Sound of Football Episode 24 - FA Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, West Ham, Tevez and Neville

The latest Sound Of Football podcast is available for you to download. This week we rattle through the FA Cup, ponder the West Ham takeover, consider the consequences of the Tevez/Neville spat and confuse a Tottenham defender for a legendary Question Of Sport captain and we don't mean Emlyn Hughes.

All this plus the Africa Cup Of Nations too.

You can listen to the podcast here, or if you right click on that link, you can download the MP3. Alternatively, you can subscribe via the your reader of choice or via our iTunes feed.

Sound Of Football Podcast 14

This week, we offer an alternative to our usual format. This is due to a technical problem that wiped out all of Terry's track and rendered the original podcast useless.

Instead. Chris Oakley has gone it alone this morning to talk about Manchester United v Chelsea, the FA Cup and World Cup qualifiers.

We'll be back to normal service next week. In the meantime we hope you enjoy this light but tasty morsel.

You can listen by clicking here. Or if you right click on that link, you can download the MP3. Alternatively, you can subscribe via the your reader of choice or via our iTunes feed.

Sound Of Football Podcast 12

After last week's World Cup packed podcast, let us return to our own affairs and look back on an eventful weekend in the Premier League.

Chris and Graham reflect on their respective team's performance in the London derby twixt West Ham and Arsenal. Manchester City's credentials are examined further after an unconvincing 2-2 draw with Fulham and we celebrate the Liverpool v Manchester United Super Classico or at least the last half an hour or so.

Then we cast our eye over the draw for the first round of the FA Cup and have a good laugh at Leeds and Charlton.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking here. Or if you right click on that link, you can download the MP3. Alternatively, you can subscribe via the your reader of choice or via our iTunes feed.

Please leave us a comment and let us know what you think. You can do so on the comments section below or on our Facebook Fanpage.

Catch the FA Cup 4th Round with ITV.com

Yes it's FA Cup Fourth Round weekend this weekend, so time for us to obligingly point all you UK football fans in the direction of our good friends at ITV.com.

As you may be aware, ITV have the rights to broadcast all the action from the FA Cup this season on TV, but their website has lots more exclusive stuff to get you in the mood before, during and after the matches take place.

Visit the site now and you'll find preview interviews with all the managers involved in FA Cup games this weekend as soon as they arrive from ITV's many and varied regional newsrooms. There’ll also be running text updates on team news and reports right up to the games, with team news as soon as its available.

Also today, there’ll be some classic Brian Clough moments online to mark the Notts Forest v Derby match that took place last night, as well as some classic cup upset clips.

Ahead of the Hartlepool v West Ham and Man United v Tottenham games that ITV1 are showing live this weekend, you'll find exclusive interviews with Ronaldo, James Collins and any other players ITV Sport speaks to ahead of the games. There’s also a ‘player to watch’ feature for both live matches and an exclusive extra 15 minutes of analysis after the Man United game which will only be available on ITV.com and via the interactive red button on your remote.

Finally, from midnight on Sunday there’ll be extended highlights of every game from the Fourth Round on ITV.com - even games that could only be broadcast for a few minutes due to running time on the Saturday evening highlights show will be available with up to 8 minutes of footage on ITV.com.

So there we are. Lots of reasons to visit ITV.com this weekend and in case you were wondering, no, we're not being paid to plug ITV. We just happen to think they're doing a bloomin' good job covering the competition and are providing a wonderful service for you, our humble audience.

Whether your team's playing in the FA Cup or not this weekend, enjoy your football!

SPAOTP's Virtual Museum of World Football #1

With all the money sloshing around in the world game these days, it seems odd that no-one has seen fit to build a museum that wallows in all that's good in the sport. Oh sure, there's a National Football Museum up in Preston, but for those of us not living anywhere near Lancashire (or too lazy to go there, more like), there has to be another way.

Fear not, old friend. Some People Are On The Pitch is here to save the day, for it is our intention to create an online virtual museum of world football containing all the things that really matter to you, me and every other football fan around the globe.

And today we start by putting our first item on show in a virtual glass case, and it's

Bob Stokoe's red tracksuit bottoms (as worn during the 1973 FA Cup Final)
There are many things that stick in the mind from Sunderland's surprising win over Leeds United in the 1973 Cup Final. Ian Porterfield's goal, Jim Montgomery's amazing double save from Trevor Cherry and Peter Lorimer, but for us the key moment was when the final whistle blew.

Leeds United, one of the biggest clubs in Europe at the time, had been beaten by a club that were 250-1 outsiders when the Third Round started and no-one gave them a snowball in hell's chance of winning the Final. But Sunderland did win, and nobody was more pleased and excited than their manager, Bob Stokoe.

When the referee put the whistle to his lips, Stokoe ran onto the Wembley turf like the David Pleat of his day (only rather less embarassing). Dressed in smart hat and cream-coloured coat, he looked the image of professionalism and decency - from the waist up. In a fashion statement that would send Trinny and Susannah into convulsions, his lower half was dressed in an ill-matching pair of red tracksuit bottoms.

Put bluntly, they looked ridiculous. Stokoe was found in a strange No Man's Land between training ground coach and boardroom big shot. His outfit was neither one thing or the other, but did he care? Did anyone care? Not at all. This was the biggest day of his managerial career (if not his life) and nothing could have been further from his mind.

To have created such an enduring image because of an innocent but monumentally bad wardrobe malfunction deserves recognition, we feel, so Bob Stokoe's red tracksuit pants become the first exhibit to go into our Virtual Museum of World Football.



