With The FA Cup First Round Proper looming large, Leicester City face the unusual step of kicking off their FA Cup campaign in November. Accustomed to joining the fray at the Third Round stage, Leicester will instead take their place this weekend alongside Leiston of the Eastern Counties Premier League - the lowest ranked team left in the competition.
As the excitement builds towards the weekend’s fixtures, our Road to Wembley made its way to AFC Wimbledon as the club prepared for its debut in The FA Cup First Round. The trophy was met at Kingsmeadow by management staff, several first team players and by reserve team manager Marcus Gayle, the former Wimbledon star whose header knocked out then FA Cup holders Manchester United in 1997. AFC Wimbledon face the only unbeaten League side left in England, Wycombe Wanderers, in what promises to be a great Cup tie at Kingsmeadow.
AFC Wimbledon were again in the spotlight this week as Sam Hatton, their influential midfielder, picked up the E.ON Player of the Round award for the Fourth Round Qualifying. The award followed Sam’s winning goal against Maidstone.
Other exciting clashes this weekend include former FA Cup winners Leeds United hosting Northampton Town in an all League One clash at Elland Road. Havant and Waterlooville hope to embark on another FA Cup dream as they face Brentford, while Sutton United, the last non-League side to claim a top-flight scalp, welcome Notts County to the Borough Sports Ground.
Here's the rundown of the live First Round games to be covered by ITV and Setanta this weekend:
ITV
Havant & Waterlooville v Brentford (12.55pm, Sunday 9th Nov)
Setanta
Leeds United v Northampton (7.25pm, Friday 7th Nov)
AFC Wimbledon v Wycombe Wanderers (7pm, Monday 10th Nov)
For a full list of First Round fixtures click here
Alex Howells
Sponsorship Executive
Posted
07 November 2008 11:07
by
E.ON UK Blog
Filed under: facup, FA Cup, The FA Cup Sponsored by E.ON
The Fourth Qualifying Round of The FA Cup is nearly upon us and sees the Road to Wembley head to Wales for the first time this season for Wrexham FC’s tie against Eastwood Town.
Wrexham will be hoping to go some way to matching the success of last year’s Finalists Cardiff City and with newly appointed manager Dean Saunders at the helm they have someone on board who knows what it feels like to win the competition, having been victorious with Liverpool in 1992.
There are 32 fixtures in the competition this weekend, including top of the Conference Premier, Kettering Town at home to Burton Albion who are sixth in the table. Second placed Crawley Town host Havant & Waterlooville, who famously took the lead twice at Anfield last year in the Fourth Round Proper. Meanwhile, two former Football League clubs were drawn together as York City take on Mansfield Town.
When voting on the Third Qualifying Round Player of the Round award closed it was AFC Totton’s Craig Davis who came out on top. Craig scored a remarkable hat-trick in his team’s 5-2 victory over Fleet Town, with all three goals coming from the penalty spot.
The teams involved this weekend are now only a game away from the First Round Proper and with League One and Two teams entering the tournament at that stage, the remaining non-League clubs will be dreaming of a tie against the likes of Leeds United and Leicester City. The excitement is certainly building!
In the meantime, here’s the rundown of Fourth Round Qualifying games to be covered by ITV Local and ITV.com this weekend:
Maidstone United v AFC Wimbledon
Aylesbury United v Sutton United
Leiston v Lewes
Crawley Town v Havant & Waterlooville
Oxford City v Eastbourne Borough
Alex Howells
Sponsorship Executive
Posted
22 October 2008 14:05
by
E.ON UK Blog
Filed under: FA Cup, The FA Cup Sponsored by E.ON
Good news on Tyneside at last!
With Newcastle United struggling at the top, their Unibond Division One North counterparts Newcastle Blue Star continue to show them the way. Blue Star followed up their excellent start to the season by comfortably overcoming higher ranked opposition away from home in The FA Cup Second Qualifying Round.
Blue Star’s 4-1 win at North Ferriby United earns them a crack at Hucknall Town where they’ll be hoping ex-Newcastle United players Paul Brayson and Jamie McClen can help them past a side who are just two steps from the Football League. We’ll be gauging the mood in the Blue Star camp ahead of the game on Sunday as our Road to Wembley campaign reaches the North East.
Meanwhile, a stunning solo performance earned Kingstonian’s Dean Lodge a place at this season's FA Cup Final on 30 May. Having scored all four of his - and Kingstonian's - goals in the second half of a 4-0 victory over Braintree, Lodge saw off the challenge of three other hat-trick heroes to be named E.ON Player of the Round for the Second Qualifying stage. K's manager Alan Dowson believes Dean should “make the sensible choice and take his mum with him to The Cup Final!" We’ll be asking Dean if he’ll be taking his manager’s advice this Friday when we present him with his award at Kingstonian’s Kingsmeadow stadium.
For a full rundown of fixtures in The FA Cup Third Qualifying Round please click here. Godalming Town are one of the sides that feature at this stage for the first time in their history. Town manager Chuck Martini, a former Moroccan Under-21 international goalkeeper nicknamed ‘the Kamikaze Keeper’, will be hoping he can mastermind an upset away from home against last season’s surprise package Havant & Waterlooville.
Posted
10 October 2008 08:28
by
E.ON UK Blog
Filed under: FA Cup, The FA Cup Sponsored by E.ON
17 year old ‘keeper Deren Ibrahim of Dartford FC topped the polls and is our first E.ON Player of the Round winner for the 08/09 season.
