That’s your lot. Can you smell the magic? Can you feeeeel it?
The ties will be played between 4-7 November. Thanks for reading, bye!
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The FA Cup first-round draw in full
Millwall v Southend United
Dagenham and Redbridge v FC Halifax Town
Merstham v Oxford United
Taunton/Hemel Hempstead v Barrow
Southport v Fleetwood Town
Yeovil v Solihull Moors
Stockport County v Torquay/Woking
Dartford v Sutton United
Walsall v Macclesfield Town
Northampton Town v Harrow Borough/Margate
Cambridge United v Dover Athletic
Westfields v York/Curzon Ashton
MK Dons v Spennymoor Town
Gillingham v Brackley Town
Alfreton Town/Gateshead v Newport County
Portsmouth v Wycombe Wanderers
Maidstone United v Rochdale
Bury v AFC Wimbledon
St Albans City v Carlisle United
Borehamwood v Notts County
Mansfield Town v Plymouth Argyle
Braintree Town v Eastbourne Borough
Hartlepool United v Wrexham/Stamford
Bolton Wanderers v Grimsby Town
Bradford City v Accrington Stanley
Oldham Athletic v Doncaster Rovers
Eastleigh v Swindon Town
Shrewsbury Town v Barnet
Morecambe v Coventry City
Crawley Town v Bristol Rovers
Whitehawk v Stourbridge
Colchester United v Chesterfield
Lincoln City/Guiseley v Altrincham
Exeter City v Luton Town
Charlton Athletic v Scunthorpe United
Cheltenham Town v Crewe Alexandra
Peterborough United v Chesham United
Blackpool v Kidderminster Harriers
Blackpool v Kidderminster Harriers
Peterborough United v Chesham United
Cheltenham Town v Crewe Alexandra
Charlton Athletic v Scunthorpe United
Exeter City v Luton Town
Lincoln City/Guiseley v Altrincham
Colchester United v Chesterfield
Whitehawk v Stourbridge
Crawley Town v Bristol Rovers
Morecambe v Coventry City
Shrewsbury Town v Barnet
Eastleigh v Swindon Town
Oldham Athletic v Doncaster Rovers
Bradford City v Accrington Stanley
Bolton Wanderers v Grimsby Town
Hartlepool United v Wrexham/Stamford
Braintree Town v Eastbourne Borough
Mansfield Town v Plymouth Argyle
Borehamwood v Notts County
St Albans City v Carlisle United
Bury v AFC Wimbledon
Maidstone United v Rochdale
Portsmouth v Wycombe Wanderers
Alfreton Town/Gateshead v Newport County
Gillingham v Brackley Town
MK Dons v Spennymoor Town
Westfields v York/Curzon Ashton
Cambridge United v Dover Athletic
Northampton Town v Harrow Borough/Margate
Port Vale v Stevenage
Walsall v Macclesfield Town
Dartford v Sutton United
Stockport County v Torquay/Woking
Yeovil v Solihull Moors
Southport v Fleetwood Town
Taunton/Hemel Hempstead v Barrow
Merstham v Oxford United
Dagenham and Redbridge v FC Halifax Town
Millwall v Southend United
Sheffield United v Leyton Orient
It’s time for the draw! Paul Ince and David James are the two men who will decide the fate of the 80 teams.
Portsmouth and Coventry are two of the former winners in the draw: Portsmouth are the most recent winners of course, in 2008.
Watch out for Sutton United, No63, who famously dumped out Coventry in 1989, just two years after they themselves had won the Cup.
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Westfields celebrated their 50-year birthday this year, having been founded in 1966 off the back of England’s World Cup triumph. Teenager Andrew Morris, now the club’s chief executive, founded a team in Hereford in tribute: “We bought West Ham coloured kit - we were in awe of Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst. I was a goalkeeper because I thought Gordon Banks was the best thing sliced bread - all the fields in Westfields had people playing football.”
Westfields last reached the first-round proper 22 years ago, and beat Leiston FC in the preliminary round to reach the draw today. They’ve already played five matches in this competition already this season, starting on 5 August.
Match day highlights from our 2-1 #FAcup victory over @leistonfc.#Westfieldsfc #FAcup pic.twitter.com/bmfoTOhc10
— Westfields FC (@Westfieldsfc1) October 17, 2016
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If you don’t have enough monthly data for that, try this topical Knowledge. It’s a goodun.
We’re about 25 mins away from the draw, so why not while away the time with this 25-minute documentary on the dreams of the Kurdistan football team in the world cup of nations without an official homeland.
League One and League Two teams enter at this point, as per. Premier League and Championship teams to join at the third-round stage. For many of these teams, namely our lowest-ranked Westfields, hailing not from Stratford or Shepherd’s Bush but the ninth-tier of English football, that represents the aim. They are just a kind(ish) draw or a giantkilling away from a potential tie at Old Trafford, or Anfield.
If you like the sound of that, why not open another tab and join Jacob Steinberg for all the build-up to Liverpool v Manchester United.
Preamble
No Premier League academy teams. No empty stadiums. No legacy of sponsorship by brands associated with paint or creamy bitter. No group stages. No away goals. This is the oldest cup competition in the world FA Cup first round PROPER. Proper competition this. Only the most premium airline sponsors. Drew the game did you? Replay it is (until you get to the quarter-finals). Doing it the old way. The the way the game was meant to be played. 3pm on a Saturday. Which Saturday? Bonfire Night Saturday, 5 November, because this competition is so damn EXPLOSIVE.
That’s enough hype. We’ve been here a hundred times before (135 actually). These are the teams on the ball in the sack who can dream a dream.
First pick: 7.10pm (ish) BST
1 Accrington Stanley
2 AFC Wimbledon
3 Barnet
4 Blackpool
5 Bolton Wanderers
6 Bradford City
7 Bristol Rovers
8 Bury
9 Cambridge United
10 Carlisle United
11 Charlton Athletic
12 Cheltenham Town
13 Chesterfield
14 Colchester United
15 Coventry City
16 Crawley Town
17 Crewe Alexandra
18 Doncaster Rovers
19 Exeter City
20 Fleetwood Town
21 Gillingham
22 Grimsby Town
23 Hartlepool United
24 Leyton Orient
25 Luton Town
26 Mansfield Town
27 Millwall
28 Milton Keynes Dons
29 Morecambe
30 Newport County
31 Northampton Town
32 Notts County
33 Oldham Athletic
34 Oxford United
35 Peterborough United
36 Plymouth Argyle
37 Port Vale
38 Portsmouth
39 Rochdale
40 Scunthorpe United
41 Sheffield United
42 Shrewsbury Town
43 Southend United
44 Stevenage
45 Swindon Town
46 Walsall
47 Wycombe Wanderers
48 Yeovil Town
49 Southport
50 Alfreton Town or Gateshead
51 Macclesfield Town
52 FC Halifax Town
53 Stockport County
54 Barrow
55 Stourbridge
56 Altrincham
57 Lincoln City or Guiseley
58 Spennymoor Town
59 Wrexham or Stamford
60 York City or Curzon Ashton
61 Whitehawk
62 Westfields
63 Sutton United
64 Chesham United
65 Dagenham & Redbridge
66 Torquay United or Woking
67 Taunton Town or Hemel Hempstead Town
68 Braintree Town
69 Brackley Town
70 Dartford
71 St Albans City
72 Boreham Wood
73 Eastbourne Borough
74 Harrow Borough or Margate
75 Maidstone United
76 Kidderminster Harriers
77 Solihull Moors
78 Dover Athletic
79 Merstham
80 Eastleigh
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