If you have a suggestion for an additional artifact to go into our museum, do let us know. Send us an email to info [at] spaotp [dot] com with a short explanation of why (if necessary) and we'll put it alongside the most famous pair of tracksuit bottoms in football history.

FA Cup 2008/09: Third Round Preview

If it's January, it must be the Third Round of the FA Cup and the starting point for many a dream of reaching that Wembley Final (at least if you support a team from the top two flights of English and Welsh football).

The first match of the round - Tottenham v Wigan - has already taken place tonight (Spurs winning 3-1), but 28 more follow tomorrow with another two taking place on Sunday and one final match bringing up the rear on Monday.

So what can we expect and which are the games to look out for? Here's our summary of what's what in this year's Third Round...

Current holders Portsmouth might just find themselves on the receiving end of an upset as they face a Bristol City side that are looking for a third straight win. To be honest, The Robins have been on a pretty poor run of their own since early November, but their last two games have seen them pointing back in the right direction again. With Portsmouth without a win in their last seven outings, who wouldn't bet against Gary Johnson's men at least forcing a replay tomorrow?

In rather more confident mood will be Arsenal as they play host to Plymouth Argyle at the Emirates Stadium. This will be a repeat of the 1987 Fourth Round tie which George Graham's side won 6-1 and though the scoreline tomorrow will be less one-sided, Arsenal should come through it unscathed. That said, Burnley dumped them out of the Carling Cup this time last month, so you never know...

The Third Round has, if nothing else, dined out on the potential for 'David v Goliath' ties over the years, and fortunately this season's no different. Top of the Shop is surely the game between non-league Histon and Swansea City. The Swans, you'll remember, rode their luck last season when they limped through a gruelling Second Round match against Horsham only to go out in a second successive replay against Havant and Waterlooville.

This year they'll be feeling a little uneasy again as they travel to the team currently second in the Football Conference. Rather curiously, Swansea have drawn all of their last eight matches stretching back to November 25th. Maybe this is the one where the sequence will be broken, but we'd rather not say which way if it's all the same with you...

Derby, on the other hand, travel to Forest Green Rovers, sitting near the other end of the Football Conference table from Histon. This is the furthest Forest Green have ever gone in the FA Cup, and we hope they go a bit further still - if only so we get to see a bit more of their Barcelona rip-off badge which truly has a comedy value all of its own.

Two places above FGR in the Conference table are Barrow who travel to Middlesbrough tomorrow in an attempt to go one better than their only Third Round finish in 1991. They were knocked out 1-0 by Bolton that year and you have to say the challenge they face tomorrow looks even harder for them, but they'll take solace from their win over Brentford they had in the last round.

If you're looking for a dead-cert when it comes to non-league teams getting through to the Fourth Round, check out the match between Kettering Town and Eastwood Town. Kettering admirably survived an attempt at management by Paul Gascoigne in 2005 and have since gone from strength to strength. This season, they've already disposed of Lincoln and Notts County in the Cup and now have to be just as clinical against their opponents who have already claimed Wycombe Wanderers as a scalp from the Second Round.

Further up the league ladder there's a re-run of the 1976 FA Cup Final as Southampton welcome Manchester United to The Dell. There'll be no Lawrie McMenemy this time around, which always makes us a bit sad as we love an excuse to re-run those old Barbican adverts. Anyway, Southampton are in a bad way these days and must be hoping there's a Bobby Stokes lurking somewhere in the squad that can come up trumps tomorrow. If nothing else it would certainly take their mind off a doom-laden Championship campaign.

For a Tie of the Round, though, how about Hull at home to Newcastle? Both teams are desperate to be treated seriously as quality top-flight teams (albeit for different reasons) and for The Tigers it'll be a chance to get past their opening FA Cup tie for only the second time in seven seasons. Newcastle themselves haven't won any silverware since they nabbed the Fairs Cup in 1969 so both teams will surely be going all guns blazing tomorrow when the ref gets things underway at the KC.

Best of luck to you this weekend if your team's still involved in the Cup, and here's to a few days packed with great football and goals galore too.

FA Cup: First Qualifying Round

This week, we at Some People Are On The Pitch have been focusing heavily on the recent World Cup 2010 qualifiers. That's all well and good, but we've always prided ourselves on our ability to bring you a running buffet of stuff across the football spectrum.

To prove our point, we'd like to bring to your attention today's First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup (sponsored by E.On).

The preliminary rounds are out of the way and here begins the run-in to the First Round Proper when the League 1 and League 2 clubs join in.

Today there are a few notable ties you might want to keep an eye on. Remember Sutton United? You know, the Sutton United that knocked out Coventry City in the Third Round in 1989. Well they're at home to Cray Wanderers and are aiming to reach the First Round proper again this season. They've started well in their first few games, so a win could well be on the cards down at the Borough Sports Ground today.

There's a top-v-bottom clash at the Middlesex Stadium as Ryman League Division One North leaders East Thurrock take on Hillingdon Borough in their own back yard. Though the home side will be considered the underdogs, they'll feel they have a chance to pull off a surprise as East Thurrock have conceded five goals in their last two games.

Finally, the Police will be out in force today in East Molesey. They're not expecting any crowd trouble - they'll actually be playing. Yes, the Metropolitan Police take on Corby Town this afternoon, hoping to reach the First Round proper for only the fourth time in their 89-year history.

It's been fifteen years since they last got through the qualifiers, Crawley Town putting an end to that run. This season, they're unbeaten in six Ryman League Division One South fixtures but that form will be put to the test by Corby who are currently second in the British Gas Business Premier Division. If you're heading down to Imber Court this afternoon, expect an arresting 90 minutes of action to ensue...

