All eyes will be on the internet on Monday lunchtime to see who this game has been paired with. Will it be an attractive side for one or both of us we will have to wait and see?

Other than automatic exemption to the 4th qualifying round when a Conference side, when have we last appeared in the 3rd qualifying round in recent years. Well you only need to go back to season 2017/18 when having dispatched Peterborough Sports and Tamworth we drew 1-1 with Telford in a game we could have and should have won but we lost the replay 4-1.

To go back to our last 3rd Qualifying round appearances you must go back 2004/05, as in the early days of the century we regularly made this far, and in some cases further. 2000/01 we lost at home to Chesham, but a season later we got past St Margaretsbury but fell at Canvey in the 4rh qualifying round. 2002/03 and 2004/05 saw us go past the 3rd with victories over Rothwell and Runcorn and made the first-round proper till Shrewsbury and Chester put paid to our runs.

I do not wish to temp fate as we must get past Kidderminster first, and having watched the game on Saturday this will still be a hard task despite our home advantage. Kidderminster are from a league above and are full time players, but anything can happen in the cup. We will have to defend the way we did Saturday and hopefully if we get a chance, we put it away. Although Kidderminster dominated possession they did not score while Sam Coulson could have almost snatched the win for us late on.

Our away following was tremendous on Saturday and you will be needed again on Tuesday night to get the roof of the shed end rattling and acting as the 12th man. We have had praise form the landlady of the Railway Bell Pub in Kidderminster thanking us for our custom and saying what a great bunch we were.

The crowd of under 1000 was not what we expected so we need all the fans down to Marston Road to get us a 1000 + gate and shout the Boro to the next round.

Games played on 24th September this century

2005 Kettering                 A                       0-1        FA Cup 2nd qualifying round
2008 Gateshead              A                       1-0        Conference North
2011 Chester                   H                       0-3       Northern Premier League
2013 Grantham              H                        2-2       Northern Premier League
2016 Spennymoor          A                       0-1        Northern Premier League

It’s back to FA Cup action this weekend. There has been a nice gesture from the Northern Premier League to postpone the midweek Integro League cup ties that feature teams in the FA Cup, and we hope that this gives as many Northern Premier sides the chance to progress, especially ourselves. It enables us to have an extra training session to work on tactics and allow any players who took knocks last match a chance of a rest to be ready for Saturday. Note also, that there are no scheduled National League North fixtures this midweek, so Kidderminster have a break too.

Kidderminster currently play at step 3, to our step 4 and the FA Cup can always be a leveller when a game is contested by sides at different levels. You often see the lower side raising their game and set up a David and Goliath situation. We go into the game as the lower league team with technically nothing to lose. If we lose then we were expected to lose, but a win puts us as giant killers. Being a cup match league form goes out of the window but when the draw was made, many Rangers fans saw Kidderminster’s poor home form as a boost for us, but sadly they ruined that thought by beating Altrincham on Saturday for their first home win of the season. Kidderminster lie 11th in National League North with a home record of 4 points from a win and draw but 4 defeats. It is their away record that has seen them amass 14 points with 3 wins and a draw and loss. It looks like we need to get the job done on Saturday and not think about a replay, although that could be good for income as the crowd on Saturday at Kidderminster was 1463, and a similar gate this Saturday will see a good share of the gate for us.

Years gone by, a share of a possible big gate was the only bonus for a non-league side, having the chance to play a higher ranked side and get a share of the gate receipts, even more so if you progressed to the 1st and 2nd rounds against league sides. Now of course with sponsorship by Emirates there is money available to winners of each round on a rising scale, and for the first time this season the losers also receive money up to the 4th qualifying round. Should we perform a giant killing and progress to the 2rd qualifying round we will have amassed £11,250, with exactly the same amount on offer to the following round winners However should we fail on Saturday we will still have pocketed £6750 from this seasons FA Cup run which I am sure the board will be very grateful to receive.

At FA Cup time my mind always goes back to 1974/75 season when having battled through 4 qualifying rounds we were drawn away to League side Stockport. After a 0-0 draw a Cullerton goal saw us through in the replay. In round 2 a late Jim Sargeant goal saw us beat league side Halifax 2-1. Now we waited for the big boys in round 3 only to be paired with Rotherham at home. A poor 0-0 game ensued in front of our record gate of 8536, but nobody expected us to return from Millmoor with a 2-0 win. This set up round 4 tie at home to Peterborough and the board made the decision to switch to Stoke, a decision supported by over 30000 that turned up for some much-needed gate revenue. We lost 2-1, but that year we would never have met a big boy as Peterborough lost to Sunderland who lost to Birmingham who lost to Fulham in the semi-final, losing to West Ham in the final. Had the FA Cup been sponsored in that season we would have received £266,250 in today’s money for that cup run. Oh, for a repeat.

As there is no supporters coach for Saturday, I need to make independent travellers aware of the situation on Saturday. For those travelling by car you may be aware of a large car park behind the home end goal. However, this is the Severn Valley Railway overflow car park and this weekend is their Autumn Steam Gala and on previous gala’s this car park could be full well before kick-off. For train travellers it is only a short walk to the ground from the railway station unless you are partaking of any local hostelries. Simple directions are to head left from the railway station down Comberton Road, pass the Severn Valley station and then turn left onto Comberton Place and in the estate the road becomes a footpath which leads to the carpark.

Games played on September 21st this century

2004 Moor Green H 2-1 Conference North
2013 F C United H 2-1 Northern Premier