2016-17 FA Cup 2nd Round map and attendance list
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Links…
-The competition…FA Cup (en.wikipedia.org).
-2nd Round: fixtures/teams… (us.soccerway.com/national/england/fa-cup).
-BBC’s page on the FA Cup…FA Cup (bbc.com/sport/football/fa-cup).
-2016-17 FA Cup 2nd Round Tie-by-Tie Preview (facupfactfile.wordpress.com).
-FA Cup second round: Early reunions and second chances among stories to watch (compiled by Tom Garry on 2 December 2016 at bbc.com/football).
By Bill Turianski on 29 November 2016; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.com.
Schedule for 2016-17 FA Cup…
The map…
The map shows the 40 clubs who have qualified for the 2016-17 FA Cup Second Round Proper. There are 12 Non-League teams still alive, as well as 28 teams from the lower two divisions of the Football League (Leagues One and Two). Also on the map page is the 2nd Round fixture list, and there is a list of the 40 clubs’ current home league average attendances.
The lowest-placed club to qualify for the 2016-17 FA Cup 2nd Round is Stourbridge FC…
Stourbridge are in the Northern Premier League (which is a 7th-level league); they currently are in 10th place. Stourbridge FC are drawing 778 per game, which is the highest crowd-size in the league. Stourbridge is in the Black Country region of the West Midlands, just southwest of Dudley, and 18 km (11 mi) W of central Birmingham (as the crow flies). As it says at Stourbridge’s Wikipedia page,…”Historically a part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley.” Stourbridge has a population of around 63,000 {2011 figure}.
Owing to the town’s traditional association with the glass-making and cut-glass industries, the football team is known as the Glassboys. They wear red-and-white vertically-striped jerseys. Stourbridge have played at the War Memorial Athletic Ground for over 120 years (since 1890). (The War Memorial Athletic Ground is sometimes referred to as Amblecoat, for the region in Stourbridge that the ground is located in.) It is a dual-sport facility: Stourbridge FC ground-share with the Stourbridge Cricket Club. So the pitch features just three sides of small-stands-or-terracing, with the one long side open to accommodate the cricket playing-field. The main stand is very small and features a small central section that is a barn-style roof. Here is a nice groundhoppers-type article, from 2013, which features Stourbridge’s ground [scroll all the way to the end of the post to see the Stourbridge section], 20 Glorious Non-League Grounds (peterrmiles.wordpress.com).
The manager of Stourbridge FC is Gary Hackett, who is Stourbridge-born and has been on the coaching staff at Stourbridge since 2003. Gary Hackett is a former Winger who had a long career at Bomsgrove Rovers, Shrewsbury Town, Aberdeen (in Scotland), West Bromwich Albion, Peterborough United, Chester City, and Halesowen Town, retiring from the playing field in 1997. Gary Hacket has been at the helm at Stourbridge for 11 years now. In the early 2000s, Jon Ford and Gary Hackett had been the co-managers at nearby Bomsgrove Rovers. The two moved over to Stourbridge FC in 2003. Hackett took over as full-time manager of Stoursbridge in 2005, with Ford taking the assistant manager job (Ford decided to step down owing to work and family commitments). The two have remained in those capacities ever since, ushering in Stourbridge’s best decade ever. In that time, the Glassboys have won two promotions (up to the 7th level) and have qualified for the FA Cup 5 times in 8 years, including 4 FA Cup 2nd Round appearances, two of which as the lowest-placed team still alive in the competition.
Stourbridge have had a recent history of FA Cup success…
Stourbridge FC have been around since 1876, but had never made it to the FA Cup 1st Round in over a century of trying, until the 2009-10 season. And then making it to the 2nd Round four times in less than a decade…well that is a pretty impressive accomplishment for a club that has never been above the 7th division. Stourbridge’s second FA Cup 1st Round appearance, in 2011-12, saw them beat Football League mainstays Plymouth Argyle (in the re-play) to make it to the 2nd Round. The re-play at home v Plymouth, and the 2nd Round match at home v Stevenage were both televised. Then Stourbridge also made it to the 2nd Round in 2013-14, when they beat 7th-level-side Biggleswade Town. Then in 2015-16, Stourbridge beat then-5th-division-side and local rivals Kidderminster Harriers in the 4th Qualifying Round, and then beat 5th-division-side Dover Athletic, away, in the 1st Round, to again advance to the 2nd Round. And then this season [2016-17], Stourbridge once again advanced to the 2nd Round when they beat 9th-level-side Westfields (in the re-play).
Now, in the 2016-17 FA Cup 2nd Round, Stourbridge have gotten a decent match-up – at home versus 3rd-division-side Northampton Town (who are in 17th place in League One currently). As the FA Cup Factfile site says…”Stourbridge fans and players can take heart in the knowledge that The Cobblers hold the record of most FA Cup 2nd Round exits with 30.”…{excerpt from 2016-17 FA Cup 2nd Round Tie-by-Tie Preview (facupfactfile.wordpress.com)}. I think a draw or even a giant-killing upset is definitely feasible at Stourbridges’ War Memorial Athletic Ground [on Sunday the 4th of December 2016]. Especially because Northampton Town’s top priority is to avoid being relegated right back to the 4th division, yet have lost the 4 straight League One games leading up to this Cup-match on Sunday. The match is sold out {see this, from the official Stourbridge FC site.}
Televised matches for 2016-17 FA Cup 2nd Round…
In my opinion, the Stourbridge-v-Northampton match should have been chosen as one of the live televised games, but it wasn’t. That being said, there is a very enticing match being televised live…Curzon Ashton v AFC Wimbledon. 6th-level/National League North side Curzon Ashton are from the eastern part of Greater Manchester, in the foothills of the Pennines just south of Oldham (and 10 km E of Manchester). At their relatively-new Tameside Stadium in Ashton-under-Lyme (which opened in 2005), Curzon Ashton will host AFC Wimbledon, the world-renowned supporter-owned club from South London (who are now in the 3rd division, and have been playing well, and sit 7th, just below the play-off places). {To whet your appetite for the match, here is a Curzon Ashton/Tameside Stadium groundhopping-post, from 2012, from the excellent Gibbos92 site, here.} That Curzon Ashton/AFC Wimbledon match is on the Sunday the 4th. Also being televised live for the 2nd Round is the Friday the 2nd game: Macclesfield Town v Oxford United, as well as the Monday the 5th game: Lincoln City v Oldham Athletic. {Here is a nice Macclesfield Town/Moss Rose groundhopping-post, from 2013 from the great Groundhopping.se site, here; here is a nice Lincoln City/Sincil Bank groundhopping-post from, from 2016, from the Groundhopping with Ryan blog, here.}
Below: the War Memorial Athletic Ground, home of Stourbridge FC…
Photo and Image credits above – Stourbridge home kit, illustration from en.wikipedia.org. Stourbridge town centre, photo by Stephen McKay at commons.wikimedia.org. Photo of entrance to ground, photo unattributed at warmemorials.myfastforum.org. Photo of main stand, photo by europlan-online.de. Game-action shot of main stand, photo by richardl1967 at stadiumsandcities.wordpress.com. Shot of manager Gary Hackett, photo by Kevin Quigley via dailymail.co.uk/football.
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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.
-Photo of Curzon Ashton badge, photo from ebay.com.
-Current average attendance figures from Soccerway.com.
-Current average attendance for lower Non-League club (7th Level), at non-league-matters.co.uk.
