Ahh, The Cup Magic Is Back

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I absolutely love the FA Cup. Its the greatest cup competition in the world. Where else can non-league teams make it into the hat to play pros? Maybe even being drawn with Chelsea or Arsenal? In the rare cases even win! 

The journey to Wembley begins this weekend with the first round, but many clubs from towns and villages you or I have ever heard of,  have been fighting it out for a couple of months just to get to this stage already. One such team is Paulton Rovers  who play their football in a village near Bristol. They ply their trade in the EIGHTH tier of English football, named the ‘Zanaretto’ league. They drew a tasty home draw indeed… To Norwich City.

A tie that will be televised on ITV in England this Saturday at 12.45 local time, giving the tiny village of Paulton its 5 mins of fame. As a club, making the first round for the first time in history is more than just a chance to beat a big team filled with pros earning 15k a week, its a chance to make some serious cash. ITV will be paying Paulton 70,000 UK Pounds to air the game this Saturday and if you add the gate money and one off shirt sponsorship that Paulton has secured, the final count could total 400,000. That is enough money to keep the tiny club going for 10 years!

“It is difficult to put a figure on exactly how much we are going to make. Everyone has a rough idea of the television fees but there is also money from the gate receipts to consider and other fringe benefits like sponsorship. Whatever the final total is will certainly make a massive financial difference to the club. We are a very well run financially but this will keep us sound on that score for the next five to ten years.”- Paulton Chairman David Bissex.

Paulton Rovers have put a lot of work in to host their big day.

Hosting Norwich City has not been an easy task for Paulton Rovers. Their ‘Winterfield Road’ ground’s attendence  record is 2000 and that was the clubs biggest game in history against Crewe Alexandra. That number will be broken on Saturday and the status of that game changed as Norwich roll into town. The Football Association inspection has meant that Paulton have had to install a temporary stand, toilets and turn-styles. The FA have been in touch daily and they visited Paulton to inspect the ground and make their regulatory demands last week. The pitch is looked after by a father and son team and they have been in twice daily contact with the FA’s specialist to make sure the playing surface is ready. 

Surely it would have been easier to switch the tie to Carrow Road where there gate money would have been a more significant sum and their players would really enjoy the cup for what it is in front of 25,000? Nope, Paulton wanted the tie at home as they genuinely believe they can beat Norwich.

However, Paulton’s Kyle Phillips is ‘keeping it real’. The 20 year old keeper is a florist by trade and his boss Monday through Friday is also his boss on Saturday afternoons too. Yep, the manager is also a florist.

“It’s massive for the club, but then no one is expecting anything from us. We can only be winners – if we play well but lose we have done brilliantly; if we get a result it is going to be fantastic.” - Paulton goalie Kyle Phillips.

This game has really captured the imagination of the locals, who will be treating Saturday as a party regardless of the result.  A win? And they may actually hold a parade. Local towns are all hoping Paulton can pull off the unthinkable. Neighbors Bristol Rovers even offered Paulton their ‘dossier’ on Norwich. Not that it did them any good. Norwich stuffed the ‘Pirates’ 5-1 when they visited Carrow Road a few weeks back.

Paulton Rovers press conference yesterday. Nice scarves.

Can Paulton beat Norwich and cause a famous upset? No chance ( I hope). Paul Lambert will certainly be wary of his sides possible complacency against a team 5 tiers below, but City should head west with the right attitude and respect their opponents. Grant Holt has 12 goals this year already and its likely that Cody McDonald will get a start, looking to impress manager Paul Lambert and force his way into the first team. McDonald was playing non-league football with Dartford just last year and he will certainly be up for it. Lambert will likely make a few changes as he has an eye on the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy quarter final on Tuesday but he should stick with several first teamers, and whoever he puts on the Paulton pitch will be more than enough for the non-leaguers.

Paulton’s attitude towards the game has been  nothing short of fantastic and manager Andy Jones has promised his side will play football and not look to play dirty to slow down/injure their opposition.

“This is Paulton Rovers, this is a friendly village club. We want everyone to come here on Saturday to embrace us and enjoy their day and go home and say win, lose or draw, what a fabulous club Paulton Rovers was. Hopefully we will pick up a few fans from that and ensure our future.”- Paulton manager Andy Jones

I wish Paulton Rovers all the best in the future, starting Sunday of course.

The game will likely be streamed by one of the main offenders this weekend, why not tune in for a look at 7.45am Eastern.