal-Blue-and-White wave-pattern; the water references their former name of Shaw Lane Aquaforce FC. (Aquaforce Plumbing Solutions is a Barnsley-based plumbing company that sponsors the club, and whose managing director, Craig Wood, is club-owner.) Shaw Lane Association are a 7th-level club in the Northern Premier League Premier Division [as of 2017-18]. Shaw Lane Association play at Sheerien Park in the Athersley North estate of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, which has a capacity of 2,000 (350 seated). (Shaw Lane Association have a ground-share there, with 9th-level club Athersley Recreation FC.) Shaw Lane Aquaforce FC was formed in 2012, via the merger of two clubs…Barugh FC (1991), a junior club, and Aquaforce Barnsley FC (2007), who were originally a Sunday morning pub team.
(In case you’re wondering, Shaw Lane Association are now located in the northern part of Barnsley in Athersley North, while 2nd-division-side Barnsley FC are located in the eastern part of town in Oakwell. The two clubs are about 2 miles, or 3.5 km, apart. Shaw Lane AFC were previously [pre-2017-18] located on the south-west side of town, in the Shaw Lane Sports Complex.)
In February 2014, manager Craig Elliott joined the then-9th-level Shaw Lane Aquaforce, leaving Ossett Town, who were (at that point) two divisions higher than Shaw Lane. Since then, Craig Elliott has led Shaw Lane to 2 promotions in 3 seasons.
In the summer of 2016, as per FA regulations, the club dropped the ‘Aquaforce’ sponsor-name, to become Shaw Lane Association FC. Shaw Lane then won promotion to the 7th tier in 2016-17, winning the Northern Premier League Division 1 South by 6 points, and racking up an astounding plus-68 goal difference. That meant that Shaw Lane Association have now won 5 promotions in 7 years. And the club is yet again in the thick of another promotion-campaign…Shaw Lane currently [29 Oct. 2017] sit 2nd in the 7th-division Northern Premier League (with a couple games in hand). As of late October 2017, Shaw Lane were drawing 203 per game (up +10% from last season). And now Shaw Lane Association have advanced to the FA Cup 1st Round Proper, for the first time, in just their 3rd FA Cup campaign.
To get to the FA Cup 1st Round, Shaw Lane beat 8th-level-side Radcliffe Borough 3-1 in the 1st QR (in front of 187 at Sheerien Park). Then Shaw Lane beat 6th-level-side Blythe Spartans in the 2nd QR. Then Shaw Lane beat 7th-level-side Lancaster City 2-1 in the 3rd QR (in front of 304 at Sheerien Park). Then Shaw Lane beat 5th-division-side Barrow AFC 2-1 in the 4th QR (in front of 864 at Sheerien Park) {see photos and captions below; also see a brilliant 12-second clip of the rather nicely-played winning goal, scored by former-Altrincham-cup-hero Damian Reeves, below}. For Shaw Lane, that win over Barrow was a definite cup-upset over a team 2 levels and 29 league places higher. And that crowd of 864 there in Barnsley was 4-times-larger than the 203-per-game that Shaw Lane had been averaging, in their league games, this season. The win also got the Barrow manager sacked.
For the 2017-18 FA Cup 1st round, Shaw Lane Association have drawn a home match versus 4th-division-side Mansfield Town, on Saturday the 4th of November (at 12:30 Greenwich Time/8:30 am EST). Shaw Lane’s home ground, tiny Sheerien Park, will certainly be the full-capacity two thousand (or so) for the match, especially seeing as how the two teams are located, by road, only about 40 miles (64 km) apart. The Shaw Lane v Mansfield match has been selected to be televised {see this from the Yorkshire Post, Shaw Lane cash in on televised FA Cup tie with Stags}.
-Damian Reeves makes it 2-1 for Shaw Lane AFC against Barrow (0:12 video uploaded by Thomas Feaheny at youtube.com).
Photo and Image credits above – Sheerien Park, photo by Yorkshiregroundhopper at commons.wikimedia.org. Spencer Hays of Shaw Lane (#8) scores goal in 1st half, photo by Arthur Haigh/White Rose Photos via nwemail.co.uk/sport. Screenshot of Damian Reeves scoring winner, image from video uploaded by Barrow AFC at youtube.com. Goal celebration, photo unattributed at thebootifulgame.uk. Screenshot of squad celebrating, image from video uploaded by Barrow AFC at youtube.com.
