2017-18 FA Cup 2nd Round Proper- map with attendances & fixture list
…
…
By Bill Turianski on 25 November 2017; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-The competition…FA Cup .
-2017-18 FA Cup/2nd Round (en.wikipedia.org).
-BBC.com/fa-cup.
-From FA Cup Factfile, FA Cup 2017-18 2nd Round Stat-packed Preview (facupfactfile.wordpress.com).
…
-
The biggest Cup-upset in the 2017-18 FA Cup 1st Round: Oxford City over Colchester United
(Oxford City beats a team 2 league levels & 56 league places above them)
The biggest upset in the 1st round was on Saturday the 4th of November, at Weston Homes Community Stadium in Essex, with 6th-level minnows Oxford City winning away versus 4th-division side Colchester United, 0-1. This is only the second time that the 135-year-old Oxford City have qualified for the FA Cup 2nd Round (their first time into the FA Cup 2nd round was in 1969, when they beat Cheltenham Town, away, 0-2). 153 Oxford City supporters, which is slightly more than half their current home-crowd-size, made the 128-mile road trip east to Colchester, to cheer on their club. FW Matt Paterson’s 46th-minute header was the difference; this after the Scotland-born Paterson had hit the cross-bar on an earlier free kick. Former Forest Green MF Rob Sinclair powered through to the edge of the box, and laid it off for former Chesham MF Dave Pearce, on the left wing. Pearce’s crisp low cross was deftly headed into the bottom-left-corner of the net, by Paterson (see photo-and-caption, further below). (You can watch that goal, in the link below, at about the 0:45 point into the embedded video.) Oxford City then held Colchester at bay for the rest of the second half. And so Oxford City, who were at that point second-bottom in the National League South (and winless since August), beat a team 2 league-levels and 56 league-places above them.
{VIDEO: Highlights as Oxford City earn shock FA Cup win but Oxford United are knocked out (article with embedded youtube.com video [1:20] at thisisoxfordshire.co.uk).}
Going back a century, Oxford City had their greatest moment when they won the 1906 FA Amateur Cup, beating Bishop Auckland 3-0 at Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham. Oxford City, playing at their old White House ground, right in the city centre of Oxford, regularly drew in the thousands as a pre-war Isthmian League side. But in the post-war era, Oxford City began being overshadowed locally by Headington United [precursor-club to Oxford United]. Headington turned pro in 1949, then changed their name to Oxford United in 1960, and were elected into the Football League in 1962. Then, a couple decades later, Oxford United had their heyday in the 1980s, with a 3-season-spell in the First Division, and a League Cup title in 1986. Currently, Oxford United are an upper-mid-table 3rd division side, who draw in the 7-to-8-K-range. And meanwhile, Oxford City had remained firmly entrenched in non-League football, and reached their nadir in 1988, when they were evicted from their White House ground by the owners of the land, Brasenose College (who sold it off for housing). Oxford City were forced to stop fielding a senior team the next season, and resign from the Isthmian League. Since then, Oxford City have worked their way up the pyramid to the 6th level, but seem to have hit a ceiling not only in league-level, but also in fan-base-size: their crowds remain in the lower three figures. But, right now, Oxford City have some modicum of bragging rights in town, because they have just qualified for the FA Cup 2nd round, while Oxford United are out of the FA Cup. And, as the FA Cup Fact File blog points out, ‘1950/51 was the last time Oxford City went further in the FA Cup than Oxford United’ {see this article, Bite-size Stat-packed Review of FA Cup 1st Round 2017-18 (by Phil Annets at facupfactfile.wordpress.com)}.
Oxford City wear blue-and-white, and are (now) from Old Marston, which is 2 miles NE of central Oxford. Oxford City play at Court Farm Place (Marsh Lane), which has a capacity of 2,000 (529 seated) {Oxford City’s Marsh Lane (footballgroundguide.com)}. This season [2017-18] is the 5th consecutive season that Oxford City have been in the 6th level, but they are in a relegation fight, as they currently sit fourth-from-bottom [19th] in the National League South. Oxford City is managed by Mark Jones (age 38), who made over 100 appearances for the club, and who previously worked at Watford as youth development coach.
To get to the 2nd Round…Oxford City beat 6th-division side Whitehawk, away, 1-3, in the 2nd qualifying round. Then Oxford City beat 7th-division side Leiston, 4-2, in the 3rd qualifying round (in front of 185 at Marsh Lane). Then Oxford City beat 6th-division side Bognor Regis Town, 1-0, in the 4th qualifying round (in front of 406 at Marsh Lane). Then Oxford City beat Colchester in the 1st round.
In the 2nd round, Oxford will play away to 4th-division leaders Notts County, at Meadow Lane in Nottingham, in a match which has been selected to be televised. It will be the early game on Saturday the 2nd of December, at 12:30 Greenwich Time (7:30 am ET). The television revenue from the broadcast will be a big financial windfall for Oxford City, a club that, while part of the 6th tier, draw crowds more analogous to the 7th or 8th level. Oxford City drew 302 per game last season [2016-17], but, thanks to their poor league-form this season, Oxford City are currently drawing lowest in the National League South, at 249 per game (in league matches). Although the cup-upset has created a slight buzz in Oxfordshire, and Oxford City drew about 100 more to their most recent home fixture (a 3-2 win over Wealdstone in front of 349).
Photo and Image credits above – Oxford City jersey 2017-18, from macronstorecardiff.co.uk/oxford-city-fc. Dead Man’s Walk, Oxford, photo by Isisbridge at flickr.com via pinterest.com. Old Marston, Welcome sign, photo unattributed at writeopinions.com/old-marston. Victoria Arms pub in Old Marston, Oxford, photo unattributed at pinterest.com.
Court Place Farm, photo unattributed at non-leagueclubdirectory.co.uk/oxford-city. Court Place Farm, action-shot circa 2014, photo by FA via Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk. Matt Paterson heading in winner, photo by Oxford City at oxfordcityfc.co.uk/[match-centre/4-11-2017]. Oxford City neon-green-alternate-away- crest 2017-18, from macronstorecardiff.co.uk/oxford-city-fc. Traveling Oxford City fans & players celebrating post-match, photos by Oxford City at oxfordcityfc.co.uk/[match-centre/4-11-2017].
___
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).
Thanks to FA Cup Factfile for the re-tweet.