ITS THE FA CUP 2022

With a few glasses of red in us, we are discussing the impact of the FA Cup on English football. In 1922 Huddersfield Town were the FA Cup winners, beating Preston NE 1-0. Not too many complications.

The FA Cup Third Round, this weekend, is one of the great weekends for us football followers. Hartlepool v Blackpool  (2-1) immediately attracted me and the reason is obvious. Can you think of three reasons why? An 18 yard old scored the winner.

Coventry City v Derby County attracts me...Lady Godiva and a horse v pedigree race horses. You have to keep up with me! Mansfield v Middlebrough (ok both Ms and how many of you will spend MiddlesBROUGH correctly. Smoggie or Smoggy is a nickname given to people from Middlesbrough's Teesside, North East England, as well as the local accent and dialect. It originated with visiting football supporters and is a contraction of 'smog monster'. 2-3 to Boro.

Millwall v Crystal Palace from SOUFFEASTLONDON; two lovely clubs with different stories to tell and local derbies. 1-2.

Then there is Barnsley v Barrow-South Yorkshire Tykes coalminers v Submarine makers...couldn't be further apart. Barnsley were forced into extra time by 10-man Barrow but eventually claimed a 5-4 victory at Oakwell in one of the most incredible FA Cup matches seen in recent years.

Ch,Ch, Ch, Chelsea v  C h, Ch, Ch, Chesterfield. The architects of one of the most mind-blowing FA Cup runs in living memory, when as a third-tier side they were robbed by poor officiating and the absence of goal-line technology in their 1997 semi-final against Middlesbrough, Chesterfield had an opportunity to recreate the magic of yore when they took on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The European champions are second in the Premier League, while their visitors sit 92 places below them, banging on the door of the Football League. Unbeaten in 14 games under the management of the 38-year-old James Rowe, Chesterfield were actually the first visiting team in history to win a League game at Stamford Bridge, in 1905, and will be hoping history of a sort can repeat itself in the first encounter between the clubs in 72 years. Whatever the outcome, this glamour tie and the financial windfall that comes with it is a thoroughly deserved reward for those behind the Chesterfield FC Community Trust, who have performed such sterling work since securing the purchase of the club 17 months ago.

and Wigan v Blackburn (3-2) a north-western derby

and then the Yeovil v Bournemouth from the "South-west".

As the old maxim goes, Huddersfield always win the Cup when the year ends in 22, especially if they get to visit Turf Moor along the way. They played there twice en route to lifting the trophy for the first and only time in 1922, ousting Burnley at the start of their campaign before beating Notts County at Turf Moor in the semi-final. So we can be certain that, before Saturday’s tie at Burnley, Carlos Corberán will rev his charges up with tales of heroes such as Billy Smith, the scorer of their winner at Stamford Bridge back in the day and – by the by – the first player in English football to find the net directly from a corner. With both teams beset by Covid and Huddersfield fighting for promotion from the Championship while Burnley battle against relegation from the Premier League, it is difficult to predict the lineups of each side, but it would not be a major shock if the visitors knocked out the Clarets.

Boreham Wood FC  has developed a taste for beating Football League opposition in recent years, having broken their duck by defeating Blackpool in the first round of the FA Cup in 2017-18. Last season they beat Southend on penalties in the first round of a run that ended with defeat to Millwall in the third. They have reached the stage this time without facing an EFL club, having seen off Barnet and Eastleigh, also winning a local derby with St Albans City to get this far. Wimbledon have found League One something of a struggle lately, not least due to Covid cancellations. A stern letter to authorities demanded the league “implement the strongest-possible measures to ensure that – where a club is able to fulfil a fixture – it does so”. Mark Robinson’s team looked rusty in losing to Oxford during their one Christmas assignment, but 1,200 Dons will be making the trip to the other side of the London conurbation. Adrian Clifton scores the fourth for Boreham Wood.