Road to Wembley 2012 - Extra Preliminary Round

It’s that time of year again when the FA Cup, the world’s oldest and most famous domestic knock-out competition gets underway, with the first minnows taking the plunge in the knowledge that they are a mere 14 wins away from lifting the cup at Wembley Stadium next May!

The draws for the Extra Preliminary and Preliminary rounds have been made and can be viewed here: http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/Fixtures

Having looked through the draw in order to select the starting point for this year’s road I noticed that Coleshill Town have been drawn against Brocton in a replay of last season’s starting point.
Other notable ties include phoenix club Scarborough Athletic taking on Hallam, former world champions West Aukland entertaining Dunston UTS and Wembley FC will hope they are still at the races after their trip to Ascot Utd.

But the tie I’ve selected to start this season’s Road to Wembley is an Isle of Wight Derby, as Cowes Sports and Newport IOW meet at Tim Westwood Park.


Focus on Cowes Sports:

Founded in 1881.
1912 Moved to current ground and won 2nd Hampshire Senior Cup
1963 reached FA Cup 4th qualifying round
1993 won Hampshire League Cup
2001 Reached last 16 of FA Vase
2002 Won Isle of Wight Senior (Gold) Cup

Last season:
Fell at the first fence, going down 5-0 to Ringwood Town in the Extra Preliminary Round.


Focus on Newport IOW:

Founded in 1888.
1945-46 Reached Second Round proper of the FA Cup
1983 Joined Hampshire League
1986 Founder members of the Wessex League
2001-02 Spent one season in the Southern League Premier Division
2008 Record attendance of 3,112 for a pre-season friendly with Portsmouth

Last season:
After wins against Kidlington and Reading Town, they went down 0-3 to Bishop’s Cleave in the First Qualifying Round


Random Fact

In 1932 these two sides met in the final of the Hants Senior Cup at The Dell. To this day the attendance of 21,000 is a record for this competition.


The winners will face a trip to Cove or AFC Portchester in the Preliminary Round

 

Any-one going to an FA Cup match today?

 

I will have to do one of these early rounds, nothing beats the atmosphere of the FA Cup

 

Might take a stroll up the road to see Chatham Town next week.

 

Result:

Cowes Sports 1-4 Newport IOW

Newport now travel to Portchester for their Preliminary Round tie