FA Cup: What you may have missed in the qualifying rounds
Norton’s 2-1 victory over Shildon in an FA Cup fourth-qualifying round replay on Wednesday has completed the line-up for the first round proper.
More than 600 non-league sides have been knocked out since qualifying got under way in August, with just 32 left in the competition.
From a team named after a country to a defender playing like Gordon Banks in goal, BBC Sport looks back at some tales from the qualifying rounds.
Big names beaten already
Former Football League clubs and past giant-killers are some of the sides to have already fallen by the wayside.
Bristol Rovers and Torquay were the two teams relegated to the Conference Premier from League Two last season. Rovers were 7-1 winners at Dorchester Town in the fourth qualifying round but Torquay were beaten 2-0 by Aldershot.
Sutton United once pulled off a famous FA Cup upset by beating then top-flight Coventry in 1989
Stockport County, in the second tier of English football at the turn of the century but now playing in the Conference North, lost 4-2 to Chester City in the fourth qualifying round.
One of the FA Cup’s most famous non-league giant killers failed to make it through.
In 1989, Sutton United beat Coventry City, then in the top tier of English football, 2-1. For 24 years, they held the record as the last non-league side to knock out a top division team – until Luton beat Norwich in 2013. Sutton exited at the third qualifying round stage.
Remember them?
Former England winger Trevor Sinclair retired from football after playing in the 2008 FA Cup final for Cardiff City and almost dusted off his football boots to play in the competition this season.
The 41-year-old, who is assistant manager at Lancaster City, was on bench in the early qualifying rounds for the eighth-tier side, but could not prevent them from losing in the third qualifying round.
Matt Jansen, who played for Blackburn in the Premier League, is currently assistant to ex-Rovers midfielder Garry Flitcroft at Chorley, who lost to Halifax in the fourth qualifying round.
Meanwhile, former Birmingham, QPR and Blackburn striker DJ Campbell, who was playing Championship football a few months ago, is playing for free at Maidenhead United. He scored in this season’s FA Cup but could not help his side reach the first round.
From Dog and Duck to FA Cup
FC Romania realise FA Cup dream
A team named after a country who were playing Sunday League football just a few years ago enjoyed a dream debut in the competition.
FC Romania, formed in 2006 and made up predominantly of Romanian immigrants, entered the competition at the extra preliminary round – the very start of the FA Cup – and overcame Haverhill Rovers, Heybridge Swifts and AFC Sudbury before losing 3-2 to Sutton in the second qualifying round.
Copying Kane with mixed results
A real moment of excitement for spectators is the prospect of seeing an outfield player going in goal but it is a prospect that likely terrifies most footballers – just ask Tottenham’s Harry Kane.
The result can either be unexpected heroics or tremendous embarrassment.
Striker Harry Kane fumbled a shot for Tottenham in the Europa League recently, but had scored a hat-trick before going in goal
In the second qualifying round, defender Jack Lampe went in goal for Concord Rangers, who have progressed all the way to the first round, and helped his side to a 2-0 win against Wealdstone, producing a performance he described as “like Gordon Banks”.
But a stint in goal for Alfreton midfielder Anthony Howell was one to forget.
He let in five goals as his side lost 5-1 to Lincoln City in Tuesday’s fourth qualifying round replay.
FA Cup qualifying in numbers |
|
|---|---|
| The qualifying competition had six rounds and lasted for 76 days – 15 August to 29 October. It had 611 ties, one bye, two abandonments, 749 matches, 2,498 goals and 14 penalty shootouts. | The highest score was Molesey 11-0 Haywards Heath Town in the extra preliminary round). Coleshill Town and Maidstone United both recorded 10-0 wins. |
| Some 612 clubs have already been knocked out of the competition from an original entry of 736 | The highest scorers so far are Norton United (19), with Gosport Borough second on 17. Both clubs are in the first round. |
| The highest attendance was 4,612 for Stockport County v Chester FC and the lowest 27 for London Tigers v FC Clacton. | Karn Miller-Neave scored for Ebbsfleet United at the age of 16 years 183 days. |
adebanjosportblog 