Up For The Cup?

Grass roots at Paulton. Players will change behind the pitch in a separate building.

The draw for the FA Cup first round was made on Sunday, yet very little attention is paid to the first round. Awwww.

Teams in League One and below will duke it out to progress in the Worlds oldest cup competition and for a chance to make it to draw one of the big-boys later on.

Of course, the big guns are added at the ‘third round’ stage, but for some of the non-league minnows who have made it this far, a date with a possible giant killing is already on the cards.

Non-league Paulton Rovers pulled my lads, Norwich City, at home. A tie they may not be able to host. Before the draw I had never heard of Paulton. Had you? So where is it?

It’s a small village in Somerset with a population of 4,896 apparently. Paulton Rovers were formed in 1886 and their biggest attendance was in 1906 when they pulled Crewe Alexandra from the FA Cup hat. Paulton will be keen to keep the tie at their place but it may not be safe or have the space for the temporary stands that will be required for supporters. SKY in the UK have shown an interest in airing the match and Norwich gaffer Paul Lambert will not be taking the non-leaguers for granted..

It’s a first for me as a manager, I didn’t play non-league sides when I was at Wycombe or Colchester, so it’s a challenge I will be looking forward to as well, as I’m sure all the players will be. We don’t know very much about Paulton Rovers so we’ll be doing our homework and preparing for the cup tie as we would any game in the league or the cup. If you take people for granted in this competition you tend to get punished for it, so we will make sure we go into the game properly prepared. – Paul Lambert.

After the jump, the full list of first round ties.

Gillingham v Southend

Grimsby v Bath City

Gateshead v Brentford

Chesterfield v Bournemouth

Blyth or AFC Telford v Lincoln City

Stockport v Tooting & Mitcham or Eastbourne

Burton v Oxford City

Barrow or Chester v Eastleigh

Oldham v Leeds

Cambridge Utd v Ilkeston

York v Crewe

Wycombe v Brighton

Hereford v Sutton

Nuneaton Town v Exeter

Bristol R v Southampton

Carlisle v Morecambe

Forest Green v Mansfield

Oxford Utd v Yeovil

Paulton Rovers v Norwich

Swindon v Woking

Port Vale v Stevenage

Luton v Rochdale

Bromley v Colchester

Accrington v Farnborough or Salisbury

Millwall v Crawley or AFC Wimbledon

Stourbridge v Walsall

Shrewsbury v Staines

Wealdstone v Rotherham

Torquay v Cheltenham

Barnet v Darlington

Notts County v Bradford

Huddersfield v Dagenham & Redbridge

MK Dons v Macclesfield

Rushden & D v Hinckley Utd

Northwich Vic v Charlton

Aldershot v Bury

Wrexham v Gloucester or Lowestoft

Hartlepool v Kettering or Redditch

Tranmere v Leyton Orient

Northampton v Kidderminster or Fleetwood