Once again, ITV.com and ITVLocal.com are doing a sterling job of covering as much of the action as possible today. Here's a list of the matches they'll be covering in your part of the UK:

ITV.com
Sutton United V Cray Wanderers
Stewarts & Lloyds (Corby) v Croydon Athletic

Anglia
Cambridge City v Lowestoft

Border:
Aston United v Kendal Town (provisional/tbc)

Granada:
Buxton v Bootle

West:
Truro City v Yate

Central:
Hednesford v Atherstone

London:
Thamesmead v Great Wakering Rovers

Tyne Tees:
Ashington v Durham

Yorkshire:
Garforth Town v Ossett Town

Meridian:
Fleet Town v Cowes

Wales:
Poole Town v Merthyr Tydfil

Failing that, why not get along to your local match in person? Full details of all the fixtures can be found on the FA.com website.

The FA Cup starts here

We begin with an apology.

When we said yesterday that these were exciting times and that various football competitions were going on around the world except for one which was about to start (i.e. the Premier League), we were being slightly economical with the truth.

Not that these aren't exciting times, etc, etc - it was just the bit at the end about 'one competition remaining that hadn't exploded into life yet'. We should have mentioned another one that you might have heard of - a competition that gets a bit of publicity from time to time and occasionally raises an eyebrow or two. We speak, of course, of the legend that is the FA Cup.

Believe it or not, the 2008/09 competition began tonight at 6.20pm (BST) with the very first match of them all - an Extra Preliminary Round tie between Wantage and Brading Town.

Now usually an event such as this involving two teams playing eight rungs below the Premier League on the football ladder would barely impact on the lives of the common man or woman, but this season is different. That's because the 2008/09 FA Cup is being covered by ITV and unlike the BBC who had the previous broadcasting rights, they'll be showing all the action from the Extra Preliminary Round onwards - not just from the start of the First Round Proper.

That means dozens of lower league clubs around England and Wales will finally get the publicity they deserve as they show the world who they are and the vital role they play in the fabric of the national game.

We think this is a bold and utterly fantastic move on the part of ITV, a move which leads us to wonder why nobody ever thought of doing it before. It's exactly the shot in the arm the competition needs, and if it doesn't motivate even more people to go along and support their local teams, nothing will.

So how are ITV able to cover so many matches involving so many teams at a stage of the competition when even the mere suggestion of the term 'league club' seems out of place? The answer lies in ITVLocal.com - a new website aimed at bringing news and information to people at a local level, because let's face it, if there's been an upsurge in crime in your area, you don't want to turn on your TV to hear what Robert Mugabe's up to in Zimbabwe or which parts of Georgia have been reclaimed by the Russians.

Again, it's a brilliant idea that keeps people right across the UK up to speed on the things that are going on right outside their front door, and as a part of that remit, sport is being covered in a similarly relevant way. Via the ITV Local website (plus ITV.com and TheFA.com), anyone anywhere can catch up with all the goals and all the excitement from the FA Cup games taking place at local team level.

A whopping 762 teams are hoping to reach Wembley this year and tomorrow afternoon will see 380 of them entering the field of battle, all hoping that they might one day do a giant-killing act on one of the professional clubs.

ITV will be sending its cameras out to cover as many of the games as possible - one of which will be Wembley FC v Royston Town, and that's where we'll be going tomorrow to soak up that unique atmosphere for SPAOTP.

We'll be bringing you a report on how the game panned out after the event, but for now just remember you can follow your own FA Cup trail by watching the action unfold at http://www.itvlocal.com/facup and http://www.itv.com/football.

Harry Redknapp, be warned - your grip on that lovely silver trophy is about to get that little bit weaker...

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup Final

This is it, everyone - FA Cup Final Day, a day to enjoy and a day when someone will win one of the most prestigious trophies in world football.

Some people say it's lost it's value in recent years, some say it's lost it's sparkle. I disagree.

When I was a young boy, it was a day when Wembley Stadium was almost always bathed in early summer sunshine, when the football played was captivating and the fans experienced every possible emotion. Though you can never tell how good any Final will be, the occasion always has that evocative history that few others can boast, and that for me is what makes it so special.

Today, two teams have an all-too-rare chance to lift the trophy. On the one hand, there's Portsmouth, led by Harry Redknapp who brings a team to Wembley for the first time in his career, and on the other is Cardiff City. On SPAOTP's 2007/2008 Road To Wembley, we reach the Final with Cardiff as the team we'll be supporting.

It's been a long and winding road for us since we started out back in September last year in the First Qualifying Round. We began with Burnham Ramblers playing away to Chelmsford City which in turn led us to follow Hayes & Waterlooville, Maidenhead United, Horsham, Swansea City, Havant & Waterlooville, Liverpool and Barnsley before Cardiff City became the team for us in today's big finalé. You can see our Road to Wembley in graphical form by visiting our route map.

So Cardiff it is, then, and with the game not far off starting, let's check out the facts about our team so that we know who we're supporting.

Cardiff City's manager is Dave Jones, a former player with Everton, Coventry City, Preston and, strangely, Seiko - a team from Hong Kong. He arrived at Cardiff in May 2005 and maintained their new-found status as a Championship side, slowly but surely building up the quality of the squad and bringing in many well-known faces.

Among the ranks at Ninian Park now are former greats such as Robbie Fowler, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Trevor Sinclair, but that's not the be all and end all of their talents.

In goal they have Peter Enckelman on loan from Blackburn Rovers and one of his former team mates from Aston Villa, Peter Whittingham. Joe Ledley, a Welsh international midfielder, is also someone likely to catch the eye along with another member of the Wales squad, Paul Parry. Both players are joint top goalscorers for the club this season.

