Bristol’s oldest football club’s end 69-year wait to keep FA Cup dream alive - could they play Bristol City or Bristol Rovers?

The Glass are Bristol’s non-league representation in the FA Cup this year and are into the next round
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Bristol’s oldest football club have progressed to the next round of the FA Cup - the oldest competition in world football.

Formed 22-years before City and 11-years before Rovers, Roman Glass St George are the oldest club in Bristol, but all of their existence has been spent in the non-league.

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They have reasons to celebrate after going through to the first qualifying round after defeating Easington Sports after extra time on Wednesday evening.

A goalless draw at the Oxfordshire based club gave the Glass home advantage for their preliminary round replay, which they made use of.

A 117th-minute winner from Josh Jenkins took the non-league outfit to the first qualifying round for the first time in 69 years.

They had taken the lead through Ollie Woodhouse on 25 minutes before Neikell Plummer added another goal. Easington however pulled two goals back in regulation time to extend the game to another 30 minutes.

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As a reward for their win, they have been handed a home tie and will entertain Hartley Wintney of the Southern League Premier Division on Saturday, September 3 at their Oaklands Park home in Almondsbury.

Wintney are two divisions above the Glass and it will be a stern test, given the previous opposition have played at the same tier they have - the ninth tier of English football.

There is still some way to go until they can be in the same draw as Bristol’s professional clubs Bristol City and Bristol Rovers however. They will need to win four further ties to play the Gas who are six levels of football above them in the English pyramid system.

Their ground, not too far from Rovers’ training ground would for sure be an intriguing tie but the furthest the Almondsbury based-club have gone is the fourth qualifying round, which they have done just once in their history.

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Roman Glass are managed by Andy Gurney, who began his career at Bristol Rovers, making over 100 appearances between 1992 and 1997. He has been in the post since 2015 and at times has turned out for them at the age of 48-years-old.

If they wanted to play Nigel Pearsons’ Robins, it would be a further six matches until a tie could even be possible.

Rovers enter in the first round as a result of their third tier status, whilst City come in at the same time as Premier League giants Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, in round three.

For Roman Glass however, their journey began in early August, where they had to overcome Tring Athletic, to even compete at this stage.

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Other clubs in Bristol and the surrounding areas did not have as much luck as Roman St Glass. Bristol Manor Farm were on the receiving end of an upset after losing to Aylesbury Vale Dynamos last Saturday.

Mangotsfield United lost 5-2 to Cadbury Heath, who were then dumped out of the competition by Didcot Town. There is still more Bristol regional representation in the competition however, Yate Town now under the stewardsihp of Peter Beadle, will host Aylesbury.

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