2023-24 FA Cup, 2nd Round Proper: location-map, with fixtures list & current league attendances
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By Bill Turianski on the 23rd of November 2023; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-The competition…FA Cup (en.wikipedia.org).
-2023-24 FA Cup (en.wikipedia.org).
-BBC’s page on the competition…bbc.com/fa-cup.
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Biggest upset in the 2023-24 FA Cup 1st Round…Ramsgate (8) beat Woking (5): A league-placement difference of 3 levels and 62 league-places.
-Ramsgate 2-1 Woking | First Round | Emirates FA Cup 2023-24 (2-minute video highlights, from youtube.com).
-Ramsgate manager Ben Smith in tears after 2-1 FA Cup First-Round upset victory over Woking | Boss pays tribute to goalscorers TJ Jadama and Lee Martin
Eighth-tier side Ramsgate (from the Isthmian League South East Division) beat 5th division/National League side Woking, 2-1, at Ramsgate’s ground, Southwood Stadium, in Ramsgate, on the northeast coast of Kent. There was a packed crowd of 3,000 there, which exceeded the ground’s capacity by 500. Woking took an early lead, with a goal in the 13th minute. But Ramsgate equalised in the 40th minute, when Canterbury, Kent-born GK Tom Hadler boomed a long 70-yard goal-kick that London-born MF Tijan Jadama deftly trapped, on the fly, then bundled in {see photos and captions below.} Ramsgate took the lead for good in the 72nd minute, when former Man Utd MF Lee Robert Martin scored, on a nicely played set piece from a corner kick.
The corner-kick was played out on the turf, to the top of the box, where MF Michael West (#11) dummied the ball, allowing Martin a clear shot. Here is a brilliant 22-second video that shows manager Ben Smith, pre-game in the Rams’ dressing room, talking about the set piece, then the video cuts to the actual corner-kick, right at the touchline, where the photographer pans to follow the path of the ball on the turf towards West and Martin… twitter.com/[@EmiratesFACup, on 4 Nov 2023: Ramsgate's winning goal].
In the dying moments, Tom Hadler made another fine diving save, the whistle blew, and Ramsgate had beaten a team 3 divisions and 62 places higher than them.
Ramsgate are the lowest-placed club still alive in the FA Cup. This is the first time that Ramsgate (established 1945) have qualified for the FA Cup 2nd Round (their previous best was two separate 1st round appearances, in 1955, and in 2005).
Ramsgate have drawn a plum tie in the Second Round – AFC Wimbledon (4) away. It is to be played on Monday the 4th of December, at Wimbledon’s Plough Lane in South London, and the match will be televised.
Ramsgate, who last season finished in second place in the Isthmian D1 SE, are currently in first place and, under manager Ben Smith, look to be a good bet to win promotion this season: after losing their first league match in August, Ramsgate have now won 9 straight games. And their attendance is pretty large for an 8th tier side: Ramsgate are currently drawing 745 per game, this in a league whose median attendance is currently 211 per game.
Photo and Image credits above – Ramsgate 2022-24 jersey, image from macronlondonsoutheast.com. Aerial shot of Ramsgate, and shot of Ramsgate’s marina, 2 photos unattributed at propertymarket-index.com. Aerial drone shot of Southwood Stadium from issuu.com/ramsgatefc. Welcome to Ramsgate F.C. sign, photo unattributed at isthmian.co.uk. Ramsgate manager Ben Smith, photo by Barry Goodwin at kentonline.co.uk/thanet/sport. Woking 2023-24 away jersey badge, from wokingfc.co.uk/news. Fans packed in tightly at the match, photo by Louis McLaren via twitter.com/[@RamsgateFC]. 13′, Woking FC wingback Dennon Lewis scores, screenshot from video uploaded by The Emirates FA Cup at youtube.com. 40′, from a long 70-yard goalkick by GK Tom Hadler, Ramsgate MF Tijan Jadama scores (assist by T Hadler), screenshot from video uploaded by The Emirates FA Cup at youtube.com. 72′ , off a corner-kick played out on the turf, Ramsgate FW Lee Robert Martin scores, screenshot from video uploaded by The Emirates FA Cup at youtube.com.
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Sources…
Thanks to all, at the links below…
-Blank map of English Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Counties, by Nilfanion, at File:English metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties 2010.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.
-FA Cup (en.wikipedia.org).
Attendance figures…
-Soccerway (current average attendances for the 3rd division and the 4th division).
-nonleaguematters.co.uk (current average attendances for the 5th division, and the 6th, 7th and 8th levels).