Cardiff have finished the 2007/08 Championship season in 12th place, just inside the top half of the table - a position they're very familiar with for most of the campaign. In the Cup, however, they've been even more efficient. Wins against Chasetown, Hereford, Wolves, Middlesbrough and Cardiff have all seen them cruise to today's big match finish which could see them win the FA Cup for the first time since 1927.

And that, really, is all you need to know about Cardiff. Anything else you can work out for yourselves by watching the match which, I've a feeling, will be a good one.

We send our best wishes to Cardiff City as we draw a close to our 2007/08 Road To Wembley. As someone once said, it's not the arriving at your destination but the journey itself that counts, and that's certainly been the case for us this season. Enjoy.

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #61

The Day of the Underdog
The Only Seven Clubs From The Second Division That Have Won The FA Cup

1. Notts County (1894)
2. Wolverhampton Wanderers (1908)
3. Barnsley (1912)
4. West Bromwich Albion (1931)
5. Sunderland (1973)
6. Southampton (1976)
7. West Ham United (1980)

...plus Cardiff City tomorrow? You be the judge...

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 5th Round Proper

The Fourth Round of this season's FA Cup (sponsored by E.On) gave us an absolute corker of a match when our team, Havant and Waterlooville, met the might of Liverpool at Anfield. Heavily expected to be pulverised to within an inch of their lives, non-league Havant and Waterlooville took the fight to Rafa's men and were in the lead twice in the first half before eventually losing out 5-2 at the final whistle.

Havant and Waterlooville did us proud on the day and rightly earned plaudits from all quarters for the way they refused to be overshadowed and outclassed for much of that tie. Sadly though, we must bid them farewell as we progress to Round Five along our Road to Wembley and for the first time we give our support to a Premier League team for the first time. For the less observant amongst you, we today follow Liverpool as they play host to Championship side Barnsley at Anfield.

Now at this point we'd normally tell you stuff about our featured team that you didn't already know, i.e. some of the players in their squad, their season so far, their manager and so on, but we figure you already know a lot about The Reds, so let's look at their track record in the FA Cup over the last twenty seasons.

The first thing that strikes you is that Liverpool are a team that have had more success than most in the competition over the past two decades, particularly towards the beginning of that period. Between the 1987/88 and 1991/92 seasons, Liverpool won the trophy twice, were runners-up once and reached the semi-finals once. Liverpool were a team riding high back then, but decent Cup runs were to become less regular with each passing season after that.

1993 and 1994 saw The Reds exit at the first hurdle, losing out to lowly Bolton and a slightly-less-lowly Bristol City in each case before a return to the Final came around again in 1996. On that occasion, a late Eric Cantona goal put paid to Liverpool's chances signalling another return to numerous Third and Fourth Round runs before 2001 when the Anfield side tasted glory once again.

It was the first time since 1922 that the FA Cup Final had been played somewhere other than Wembley, but Liverpool didn't seem to mind as they took on Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Though the Final itself was largely forgettable - particularly the first half, Liverpool sprang into life after conceding a goal with 18 minutes left through Freddie Ljungberg. Michael Owen became the hero of the day when he popped up with two goals to give Liverpool their first FA Cup win since their 1992 win over Sunderland.

In typical fashion, this peak in their recent Cup history would precede a fall that lasted for four long seasons including a Third Round defeat to Burnley in 2005. They needn't have worried for The Reds returned again victorious in (ironically) the last Final to be played in Cardiff in 2006.

It was a classic, roundly regarded as one of the greatest Cup Finals ever. Liverpool faced West Ham who, themselves, had enjoyed a good season, finishing just six places below Liverpool who ended their Premier League campaign in third spot.

Much like Liverpool's previous Cup Final in 2001, they found themselves going behind but this time they conceded a goal early on and not just once, but twice. With half an hour of the game gone, Liverpool were 2-0 down, but Djibril Cisse was on hand to volley a goal back shortly after and when Steven Gerrard volleyed in an equaliser after 55 minutes, the Final was set for a tense ending.

Nine minutes on from Gerrard's effort, Paul Konchesky's floating cross caught out Reina and went in to give The Hammers the lead again but with seconds remaining Gerrard arrived once more to smash home another equaliser to finish normal time at 3-3.

Extra time came and went without much incident and penalties were called for. It was here that West Ham showed a lack of experience that Liverpool used to their advantage. Bobby Zamora and Konchesky missed with their efforts either side of a Teddy Sheringham goal, and with only Sami Hyppia having missed from the first three kicks for Liverpool it was left to John Arne Riise to score the decisive third goal before Reina saved from Anton Ferdinand.



The Reds were handed the FA Cup for the seventh time, thereby meaning only three clubs have won the trophy more than them - Man United, Arsenal and Tottenham. They look set to be a major player in the future of the competition for many years to come just as they have been for many years, but just as last season they're also highly susceptible to early exits and even defeats to lesser teams.

Will they overcome Barnsley today? We shall see...

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 4th Round Proper

What an exciting Road to Wembley we've had so far! Already we're in Round 4, and now we find ourselves following Havant and Waterlooville as they travel to Anfield to hopefully beat the mighty Liverpool.

But what a journey it's been since the First Qualifying Round of this season's FA Cup (sponsored by E.On). We started off with Burnham Ramblers as they went into battle against Chelmsford City and since then we've been (in spirit) to Hemel Hempstead, Hayes and Yeading, Maidenhead, Horsham, Swansea and now to our first Premier League venue, Liverpool.

