Yeh if we beat them (a doubt I know!) we progress to the next round. Worth it. Still think that the 3rd round draw is a great watch and the BBC is really trying to kick the life back into it. Better coverage of the first couple of rounds have made it much more interesting.
If the club have any marketing sense it will be cheap seats for all, max. £10 (cheaper if possible) and a quid for kids (maybe even free if accompanied by an adult). Higher prices will make it a total non-event with a max. 5k crowd including a thousand or so from Colchester. Will we allow Rhys Healey to play against us?
The FA Cup is all but meaningless these days. I was gobsmacked that there was a half hour tv show dedicated to the 3rd round draw on a monday night. 2 rhetorical questions: What happened to the radio draw on Saturday after the 2nd round games? Why are the games spread over 3 days rather than all be at 3pm on the saturday? I could not really care if we win, lose or draw the game. The FA Cup has been commercialised to death.
It's just a useful vehicle for fringe players these days. Used to love it, but unless you get through to the quarter finals, no one takes it seriously any more.
Nevertheless a good cup run or even a win over a higher level team can be a good platform on which to build for the rest of the season. I bet Colchester will come to us with an eye on the second option. Ninian: - 1. To try to recreate the atmosphere and excitement of cup draws of years gone bye when we had radio draws on Monday lunchtimes. Don't you remember the dash home from school at lunchtime to listen to the draw to hear who you would be playing? And the disappointment when it was Rochdale or Lincoln, or in those days, even worse, Workington or Barrow away. Growing up in Newport it was a rarity in itself to get to the third round but in my distant memory I remember beating Sheffield Wednesday 3 - 2 at home in 1963 and drawing 1 - 1 away at Southampton in 1967, losing 3 - 2 back at Somerton. Both those teams were First Division then. 2. TV, simples!!!!
1963? Fug me Blue, you must be very old pal? Mind you you appear to have been 60 for some time...supposed to increase it every year by 1
Who did Wrexham get, i bet they cared. From where we came, from where we came, one day we may go back again. Some really sad comments on this thread about the FA Cup.
Agree it's sad about the attitude of many a fan about the FA Cup, but it only reflects that of the club's - well the first two tier clubs anyway. It can't be denied it's become far more of a focal point for the lower reach clubs who see the prospect of giant killing and big paydays. The money and rewards for success in league football fostered by Sky etc is now king. The FA Cup has become something of a sideshow -very sad but true.
Masky, where have you been hiding? Unfortunately the age clock ticks up one notch each year - 3 1/2 months to go to 61. I have tried to find out how to remove it as others have done, but can't find the right button so doomed to old age forever. Got loads of other great F A Cup memories from the 60's and 70's - both Newport and Cardiff. I still live in the hope that some up to date excitement can be generated. However, Colchester at home doesn't really inspire, does it?
Especially in front in a stadium that will only have 8 or 9 thousand in attendance. Q the tumbleweed.
i like the fa cup myself but purely for the reason it gives fans in lower divisions a dream of getting a scalp of one of the bigger boys and not only that it gives them much needed monies that can see them survive financial meltdown. i also enjoyed what was on offer last week on tv with the fa cup.....i even shed a tear for the spartans at the end i was so happy for em .....i can tell thee ive not done that since the build up for our latest fa cup final appearance against pompey (and no i didnt shed more at the end of that game lol)
Wrexham got stoke which could be a giant killing (living in hope) so maybe a 4th round draw against them, that would add a bit of spice to the old cwpan ffa
Saw that game v Saints at Newport , great atmosphere was working in Cardiff in those days and even though a Jack B cheered Newport on.Didn't Terry Paine play for Saints that game ?
He did Pete - and a very young Mick Channon came off the bench to score the winner in the replay. Also playing for Saints were David Webb, Ron Davies and Jimmy Gabriel. County gave them a damn good run for their money. An 18,000 crowd at Somerton Park meant we were crammed in like sardines in a tin.
For those few interested, the Colchester game will be played at 7.45 pm on Friday 2nd January and shown live on BBC Wales. The programme title will definitely be "Spot the Crowd" with few away fans either in view of the distance and travelling times. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30479328
