Road To Wembley 2008-09: FA Cup First Qualifying Round Results

Time to check in with the FA Cup again as the Second Qualifying Round gets under way. So far, I’ve seen a couple of my initial teams drop by the wayside as have their replacements. This stage of the tournament is quite tumultuous but still exciting for the clubs involved. 160 clubs are involved in the Second Qualifying Round

Potters Town Bar were knocked out by  Waltham Abbey in the Preliminary Round by a score of 1-0. Waltham Abbey were then defeated by Rothwell Town FC 1-0 in the First Qualifying Round. Rothwell Town FC, nicknamed The Bones, are based out of Rothwell in the north of Northamptonshire. Rothwell’s previous best FA Cup performance was in 1999-2000 when they reached the 4th qualifying round. Rothwell are in tough against last year’s feel-good story Chasetown who became the lowest ranked club ever to make the third round proper of the competition.

Crook Town FC defeated Armthorpe Welfare FC 3-nil in their replay after the first match between the sides ended up in a 1 – 1 draw. Crook Town were then dumped out of the tournament by Wakefield FC after a 4-3 thriller. Wakefield face Fleetwood Town in the Second Qualifying Round.

FC Halifax Town beat Silsden AFC 3-1 in a replay after their first Preliminary Round match ended up in a scoreless draw. In the First Qualifying Round Halifax cruised past Ryton FC by a score of 4-0. Halifax will now face Nantwich Town. Nantwich is located in the Cheshire county, which is in northwest England. The club defeated FC United of Manchester in the last round on the back of a Dave Walker hat-trick in a seven-goal thriller at Gigg Lane

Lastly, Bishop Auckland F.C. were thumped 4-1 in the Preliminary Round by Consett FC. They then went on to lose to North Ferriby United FC. After an exciting 4-4 draw at home, Consett were demolished 6-1 in the replay at North Ferriby’s ground. North Ferriby, also known as The Villagers, are based out of the Yorkshire area and play in the Unibond Premier League Division (Northern Premier League Division) which is six divisions below the FA Premier League. They will face Newcastle Blue Star this weekend in the Second Qualifying Round.

Attendance for these early FA Cup matches averaged between 120-140 spectators though the Ryton-Halifax match saw almost 400 fans turn out and FC United of Manchester had a crowd of more than 1000 turn out for their loss to Nantwich.

So, currently I am following the fates of:
FC Halifax Town
North Ferriby United FC
Rothwell Town FC
Wakefield FC

but all that could change this weekend! Most of the matches take place on Saturday the 27th, with a couple of matches scheduled for Sunday the 28th. Any replays that are required will happen quickly as the Third Qualifying Round takes place on Saturday the 11th of October.

Earlier reports:
Preliminary Round Preview