Home SOCCER FA Cup first round: What awaits the lowest-ranked teams?

FA Cup first round: What awaits the lowest-ranked teams?

0


Arguably the biggest story of the first round belongs to the town of Kettering.

It has already taken the Poppies four games to get here, but they have been rewarded with a daily trip to their local competition, Northampton The Town, who play games four sections up.

The best 17 miles of the A43 separate these two clubs, who have coexisted for over 125 years, but have only met in a competitive fixture five times before, making this fixture even more special.

The end of this generation came 35 years ago, also in the first round of the FA Cup, with Northampton winning 1-0, a month before that it was again in 1961 in the second round, which ended 3-0 to the shoemakers .

You would have to search the archives from the 1900s to find the first three games, two of which took place in 1901 in the fifth qualifying round, the same as today’s first round.

They played out a 2-2 draw before Northampton won the replay 2-0. The closest possible was in 1904, Northampton again emerging victorious 2-0 in a fourth qualifying round.

Kettering rule the seventh-tier Southern League Premier Section, while Northampton are 18th in League One.

A total of 78 league parks separate the two sides, although the visitors have former Celtic and Norwich striker Gary Hooper and former Newcastle striker Nile Ranger to name.

The game will be broadcast live to tell the tale on BBC Two on Saturday at 17:30 GMT.



Source link

NO COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Exit mobile version