Today I'm going back 4 years to 5th August 2017 and an FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie between Wellingborough Whitworth and Desborough Town.
I suspect that some readers of this article may only have a hazy awareness that the FA Cup starts before the Third Round in the first week of January. In fact it even starts before the First Round which traditionally takes place in November. For many teams the Road to Wembley begins in August and indeed more teams are eliminated in August than in any other month of the year. There are potentially six Rounds to navigate for a minor non-league team team drawn in the Extra Preliminary Round in order to reach the first round proper and it is a rare day indeed when such clubs actually make it that far.
A run in the FA Cup can be lucrative for the smaller clubs. For example, if a team wins in the Extra Preliminary Round and then the Preliminary Round before existing the competition in the First Qualifying round, in 2021/22 they will rack up £3,319 in prize money which is a significant sum for the majority of clubs operating at that level. Even if a club loses in the Extra Preliminary Round they will still receive £375.
So Wellingborough Whitworth? Well they're not even the biggest football club in Wellingborough. That honour goes to Wellingborough Town whose Dog & Duck Stadium (yes really) is literally just a few yards away from Whitworth's London Road ground. You're possibly aware of Whitworth, a local employer in Wellingborough, because of their flour milling operation and, indeed, the football team is rather delightfully nicknamed "The Flourmen". Oh and Wellingborough is to be found in Northamptonshire as is Desborough (nickname Ar Tarn and, no, I don't have a clue either).
The game itself was something of a procession for Desborough who were four goals ahead by half time in front of a packed crowd of 52. In the second half, Desborough rather took their foot off the gas and the match finished 0-4. Two weeks later and Desborough themselves exited the competition at Arlesey Town in the Preliminary Round and, twelve rounds later the following May, Chelsea beat Manchester United in the Final itself.
CRB Match No. 2163
Comments
Post a Comment