The E.ON Player of the Round award is presented to the outstanding player at each stage of competition, starting from the First Qualifying Round all the way to the Semi-Final. Deren was one of five nominations selected by a panel including Mark Clemmit of Radio Five Live, Howard Wheatcroft of the Daily Star, Ricky George of the Daily Telegraph, ITV pundit Andy Townsend and Managing Director of E.ON's retail business Graham Bartlett.
Deren came into the senior side with 8 first-teamers missing through injury or suspension and helped Dartford come from behind to beat Hastings United 3-2. We took a trip to Dartford’s impressive eco stadium to present Deren with his award where he claimed he could barely remember anything about the game - "The game went so fast, I can't really remember much about it! The match kicked-off and the next thing it was over. All I can really remember was the atmosphere; our fans were fantastic."
Other teams impressing in the First Qualifying Round include last season’s giant-killers Chasetown for whom Dean Parrow scored all four in their win at Gresley Rovers and Chalfont St Peter who, in overcoming Gloucester City, knocked out a side playing their league football two divisions above.
Arguably even more impressive though was the news from Hitchin Town that two brothers, Mark and Paul Barnes, had bagged a brace each in their win at Concord Rangers. We’ll be catching up with them ahead of their Second Qualifying Round tie with Stanway Rovers as our Road to Wembley makes its way to Hertfordshire.
In the meantime, here’s the rundown of Second Qualifying Round games to covered by ITV Local and ITV.com this weekend:
Anglia : Bury Town v Chelmsford City
Central : Belper Town v Redditch Utd
Granada : Southport v Vauxhall Motors
London : Bromley v AFC Hornchurch
Meridian : AFC Totton v Thatcham Town
TT/Bord : Workington v Harrogate Town
West : Truro City v Chippenham Town
Yorks : Guiseley AFC v Garforth Town
ITV.com: Bedford Town V AFC Wimbledon
ITV.com: Sutton United V Billericay
Alex Howells
Sponsorship Executive
Posted
26 September 2008 15:53
by
E.ON UK Blog
Filed under: facup, FA Cup, The FA Cup Sponsored by E.ON
High drama, great games and memorable moments – last year’s competition really had everything and anyone who followed the exploits of Chasetown, Havant & Waterlooville or Barnsley can’t have failed to have been caught up in the magic of it all.
It means this season’s competition has a lot to live up to but it was a record-breaker before a ball had even been kicked with 762 teams, more than ever before, starting on the Road to Wembley. Each of those clubs was boosted by the news that the competition is to see a significant increase in The FA Cup Prize Fund this season as well as two exciting new broadcaster partners in ITV and Setanta.
Our own Road to Wembley is well under way and will take us the length and breadth of the country over the course of the season, where we’ll be promoting the key fixtures, players and personalities involved in the competition.
For me the competition started with the very first kick after following Brading Town across the Solent on their way to becoming the first team from the Isle of Wight to take part in The FA Cup. The game was notable for another first with ITV streaming the match live online – the first time the Extra Preliminary Round has been shown in this way.
Next up in the Preliminary Round was Wisbech Town who, after their tie with Mildenhall Town, bid a fond FA Cup farewell to their long time home at Fenlands Park.
Looking forward to the weekend and we’ll be heading to Leamington to see their tie with Evesham United in what promises to be a big local derby. Let us know if you’re heading to any of the games this weekend but if you don’t fancy braving the weather ITV will be broadcasting the following games on ITV.com, ITV Local.com and regional ITV news on Saturday 13 September:
ITV.com: Sutton United V Cray Wanderers
ITV.com: Stewarts & Lloyds (Corby) V Croydon Athletic
Anglia : Cambridge City v Lowestoft
Border (provisional) : Aston United v Kendal Town
Granada: Buxton v Bootle
West : Truro City v Yate
Central : Hednesford v Atherstone
London : Thamesmead v Great Wakering Rvrs
Tyne Tees : Ashington v Durham
Yorkshire : Garforth Town v Ossett Town
Meridian : Fleet Town v Cowes
Wales : Poole Town v Merthyr Tydfil
I hope you’ll continue to follow us on our Road to Wembley. We’ve got some great plans in the pipeline for season three of our sponsorship, which we’ll be sharing with you as the season unfolds, but our aim is simple: this season, we want to give more people than ever the opportunity to share the unique experience of The FA Cup.
Alex Howells
Sponsorship Promotions Executive
Posted
12 September 2008 15:57
by
E.ON UK Blog
Filed under: facup, FA Cup, The FA Cup Sponsored by E.ON
This weekend sees the Preliminary Round of The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON. 166 matches will be taking place up and down the country. A full list of fixtures is available at thefa.com (PDF).
In addition, the following matches will be available to watch at itv.com/football from Monday:
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Chesham Utd V Brading Town
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Ashington v Ossett Albion
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Penrith v Clitheroe FC
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Halifax v Silsden
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FC Fylde v Sheffield
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Chase Town v Carlton Town
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Soham Town Rangers v Needham Market
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Northwood v Met Police
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Gosport Borough v Hartley Wintney
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Street v Bideford
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Bamber Bridge v Colwyn Bay
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Cray Wanderers V Chichester City United (playing on Sunday)
Let us know if you're going to any of this round's games and how you expect your team to fare.
Posted
29 August 2008 11:57
by
E.ON UK Blog
Filed under: FA Cup