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.

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup Semi Finals

At last we can say that our Road To Wembley finally has reached Wembley, but because of the arrangements that have been made by the FA this season, we're not quite at the FA Cup Final yet.

This weekend sees the semi finals taking place of the 2007/08 competition and we're specifically interested in the one taking place tomorrow between SPAOTP's featured team, Barnsley, and Cardiff City. Today, however, we've already seen Portsmouth edge past their opponents, West Bromwich Albion, to reach the Final in May.

So what of Barnsley then? Well we were quite flippant in the last round that our world-renowned jinx would see them lose to Chelsea, but we were wrong. Barnsley battled and battled just as they'd done in previous rounds and managed to get a winning lead through Kayode Odejayi who scored from close range with around 25 minutes left on the clock.

Though Chelsea attacked throughout thanks to the likes of Joe Cole and Nicolas Anelka, Barnsley's defence remained solid, organised and resolute.

A 1-0 win was therefore the order of the day and so Barnsley's band of happy men get to stride out onto the Wembley turf tomorrow knowing a performance like their previous matches in the FA Cup this season (not the Championship, mind you) will earn them a place in the Final against Portsmouth. We say 'not the Championship' because their league position has slipped from 16th at the time of the FA Cup Quarter Finals to 21st at present.

They're now level on points with Southampton who occupy the first of the relegation spots and since their last FA Cup outing they've only notched up one win out of four in the league. Things are looking grim for The Tykes so a good run-out at Wembley tomorrow could give them the boost they need to avoid the Championship trap-door.

So let's will them on to success against Cardiff tomorrow for their sakes and ours. It's been a long and winding road to reach the Final during this series and most of the time we've had to say goodbye to a team just as soon as we've adopted one in each round. If Some People Are On The Pitch can keep Barnsley for a third successive match it'll be something akin to a miracle, quite frankly, but miracles can happen...

It's therefore time to settle back and enjoy the semi final tomorrow in the hope that Barnsley can weave their magic once again, but rest assured for the Final next month there'll be a lengthy and at times emotional look back on our Road To Wembley as we review how far we've come prior to this season's big finalé. Join SPAOTP for that if you can...

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup Quarter Finals

If you're a Barnsley supporter, today will see you experiencing distinct emotional highs and lows. On the one hand, you'll see your team have an all-too-rare prestige outing in the FA Cup Quarter Finals against Chelsea, yet on the other hand you'll see them get beaten thanks to the 'SPAOTP Road To Wembley Jinx' (Copyright 2007).

Yes, thanks to us, more teams have gone crashing out of the FA Cup without good reason than ever before, and the last round was no different. You'll remember our featured team was Liverpool, no less, as they faced a Barnsley team at Anfield that everyone thought would be the proverbial lambs heading for the slaughter.

How they overlooked SPAOTP's ability to scupper the team we follow on any given FA Cup weekend. Yes, Barnsley are the team we're with this weekend and what a match it'll be for them today. Chelsea will be huge favourites to win, of course, but The Tykes have put together a good run in the Cup this season.

Already falling foul of Simon Davey's men are Blackpool (knocked out in Round 3 by two goals to one), Southend (losing 1-0 on their own ground) and of course Rafa's Reds who lost by the odd goal in three a few week's ago.

So, are Barnsley a force to be reckoned with in the League too? Well so far, not really. They're currently 16th of the 24 teams in The Championship and haven't won a league match since February 9th. It's one of only two wins they've had since December 4th 2007 and they now run the very real risk of dropping to 21st in the table if the next five teams below them were all to win today.

All very strange, then, that they should be capable of beating Liverpool, but that shows the power of the FA Cup to make even the smallest teams punch above their weight. And who do they have in their squad that could make their mark today?

Well their top scorer so far in 2007/08 is Brian Howard, formerly of Swindon Town, who's so far bagged 10 goals in the league and one in the Cup - the decisive second against Liverpool. Then there's Hungarian Istvan Ferenczi and Jonathan Macken, twice voted Preston's Player of the Year. They've both scored five each in total this season and are as likely as anyone to get on the scoresheet today.

So historically speaking, can Barnsley do it today? Well they've not gone beyond the Third Round in the last few seasons, but Barnsley did knock Chelsea out at the Third Round stage back in 1989. The Barnsley side then featured John Beresford who later went on to gain a higher profile at Newcastle United and were managed by Leeds United legend Allan Clarke. The Chelsea side weren't bad either, putting out a line-up featuring Kerry Dixon, Gordon Durie and Graham Roberts. OK, so they weren't a patch on Roman Abramovich's band of international all-stars, but they were no pushovers either.

All in all, we're inclined to think the win will go to Chelsea today, but only with our logical heads on. If we used our hearts instead, we'd have to go for the romantic upset that SPAOTP have caused on more than one occasion in the FA Cup this season. We say 'Go Barnsley' - show the Blues how to do it! There's a place waiting in a Wembley semi-final if you do...

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...

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...

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 3rd Qualifying Round

Apologies for the lateness but here's news of what happened on the third step of our 2007/08 Road to Wembley.

You'll remember from the last thrilling instalment that we were following Chelmsford City in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup (sponsored by E.On) as they travelled away to play Hemel Hempstead Town. Well the good news is that they won that match 2-0 thanks to a couple of early goals from Stuart Ainsley and Kezie Ibe...

"There were good performances all over the pitch and I think we were more than worthy winners" said Head Coach Glenn Pennyfather, adding "We don't mind who we get in the next round, as long as it's at home."

Unfortunately for Pennyfather, the draw for the Third Qualifying Round that took place two days later saw Chelmsford City hitting the road again - this time to Hayes & Yeading United.

Going into yesterday's match, Chelmsford were reeling from a number of injured and sick players which inevitably weakened the squad. Pennyfather was left with no option but to select the walking wounded that was available to him, and though they did the best they could, it proved to be insufficient. Chelmsford City lost 1-0 in the resulting one-sided match that went in favour of the home team for whom Tom Cadmore scored the winning goal on the hour mark.

A brave effort by Chelmsford City, then, but it was not to be. Still, if there's a motto that we should make our own on this Road to Wembley, it's "The king is dead - long live the King" for now we adopt the victors as our new team of choice. In the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup (sponsored by etc, etc), we'll be right behind Hayes and Yeading United who ironically play just nine miles or so from Wembley Stadium itself.

So near and yet so far from Wembley, it seems we've nearly reached our destination, but there's still a long way to go yet. Join us again soon as we embark on the next stage of our epic FA Cup quest.

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…