The draw for the First Round of the 2014-15 FA Cup was held on Monday evening from the St. George’s Park National Football Centre in Burton upon Trent. After six preliminary rounds, the field vying for the title of the Best Football Club in England has narrowed down to 124. The top two tiers of English Football will not enter will not enter for another two rounds but for the amateur sides still involved this is the big round.
The first round proper is where the first Football League clubs join the competition as clubs from Football League Two and Football League One join the 32 winners from the Fourth Qualifying Rounds.
What sets this tournament apart from so many others is that it is open to just about any team, professional or amateur, in England who wants to participate. We still have 12 ties with replays that will be resolved on Tuesday and Wednesday including one tie that will send either a team from 8th or 9th tier to the First Round Proper.
That match will take place on Wednesday at 3:45 PM ET at Dean Street as Shildon AFC from the Northern Football League Division One (9th tier) hosts Norton United FC from the Northern Premier League Division One South (8th tier). Shildon AFC is looking for their third appearance in the first round proper and first since the 2003-04 where they lost 7-2 away to Notts County.
Shildon’s road to this point started back in the Extra Preliminary Round where they defeated fellow 9th tier side Crook Town by a score of 7-0. From there, they moved into the Preliminary Round where they upset 8th tier side Padiham at the Arbories Memorial Sports Ground by a score of 1-0 off of a 30th minute penalty from captain Mark Hudson.
The upsets continued for the Railwaymen in the First Qualifying Round as they defeated 7th tier Whitby Town FC 2-1 at the Turnbull Ground after a disappointing 1-1 draw at Dean Street just four days previous. Ben Wood’s long range volley in the 29th minute would give Shildon a 1-0 advantage but Liam Shepperd equalized before halftime.
Shildon has a prime chance in the 49th minute as Paul Connor got in behind the defense to go 1-on-1 with the Whitby Town keeper. He beat the keeper and put a shot towards the empty goal that was saved off the line by a recovering defender. That would be the game-saving play as the match finished 1-1 setting up a replay the following week.
Shildon picked up where they left off in the previous meeting by dominating the possession. They had a penalty chance in the first twenty minutes that was saved before Billy Greulich-Smith opened the scoring for the visitors. Whitby pulled the match all square just moments before halftime as David McTiernan capitalized on a defensive mistake by the Shildon backline. Forward Micky Rae would make up for his missed penalty attempt earlier by scoring the game-winning goal to send Shildon into the Second Qualifying Round.
6th tier Stalybridge Celtic FC from the Conference North were next in line to travel to Dean Street to face Shildon. Billy Greulich-Smith would get the winner in the 59th minute converting on a prime chance after so many missed opportunities in the first half. Shildon nearly added a second later on but one would be enough to see them through.
The Cinderella run continued with a 2-0 win away to 7th tier Stourbridge FC after the two sides drew at Dean Street 0-0. Ben Wood scored both of those goals in the win. That brings us to now where Shildon are 90 minutes away from the First Round Proper, all they need is a win over Norton United FC of the 8th tier. The reward is a home tie against Gateshead from the Conference National League.
If Shildon are to make it through, they would be the first 9th tier team to make the First Round Proper since the 2010-11 competition when Tipton Town and Hythe Town both made the round before losing big to their Football League opponents.
There were two other 9th tier teams who made the Fourth Qualifying Round but they both fell in their matches. Greenwich Borough FC from the Southern Counties East League fell to 6th tier Worcester City FC by a score of 2-1 at Aggborough in Kidderminster. They fell just short of an away trip to the Ricoh Arena for a match with 3rd tier Coventry City FC. Willand Rovers FC from the Western Football League Premier Division fell at home at The Stan Robinson Stadium by a score of 3-1 to 6th tier Gosport Borough falling just one round short of what would have been a home tie with 3rd tier Colchester United.
FA Cup First Round Draw (Ties to be held between November 7th and November 10th)
League Tier in Parenthesis
Mansfield Town (4) vs. Concord Rangers (6)
Gosport Borough (6) vs. Colchester United (3)
Yeovil Town (3) vs. Crawley Town (3)
York City (4) vs. AFC Wimbledon (4)
Walsall (3) vs. Shrewsbury Town (4)
Notts County (3) vs. Accrington Stanley (4)
Chorley (6) or FC Halifax Town (5) vs. Bradford City (3)
Warrington Town (8) vs. Exeter City (4)
Eastleigh (5) vs. Alfreton Town (5) or Lincoln City (5)
Basingstoke Town (6) or Harrow Borough (7) vs. Spennymoor Town (8) or AFC Telford United (5)
Dagenham & Redbridge (4) vs. Tamworth (6) or Southport (5)
Weston-super-mare (6) vs. Doncaster Rovers (3)
Peterborough United (3) vs. Carlisle United (4)
Cheltenham Town (4) vs. Swindon Town (3)
Bromley (6) vs. Dartford (5)
Weymouth (7) or Braintree Town (5) vs. Chesterfield (3)
Chelmsford City (6) or Barnet (5) vs. Wycombe Wanderers (4)
Gillingham (3) vs. Bristol City (3)
Portsmouth (4) vs. Aldershot Town (5)
Norton United (8) or Shildon (9) vs. Gateshead (5)
Crewe Alexandra (3) vs. Sheffield United (3)
Grimsby Town (5) vs. Oxford United (4)
Tranmere Rovers (4) vs. Bristol Rovers (5)
Southend United (4) vs. Chester (5)
Luton Town (4) vs. Newport County (4)
Stevenage (4) vs. Maidstone United (7)
Bury (4) vs. Nuneaton Town (5) or Hemel Hempstead Town (6)
Cambridge United (4) vs. Fleetwood Town (3)
Northampton Town (4) vs. Rochdale (3)
Eastbourne Borough (6) or Dover Athletic (5) vs. Morecambe (4)
Port Vale (3) vs. Milton Keynes Dons (3)
Macclesfield Town (5) or Wrexham (5) vs. Woking (5)
Plymouth Argyle (4) vs. AFC Fylde (6)
Barnsley (3) vs. Burton Albion (4)
Hartlepool United (4) vs. East Thurrock United (7)
Coventry City (3) vs. Worcester City (6)
Oldham Athletic (3) vs. Leyton Orient (3)
Canvey Island (7) or Havant & Waterlooville (6) vs. Preston North End (3)
Blyth Spartans (7) vs. Altrincham (5)
Forest Green Rovers (5) vs. Scunthorpe United (3)