RECAP: Bristol Rovers to face Rochdale in FA Cup first round at Memorial Stadium
and live on Freeview channel 276
It’s the day that fans across the English football pyramid system look forward to the most. The FA Cup first round draw takes place this evening with some interesting potential ties in store.
Clubs in League One and League Two enter the first round stage after the earlier rounds were played teams in the National League set-up as well as the leagues that feed into it.
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Hide AdThe magic of the FA Cup is well and truly alive with some fallen former Football League sides a victim of a Cup upset. There will be no reunion with Scunthorpe United for this season for Bristol Rovers as they were dumped out of the competition by South Shields, who play in the Northern Premier League which is the seventh tier of English football. Notts County, who were one of the oldest Football League clubs before their relegation also lost to Coalville Town, who are another of the lowest ranked teams.
The third tier of English football has several teams who have had their day in the FA Cup or dined at the top table in the Premier League. Portsmouth, winners of the competition in 2008 after beating Cardiff City, also reached the final in 2010 but eventually lost out to Chelsea. Three-time winners Sheffield Wednesday are another team who will be involved in the draw although their last success in the competition came in 1935 with their earliest success being in 1896. They reached the final in 1993 but ended up losing to Arsenal in a replay, before that was scrapped shortly after.
European Cup winners Ipswich are also one-time winners of the FA Cup having beaten Arsenal in the 1978 final at the old Wembley Stadium. They were managed by the legendary Bobby Robson who also managed Newcastle United as well as the England national team.
BristolWorld will have the first round draw covered for you, providing build-up before it as well as the balls that come out of the pot later in the evening.
FA Cup first round draw LIVE: Bristol Rovers learn fate fate as EFL clubs enter
Key Events
- League One and League Two clubs enter at this stage
- Draw takes place on Monday, October 17 at 19:00
- The lowest ranked teams are from the seventh tier
- The first and second round will be at the start and end of November
Welcome!
Welcome to BristolWorld’s live coverage of the FA Cup first round draw. Bristol Rovers are Bristol’s first team to be involved in the competition with Bristol City to come in at a later stage.
What channel is the draw on and what time does it start?
BBC Two is where you can catch the draw and it will be broadcast at 19:00. Alternatively you can stick with us here where we’ll be provide some information and statistics in the build-up to the draw.
The ball numbers
1. Accrington Stanley 2. AFC Wimbledon 3. Barnsley 4. Barrow AFC 5. Bolton Wanderers 6. Bradford City 7. Bristol Rovers 8. Burton Albion 9. Cambridge United 10. Carlisle United 11. Charlton Athletic 12. Cheltenham Town 13. Colchester United 14. Crawley Town 15. Crewe Alexandra 16. Derby County 17. Doncaster Rovers 18. Exeter City 19. Fleetwood Town 20. Forest Green Rovers 21. Gillingham 22. Grimsby Town 23. Harrogate Town 24. Hartlepool United 25. Ipswich Town 26. Leyton Orient 27. Lincoln City 28. Mansfield Town 29. Milton Keynes Dons 30. Morecambe 31. Newport County AFC 32. Northampton Town 33. Oxford United 34. Peterborough United 35. Plymouth Argyle 36. Port Vale 37. Portsmouth 38. Rochdale AFC 39. Salford City 40. Sheffield Wednesday 41. Shrewsbury Town 42. Stevenage 43. Stockport County 44. Sutton United 45. Swindon Town 46. Tranmere Rovers 47. Walsall 48. Wycombe Wanderers 49. Oldham Athletic AFC or Chester 50. Kidderminster Harriers or AFC Fylde 51. King’s Lynn Town 52. York City 53. South Shields 54. Solihull Moors 55. Curzon Ashton 56. Blyth Spartans or Wrexham 57. Altrincham or Gateshead 58. Chesterfield 59. Alvechurch 60. Buxton 61.Coalville Town 62. FC Halifax Town 63. Hereford 64. Torquay United or Hampton & Richmond Borough 65. Yeovil Town or Taunton Town 66. Maidenhead United 67. Eastleigh 68. Ebbsfleet United 69. Woking 70. Dagenham & Redbridge 71. Hendon or Chippenham Town 72. Weymouth 73. Oxford City 74. Bracknell Town 75. Boreham Wood 76. Barnet 77. Needham Market 78. Chelmsford City 79. Merthyr Town 80. Farnborough
The lowest ranked teams
Bracknell Town, Alvechurch, South Shields, Coalville Town, Needham Market and Welsh club Merthyr Town are amongst the lowest ranked teams to have made it in to the first round proper. All clubs play in the seventh tier of English football, which is a division below the National League North and South, which is where the likes of Bath City, Gloucester City and Chippenham Town play. There are eight FA Cup replays in total including Wrexham v Blyth Spartans, with the Welsh side obviously backed by the riches of Hollywood superstar Ryan Reynolds. Out of the lowest ranked teams involved in a replay is Hendon, who face Chippenham Town who have Harvey Greenslade on loan there. Pablo Martinez and Tom Mehew are also in their squad having been on the Gas books.
What time does it start?
The draw is to start around 7.15 PM on BBC Two. It gives a 15 minute period to speak to those involved in the draw and get a bit of history and background about them.
Chippenham Town replay
Chippenham Town are a team that Bristol Rovers have played a few times, mainly in pre-season. Is a competitive meeting in the offing? They’ve got a replay to overcome on Tuesday first.
Fifteen minutes!
Here we go then. Fifteen minutes to go until the FA Cup draw begins. You’d probably want to avoid Crawley Town who Rovers have already faced in the Carabao Cup this season.
How did Bristol Rovers fare last time?
The Gas were knocked out of the third round stage last season. They valiantly fought to a 2-1 defeat against Peterborough United who were in the Championship. They were without several first-team players and Joey Barton was even absent at London Road with him and members of the team recovering at home.
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