The strange thing is when we were supporting Swansea City in the last round, we were expecting them to make the trip up north to play the former European champions, but we were wrong. Havant and Waterlooville drew the first match 1-1 in Swansea, but the replay back at their own ground ignited some real fireworks as the Conference South side won 4-2.

So in somewhat of a state of shock, we bid farewell to The Swans and put a welcoming arm around our latest team on the Road to Wembley, Havant and Waterlooville. Apart from that recent shock win over Swansea and their big game today against Rafa's Liverpool team, what do we know about them?

Havant & Waterlooville are currently 12th in the Conference South table and have lost only one of their last seven home games, that being against Hampton and Richmond Borough last November. Sadly their away form is letting them down at present - in fact they've won only one of their ten away games so far this season, and that was the first one they played back in August.

So with work to be done on their consistency, whose job is it to crack the whip and pull the boys into shape? The answer: Shaun Gale. He's a former player with Barnet, Exeter City and Havant & Waterlooville who turned manager with The Hawks in October when Ian Baird left for Eastleigh.

And who can we look out for as a source of goals during today's match? Well among the scorers against Swansea were Rocky Baptiste, Jamie Collins and Tom Jordan, all of whom have scored league goals earlier this season, but you may also want to keep an eye on Craig Watkins and Richard Pacquette as they have a keen eye for goal too.

Much more than that, all we can say is good luck Havant & Waterlooville. They've got a tough task playing the likes of Carragher, Gerrard and Torres, but even if they do meet their fate today, they'll have already achieved greatness in this season's FA Cup. Let's wish them well and who knows - something amazing might just happen if you wish hard enough. Swansea City fans can testify to that...

Don't mention the draw...

After the heady excitement of seeing several Premier League teams knocked-out by smaller opposition in Round 3, today we had the draw for the Fourth Round of the FA Cup (sponsored by E.On).

Not that you'll see it on this site, oh no. Nope, we had our fingers burnt once before where that sort of thing's concerned and we won't be falling into that trap again.

It was back in June 2007 when we gazed in awe at the fixtures that had just been announced by the FA for the opening weeks of the new Premier League season. How we drooled at the prospect of all those top teams waiting to do battle again after so many weeks of Summer inactivity.

We couldn't wait to share that initial batch of fixtures with you, so we did the only decent thing we could think of: we published them on our site. That's what set the alarm off in the FA boardroom.

Within a couple of days, we were contacted by a company who shall remain nameless (for reasons which will become clear) who, it was claimed, were acting on behalf of the aforementioned governing body. They said they'd noticed we'd published details of the opening weeks' fixtures, and as we'd done so without asking for permission (or paying the extortionate sum of money they were asking for) we should remove them from our site or face the consequences.

As we didn't want a gang of henchmen banging on our door demanding to be let in so they could detach a certain dangly collection of objects from our bodies with a blunt knife, we agreed to do what they said.

And apparently we weren't the only ones. I've been on other blog sites that were also contacted for this so-called breach of the law, and they had to face the same unreasonably heavy-handed attitude as well.

Now at this point I could surely go on for hours about why you have to pay thousands of pounds for a license to use the FA's fixture details when various newspapers and TV companies are displaying them to a worldwide audience of millions, but I won't. I'll leave that for you to contemplate.

Instead, as we always try to provide the best news service we can for you, our loyal visitors, here ARE the key fixtures from today's draw for the Fourth Round of the FA Cup using as much detail as possible without crossing the boundaries of illegality:

• The Gooners v That team Stanley Matthews played for at the end of his career or The Magpies from St. James' Park
• Dave Whelan's relegation-cheating JJB-ers v a team from West London that call themselves The BluesThe team that used to be supported by Eric Morecambe or Rafa's Rotating Reds v A club that went from the Fourth Division to the First almost as quickly as they went from the First Divison to the Fourth or Yet another non-league team that were formed as a result of a merger of two local sides that haven't reached this round before
• Ronaldo & Co v Ossie's Army or Steve Coppell's blue-and-white-army
• Pompey v The only team you know in English football that wears green shirts
• The club that thinks it can sue its way out of trouble v The team that gave them such an inferiority complex by signing a couple of Argentinean stooges who inadvertantly caught the wrong train and ended up in East London or Manchester City. (Bugger...)
  

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 3rd Round Proper

Today we arrived in Round Three of the 2007/08 FA Cup (sponsored by E.On) and in case you haven't been with us on our Road to Wembley so far, we're following Swansea City as they faced Havant and Waterlooville.

Round Two certainly proved to be an eventful one for us as our adopted team at the time were Horsham FC. They played Swansea City at home and earned a commendable 1-1 draw. Unfortunately the replay at Swansea's Liberty Stadium proved too difficult for them as The Swans thrashed the The Hornets 6-2, so once again we wave our old team goodbye and welcome aboard a new one and our first on the Road to Wembley from the Football League.

Swansea City are currently flying high in League 1 and are currently occupying top spot in the table thanks to an impressive recent run of form. Their last defeat came on November 16th at home to Huddersfield Town and since then they've notched up seven wins and two draws, so it's no surprise manager Roberto Martinez won the Coca-Cola League 1 Manager of the Month award.

He must have been feeling pretty confident when the draw for the FA Cup 3rd Round pitted them against Conference South side Havant and Waterlooville. That said, Swansea City have come a cropper in the past when playing supposedly weaker opposition in the Cup. Nuneaton Borough knocked them out in 1967 and 1994, Margate did it in 1973, Minehead did it in 1977 and Bognor Regis Town beat them in 1985, so would there be another upset today?

