The third round of the FA Cup is one of the best weekends in the football calendar. Every season, when the Premier League teams enter the draw, there’s a renewed sense of excitement about watching a match-up you’ve never seen before. And unless you support one of those big teams, everyone is hoping to see a famous cup upset.
That’s what the FA Cup is all about. It’s a celebration of the English football pyramid and a competition that gives fans hope that they can achieve something special. This year, 747 teams entered, and from those early stages until now, it’s been a scrap as the lower-ranked sides battled their way through. The third round has always been a great way to start the new year.
This time, there were three non-league sides that made it that far – Boreham Wood, Macclesfield, and Weston-super-Mare, looking to carry on their remarkable runs. Of the Premier League teams joining the competition, 12 were drawn against lower-league sides – potentially an embarrassing early exit. Covering the FA Cup for TNT Sports this season has been a joy.
We had a full slate of live televised matches from as early as the first round proper, where we broadcast games across the whole weekend on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
I visited Gainsborough Trinity in that first round, a club who play their football in the seventh tier, as they took on League Two side Accrington Stanley, sitting 58 places above them in the pyramid. They took Stanley all the way to extra-time before losing 2-1, but put up a good fight and gave their fans something to be proud of. Visiting non-league grounds in the early rounds, seeing how much it means to the clubs and the people that are involved, is what the competition is all about.
Gainsborough received £50,000 for being chosen as one of TNT Sports’ televised games, and hearing what that kind of money could do for a club at that level was inspiring. It’s also fun going to grounds that you would never normally visit.
On a regular weekend, I tend to be at the Emirates, Anfield, or another huge, shiny stadium that has everything you could possibly dream of right at your fingertips. Yes, it’s a privilege to work in those facilities, but there’s also something cool about the contrast of working in a ground that has an old clubhouse full of locals, where the manager’s office is just about big enough to fit two chairs, and the walls of the dressing room haven’t changed since they were built.
Gainsborough’s Northolme ground has been their home patch since as far back as 1884 – you can feel that history around the club wherever you go. I watched a lot of local non-league football growing up in Sussex, so it’s been nostalgic to cover the early rounds of the cup in some of these little towns.
It’s a lovely reminder of how football is so ingrained in our communities in this country – it just feels like proper English football. We also covered a local Essex derby between National League South outfit Chelmsford City and Braintree Town of the National League. In the build-up to the TNT cameras showing the first-round tie, hosts Chelmsford could not have been more accommodating and helpful to us.
They spent hours of their time offering our team help in getting the best out of the broadcast, the owner spoke directly to us on the phone about his involvement in the club, and the staff were some of the most welcoming people we’ve come across, allowing us brilliant access to film and tell their story. It’s a far cry from working at Premier League grounds where even one foot over a certain line on the grass will get you a slap on the wrist.
It’s understandable that big clubs have these rules of course, they’re there for security and safety reasons, but there’s also something that feels refreshing about working at grounds that are so relaxed.
So, now we’re on to one of the most exciting parts of the English calendar. Three non-league clubs reached the new year and multiple other teams have also had their own opportunities to produce an upset. It’s the competition fans love so much, as there’s nothing quite like the FA Cup for providing a little bit of magic.
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