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Truro City FC.
Truro, Cornwall (population: 18,700). Established 1889. Nickname: the White Tigers. Colours: White with Black trim; their Black-and-Red circular badge features the flag of Cornwall with a leaping black-&-white tiger. Truro City are a 6th-level club in the National League South [as of 2017-18]. Truro City play at Treyew Road, which has a capacity of 3,200 (1,675 seated). Truro City are the highest-placed team from Cornwall, which is an isolated peninsula at the far south-western tip of England. Truro is the county town and only city in Cornwall. Truro is the southern-&-western-most city in England. Truro is 55 miles (89 km), by road, SW of Plymouth; and Truro is a staggering 284 miles (457 km), by road, SW of London.
Truro City are the only Cornish team to ever make it into the 6th tier. As of 27 Oct. 2017, Truro City are currently averaging 467 per game (up 16% from last season), and Truro sit 6th in the National League South.
Truro City is managed by Lee Hodges (age 44, born in Epping, Essex). Lee Hodges was a MF who played most notably for Barnet, Reading, Plymouth Argyle, and Torquay (1992-2013); Lee Hodges was a starter on two promotion-winning Plymouth Argyle squads [that won the 4th division title in 2001-02, and that won the 3rd division title in 2003-04]. Lee Hodges finished his playing career as player-manager of Truro City in 2010-13. (This is Hodges’ second spell as Truro’s manager. He had not been offered a new contract when Truro suffered their financial crisis in 2013. Hodges returned to a more financially stable Truro City in the summer of 2015.)
Truro City are the first Cornish team to qualify for the FA Cup 1st Round in 48 years (previously, Falmouth Town in 1969). Falmouth Town AFC, who are currently a 10th-level club, made it to the FA Cup 1st round three times (1962, ’67, ’69). No other Cornish clubs besides Falmouth Town and Truro City have ever made it to the FA Cup 1st round.
To get to the FA Cup 1st Round, Truro City beat 9th-division-side AFC Portchester 2-1 in the 2nd QR (in front of 302 at Treyew Road). Then Truro City beat 8th-level-side AFC Sudbury 4-1 in the 3rd QR (in front of 359 at Treyew Road). Then Truro City beat fellow-6th-level-side Hampton & Richmond Borough 0-2 in the 4th QR…MF Noah Keats scored twice, while goalkeeper Tom McHale saved a penalty {see photos and captions below}.
For the 2017-18 FA Cup 1st round, on the Sunday [5 Nov.], Truro City will travel to South-East London to play 3rd-tier-side Charlton Athletic. The distance, by road, from Truro in Cornwall to Charlton in SE London is about 293 miles (471 km). No word on away ticket sales yet {TCFC official site, here}, but the White Tigers faithful will probably snap up the whole allotment of the reasonably-priced tickets (£10 adults), and take a small fleet of buses there to Charlton.
Photo and Image credits above – Truro Cathedral, photo by Simon Lewis at en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Truro_(England). Truro Cathedral with Cornish hills in background, photo by Ian Woolcock/Shutterstock via bradtguides.com jpg. Treyew Road, 1st and 2nd photos by WB Tukker at extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Three shots from qualifying match, photos by Truro City Football Club at trurocityfc.net/photos/hampton-richmond-borough-0-truro-city-2. Truro City players mugging in front of camera, screenshot from video at cornwalllive.com/sport/football/football-news/truro-city-through-fa-cup.
-From Olly’s Football Thoughts blog, Truro City on the brink of Cornish history in the FA Cup (by Ollyallen1998 at ollysfootballthoughts.wordpress.com).
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Thanks to all at the links below…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.
-Blank relief map of Greater Manchester, by Nilfanion (using Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater Manchester UK relief location map.jpg.
-Attendances from us.soccerway.com (3rd/4th/5th/6th levels) & nonleaguematters.co.uk (7th/8th levels).
-2017-18 FA Cup (en.wikipedia.com).