It was a distinct possibility. Swansea have had trouble replicating their league form in the FA Cup this season as the replayed match against Horsham proved. Even the previous round wasn't straight-forward for Martinez's band of men as they left it to the last half an hour to come back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 against Billericay Town.

So who could he rely on to score a goal or two today? Well his top scorer in all competitions so far in 2007/08 has been Trinidad and Tobago striker Jason Scotland (or is that Scotland striker Jason... oh never mind...) He's put the ball in the net thirteen times so far this season, plenty more than fellow team members Paul Anderson (8) and Andy Robinson (6) but goals have been going in from all over the place of late so there didn't seem to be much cause for concern.

What was a concern was The Swans knack for conceding goals. For every two they've scored in the league, they've let one in so today's game was always going to be tricky. Just how did they get on, then?

Well Swansea started off the brighter of the two teams as shots from Darren Pratley, Jason Scotland and Leon Britton all hit the crossbar, but a hard-fought match failed to produce any goals until the 74th minute when Andy Robinson scored from a 30-yard free kick.

You'd have put your house on Swansea to wrap the game up, especially when Havant's Brett Poate was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Andrea Orlandi five minutes later, but it caused tempers to be raised between both sides and Swansea's Alan Tate also saw red shortly after. The game had lost its flow but Havant and Waterlooville turned it to their advantage as Rocky Baptiste seized on a defensive mistake to equalise with three minutes left.

The game finished a 1-1 draw and the two teams will now meet again for the replay at Westleigh Park on Wednesday 16 January. Swansea will be pleased not to have been knocked out by lesser opposition, but they'll feel they should have won after dominating so much of the match. Can they finish off the job in eleven days time? Watch this space to find out...

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #43

David and Goliath Weekend
20 FA Cup Third Round Upsets

1. Colchester United (Southern League) 1-0 Huddersfield Town (Division 1), 1947/48
2. Crewe Alexandra (Division 4) 2-1 Chelsea (Division 1), 1960/61
3. Aldershot (Division 4) 2-1 Aston Villa (Division 1), 1963/64 (replay)
4. Newport County (Division 4) 3–2 Sheffield Wednesday (Division 1), 1963/64
5. Millwall (Division 4) 1–0 Fulham (Division 1), 1964/65 (replay)
6. Hereford United (Southern League) 2–1 Newcastle United (Division 1), 1971/72 (replay)
7. Wimbledon (Southern League) 1–0 Burnley (Division 1), 1974/75
8. Halifax Town (Division 4) 1–0 Manchester City (Division 1), 1979/80
9. Harlow Town (Isthmian League) 1–0 Leicester City (Division 2), 1979/80 (replay)
10. Altrincham (Football Conference) 2–1 Birmingham City (Division 1), 1985/86
11. Aldershot (Division 4) 3–0 Oxford United (Division 1), 1986/87
12. Grimsby Town (Division 4) 2–1 Middlesbrough (Division 1), 1988/89
13. Sutton United (Football Conference) 2–1 Coventry City (Division 1), 1988/89
14. Woking (Isthmian Premier) 4–2 West Bromwich Albion (Division 2), 1990/91
15. Wrexham (Division 4) 2–1 Arsenal (Division 1), 1991/92
16. Kidderminster Harriers (Football Conference) 2–1 Birmingham City (Division 1), 1993/94
17. Stevenage Borough (Football Conference) 2–1 Swindon Town (Division 1), 1997/98
18. Swansea City (Division 3) 1–0 West Ham United (Premier League), 1998/99 (replay)
19. Bristol Rovers (Division 3) 3–1 Derby County (Premier League), 2001/02
20. Shrewsbury Town (Division 3) 2–1 Everton (Premier League), 2002/03

...and Number 18 on the list reminds us that Swansea City feature in our 'Road To Wembley' tomorrow. Join us for that and see if they can avoid being on the wrong end of a Third Round upset against Havant & Waterlooville.

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 2nd Round Proper

We're back on the Road to Wembley today. "You're a bit early," we here you cry. "It's not Saturday yet."

Well no, but in the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup we're following non-league Horsham FC and tonight they're playing League 1 Swansea City, so we're bringing you all you need to know ahead of the game. Oh and in case you didn't know, this is the first time you'll be able to watch SPAOTP's adopted team live on TV as tonight's match is being shown on Sky Sports 1 here in the UK at 7.30pm GMT.

So to recap, the last round of the FA Cup (sponsored by E.ON) saw us following Maidenhead United as they travelled down to Horsham but yet again, we seem to have put a jinx on our team as they crashed 4-1 to the home side. It was therefore 'goodbye Maidenhead, hello Horsham' but shock horror - the Second Round draw saw one of our teams actually playing at home - and against one of the highest placed clubs in the round!

Yes, Horsham will play host to Swansea City this evening and it'll undoubtedly be a tough game, so let's get the low-down on The Hornets while we can, just in case anything unfortunate should happen...

Horsham FC has been in existence for a whopping 136 years. The 1920's and 1930's saw Horsham reach their first peak as they won the County League on several occasions but their first breakthrough into the First Round Proper of the FA Cup didn't come until the 1947-48 season.

In 1974, Horsham arrived in the Isthmian League where they currently reside (see our Football Pyramid for details) but by the end of the 1970's, The Hornets were battling to avoid bankruptcy. Relegation to the Isthmian League Second Division soon followed and the 1980's proved a difficult spell for them.

There then followed a gradual turn-around in their fortunes with the pinnacle of their achievements being promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division in 2005-06. Last year they finished eighth in the league and they're currently seventh, so who knows - maybe promotion to the Conference South could be on the cards this season?

