First Round Qualifying stagepublished at 15:32 British Summer Time 29 August
BBC Sport
It’s the first time Campion have made it to the First Round Qualifying stage, and the club have described this Saturday’s tie in front of the BBC cameras as “the biggest day in the club’s history”. Based in the Manningham area of Bradford, the hosts started out as a youth club team in the 1960s, and only as recently as last year reached Step 5 of the pyramid.
By contrast, opponents Blyth are one of the most celebrated non-league clubs in FA Cup history, having in 1978 reached the 5th Round Proper, taking Wrexham to a replay that was watched by over 40,000 at Newcastle’s St James’ Park. More recently, their exploits include a 3rd Round appearance in 2015, after upsetting League Two Hartlepool in front of the ‘Match of the Day Live’ cameras.
It’s not been an easy lead up to this tie though for Spartans – relegated from National League North last season, they’re winless in their opening six Northern Premier League matches, and this week parted company with manager Nobby Solano who was only installed as Blyth boss in May. Former Fulham and Brighton goalkeeper David Stockdale will be in charge for the trip to the 1st Glass UK Stadium this Saturday.
So can 9th tier Campion take advantage of their visitors’ woes to overcome a two division gap, and carve out another slice of club history? Or will the Spartans get their season back on track and sow the seeds for another famous cup run? To find out, join the commentary team of Chris Wise and former Leicester and Hull striker Matty Fryatt, himself a cup finalist with the Tigers in 2014.