Their current form suggests Swansea might have a tough task on their hands this evening. Horsham have lost only two of their last eleven games in all competitions and a 1-0 win in the league last Saturday against Harrow Borough was the perfect way to prepare for a visit by The Swans in the Cup tonight.

Horsham's number 10, Carl Rook, is the man to keep an eye open for tonight. He's their top goalscorer so far this season in all competitions with 12 goals, but there's plenty more where that came from with Lewis Taylor, Simon Austin and Jacob Mingle all boasting six goals to their name too.

So can Manager John Maggs do the unthinkable and beat the might of Swansea City? They've been beaten by non-league opposition before as any fan of Nuneaton Borough or Bognor Regis Town will tell you. And given the fact that tickets for the tie sold out on Wednesday morning, I think it's fair to say the locals are more than optimistic it can happen.

Let's wish our team for the Second Round, Horsham FC, the best of luck for tonight and who knows - they might just face Manchester United in the next round...

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 1st Round Proper

This is it, folks - this is the bit where the FA Cup starts getting really serious. Today saw the First Round Proper of the 2007/08 FA Cup (sponsored by E.On) where only those amateur teams with nerves of steel and toughness to boot can win against the might of the professionals who enter at this stage.

In two rounds time, the big boys from the Premier League and the Championship join in the fun, but for now those non-leaguers that thought it was tough so far now have the League 1 and League 2 sides to contend with.

Luckily for us, we were following Maidenhead United from the Conference South who today travelled to play a team below them in the 'league pyramid' - Horsham, from the Isthmian Premier League.

Maidenhead, you may remember, became our latest team on the Road to Wembley by beating the previous incumbents Hayes & Yeading United in the Fourth Qualifying Round. So what do we know about them?

Well Maidenhead are fresh back in the Conference South having been relegated two seasons ago. They gained promotion again in the summer but so far this season they've been struggling. Last Saturday's away defeat to Bishop's Stortford saw them drop into the bottom three so another sortie into the FA Cup will no doubt come as a welcome respite for them.

The Magpies (they play in black and white striped shirts, you see) were once managed by former West Ham midfielder Alan Devonshire but currently have Johnson Hippolyte in charge who, with considerable irony, was once joint manager of Yeading.

Of the players in his squad, Manny Williams was easily the man to keep an eye on today as he's scored six goals in the Blue Square South so far, while Lee Newman's scored three and Errol Telemaque and Dwane Lee have picked up two each.

And so it was that our brave men headed down to Horsham for today's First Round clash, but little did they know that the SPAOTP jinx was about to strike once again. In front of a crowd of 3,000 at the Atspeed Stadium, it was the home side that rose to the occasion first. Nigel Brake's excellent long-range shot put Horsham 1-0 up just before half time and Lee Carney's overhead kick doubled their lead after 62 minutes.

Shortly afterwards, Maidenhead's dead-ball specialist Dwane Lee pulled a goal back from the penalty spot but Horsham were able to finish the game off with two goals in the last eight minutes thanks to a second from Carney and one from substitute Lee Farrell. Maidenhead were out of the Cup 4-1 and their return to an arduous and thus far largely unfulfilling league campaign once again becomes their main priority.

We therefore send our sympathies to Maidenhead and welcome Horsham as our new Road To Wembley team. We also send our congratulations as today's convincing performance means they can now look forward to a place in the Second Round of the FA Cup for the first time ever.

Who will they play? We'll find out tomorrow when the draw for the next round of the FA Cup (sponsored by somE.ONe) takes place at FA Headquarters at 17:15 GMT.

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round

Another round, another team for us on our Road to Wembley as today we feature Hayes and Yeading United, the team who knocked out our previous focus of attention Chelmsford City 1-0.

This afternoon saw the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup (sponsored by E.OR (sorry, 'E.ON')) taking place and Hayes and Yeading found themselves playing away at Maidenhead United. Before we reflect on what happened, let's put everything into perspective for you.

Hayes and Yeading United only came into existence back in May when the merger came about of, yes, you've guessed it, Hayes and Yeading. They play in the Blue Square South (or Football Conference South as it's known in non-commercial circles), and if you're wondering what level that is in the English football pyramid system, here's a diagram to show you (click to enlarge).

Hayes and Yeading are currently 13th in the Conference South table out of 22 teams and are currently enjoying a seven-game unbeaten run that goes right back to the beginning of September. Top scorer in the league so far is Staforde Palmer with four goals although several other players in the squad have chipped in too this season including Will Hendry (3), Nevin Saroya (2) and Simon Martin (2).

Hayes and Yeading United are managed by Garry Haylock, previously manager of Yeading FC until the end of 2006 and a man who knows what its like to play much higher up the football food chain. As a player, Horlock was a prolific goalscorer at clubs such as Huddersfield Town, Shelbourne, Dundalk, Linfield, Glentoran and Portadown (where he topped the Northern Irish league scoring charts in 1996 and 1997).

He's also played in the European Cup during his spell in Irish football as well as Greece where he once played for Panionios GS. While there, he appeared in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1998-99 where Lazio were his opponents.

With that sort of pedigree, you'd think today's oppenents, Maidenhead United, would be quaking in their boots - especially as they're five places lower than Hayes and Yeading in the Conference South table.

Well let's just say they obviously hadn't read his biography before today's encounter because this afternoon's ninety minutes of toil and hard graft ended up in a 1-0 win for Maidenhead. Manny Williams goal just before the half-hour mark wasn't equalled by the time the referee blew his whistle, so that's it - SPAOTP lose another team in an away fixture and we have to say goodbye to Hayes and Yeading for this season.

On the plus side, we now have Maidenhead United as our new team and it's them we'll be following for the thrilling FIRST ROUND PROPER on Saturday 10th November. Oh and hot news folks - they've already done the draw at FA Headquarters, and guess what? Our team will be playing away AGAIN!

Maidenhead were pulled out of the hat in tie number 26 of 40 to play Horsham, who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division where they're currently fourth in the table, three places below one of our previous Road to Wembley teams, Chelmsford City!

Could this be a rare win for SPAOTP in this season's FA Cup (sponsored by E.ON)? Watch this space to find out...

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round

Welcome one and all as we once again head off on The Road to Wembley.

As you'll remember from last time, we're tracking the progress of one team from the early rounds of the FA Cup (sponsored by E.On, never forget that) through to the Final. We began with the First Qualifying Round two weeks ago, and there our chosen team was Burnham Ramblers.

Sadly for Burnham, the writing was on the wall as they played away to Chelmsford City, operating two tiers above them in the Ryman League (formerly the Isthmian League) Premier Division. The result may not have come as much of a surprise to many (especially the home fans), but the 5-0 trouncing of Burnham sadly brought their run in the Cup to an end.

Fortunately for us, that's not the case as we now throw all our support behind Chelmsford City as we head into the Second Qualifying Round. They, too, are playing away today and are up against Hemel Hempstead Town from the British Gas Business League (formerly Southern League) Premier Division.

(And in case you're wondering, the Southern League and Isthmian League are both on the same tier, so to speak - that's three levels below Coca-Cola League 2.)

So what do we know about Chelmsford City? Well, they're sitting third in the Ryman Premier League table out of 22 teams having won five and drawn two of their games. Their top scorer in the league so far this season is Kezie Ibe with five goals but Ricky Holmes and penalty specialist Stuart Ainsley are not far behind on four.

Chelmsford City's home ground is Melbourne Park and there you'll typically find between 1,000 and 1,500 people cheering them on every other week. Their manager is Jeff King who was head honcho at Canvey Island up to May 2006 but when he left for Chelmsford, many of his old players followed him up the A130 too.

Chelmsford's last Southern League title win was in 1972 but they stand a decent chance of getting another one this season - if only they could improve their away form. At home so far they've won all five games including an impressive 7-0 victory over Maidstone United, but on their travels they have just two draws and two defeats to their name.

That sounds a little ominous to us, especially as their opponents, Hemel Hempstead, are currently top of the British Gas Premier Division. The bookmakers currently have Hemel as the favourites to win today's match but we know Chelmsford can do it, don't we? Let's wish them well as they go into battle today and if you're going along to the game, why not leave us a comment to tell us how it all went? We'd be glad to hear from you...

While we're on the subject of such things, we'd like to tell you about some more people who are doing their own 'Road to Wembley'. First of all, there's Paul Kirkwood who's once again embarking on his FA Cup Ground Hopper this season. He's a bit of an old hand at this game compared to us green naive types, so it's with some confidence we can say that his website is one that's well worth visiting. It's wonderfully written and captures that magical essence of the early rounds of the FA Cup (sponsored by... oh, you know the rest). Check it out and leave him a comment to show your support - it means a lot to us blogger types... :)

Also, a couple of days after the last round of the Cup took place, we heard from Brooner who's on the glory trail with the rest of us. His exploits are detailed on his blogsite 'Did He Really Mean It?' where, as before, you'll get a great insight into the highs and lows of the early rounds of the competition. More great writing awaits you there, so drop by and say 'hello' - hell, even swap notes about your travels, if you like. Brooner will be looking forward to hearing from you.

Best of luck to all of you following the Second Qualifying Round today and do let us know how your team got on. Meantime, if you want to keep up-to-date with us and all our other Road To Wemblists, check out the special section we've created to the right of the page.

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round

Today, Some People Are On The Pitch enters relatively new territory. We don't often cover non-league football, but we're always keen to cover as many angles of the game as possible, so join us now as we embark on a journey that will educate and enthral. This is where we start our Road to Wembley 2007/08.

Following the message we received recently from Sniffer 72, we were inspired to track the progress of a team from the early stages of this season's FA Cup competition right the way through to the Final. So today the journey begins in the First Qualifying Round and we've selected a team at random who we'll follow until they get beaten. Once that happens, we'll follow the winners until they get beaten, and so on.

Anyway, the team we've chosen to begin our quest are Burnham Ramblers and today they travelled to Chelmsford City for what amounted to an Essex derby. Before we give you the result, here's some information about SPAOTP's newest favourite team.

Formed in 1900, Burnham Ramblers spent much of their history playing at intermediate level before gaining senior status in 1985. They can currently be found in the Essex Senior League where their new manager is Derek Robinson. After many of the players moved onto pastures new during the summer, Robinson had to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, metaphorically speaking, and the proof of how difficult his task has been is reflected in the Ramblers' recent results. They've won just one of their first four matches of the season, and at present they lie thirteenth out of seventeen teams.

Still, the league is one thing - the Cup, on the other hand, is another, and if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that the form book counts for very little at times like this. The question is, could Derek Robinson motivate his team to overcome the might of Chelmsford City?

It wouldn't be easy, especially given the fact that Chelmsford play two levels above Burnham in the Ryman League Premier Division. As it turned out, that gap proved to be far too big for Burnham to overcome and the final result saw the home side win 5-0. A great shame for our first team in the Road to Wembley, but it was always going to be tough beating Chelmsford who are currently second in the Ryman Premier.

So there it is. We must now say goodbye to Burnham and adopt their victors, Chelmsford City, for the Second Qualifying Round. Who will they play and will they get through to the round after that? Stay tuned to find out…