FA Cup 1st round draw Monday 14th October

[Sutekh]

But Birmingham & Wrexham are! So boring!

TV company select games with the biggest potential audience shocker, more at 11.

TV companies also like grounds that are easy to get to and have decent facilities for them.

Which is usually the bigger teams.

And why nearly every Reading home game between September and Christmas gets on SKY.

[Sutekh]

[I remember the train journey & singing 'No don't Stop The Carnival' at Birmingham New Street. Also being in the Kippax in error, whoops!
quote="South Coast Royal"]

Fleetwood at home is alright.

Losing replays is a bit sad.

Sad !!! I was distraught on 31st January 1968 when Man City beat us 7-0 at Elm Park before a crowd of 25,969.

The daft thing is that after drawing 0-0 away (a train special to Manchester was the transport for a lot of us) many of us thought that we had a chance in the replay.
All we could do on the night was to watch with admiration at seeing the development of the best side in England over the next couple of years.
In the first game we couldn't understand all the hype around Colin Bell but in the second game we saw why.

And they did it all without any applying “unique interpretations” to league regulations too.

[Silver Fox]

No surprise that Royals match is NOT on TV.
TV matches
Tamworth v Huddersfield- Fri
Northampton v Kettering - Sat
Sutton v Birmingham City - Sun
Harrogate v Wrexham- Sun
Chesham v Lincoln City- Mon

But Birmingham & Wrexham are! So boring!

Yo mean the two highest ranked teams in the competition? Both of whom are away to nonleague opposition? Hardly a shocker

[RG30]

TICKETING
Tickets for for the match with the Cod Army will go on sale from 10am on Monday 21st October at the following prices:

Advanced Price Matchday Price
Adult £15 £20
65 & Over £12 £15
18 to 24 £10 £13
17 & Under £6 £9
12 & Under £4 £7

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2024/october/18/fleetwood-date-confirmed/

[elrey]

Would just mean lower league outfits parking the bus though. Perhaps they do anyway to an extent.

Much better to give a team in a lower tier the choice of venue.

I think I'm right in saying: in Germany, the lower league side automatically gets the home game (it may be only in the case there's a two or more division difference between the sides).

In Spain the lower league team is always at home.

[elrey]

Yes, much prefer winning them.

Isn't this the one where the FA and PL agreed to scrap them but the FL never said anything to its members until the FA announced it? Personally it's ******* ludicrous that the FA agreed to this just because about 3% of the clubs that enter the competition don't want them. That's the same 3% that carry massively bloated and expensive squads and academies that apparently "can't cope" with the possibilty of an additional cup fixture

Seem to remember Liverpool having to "cope" (to great effect too) a couple of years ago when using their full squad and academy to the maximum to play in the league cup at Villa while their first team was forced into playing FIFA's stupid world club final tournament thing on the other side of the world.

Of course if the FA upped the prize money for the later rounds you'd probably find that same 3% more than happy to accommodate replays

Good old FA, standing up for the small clubs of the game again.

Should have just said that the lower league club goes through in the event of a draw. That'd have made things much better for the smaller clubs.

Would just mean lower league outfits parking the bus though. Perhaps they do anyway to an extent.

The point being that if a team gets a draw, they get a replay, and they get an extra game. There's already an incentive to draw. So nothing changes other than the fact that higher level teams are more likely to win on penalties. See Man U beating Coventry, Newcastle beating Blackburn.

[Sutekh]

Harborough are based in Market Harborough (although there is an actual place called Harborough a bit further north). I’d never heard of them until the 1st Round draw but they play in the Southern League Premier Central (tier 7), so are 4 divisions below Reading, that’s a club of the same standard as Bracknell Town. Currently they are 16th in their division (that’s 103 places below Reading).

Their most well known current player is Richard Stearman (now 37).

Harborough started out in the first round qualifying back at the end of August, their route to this round has been…

1Q - Darlaston (h) > 1-1
1QR - Darlaston (a) > 2-3
2Q - Stourbridge (h) > 4-2
3Q - Leamington (h) > 1-0
4Q - Bury (h) > 1-0
1RP - Tonbridge Angels (a) > 1-4

While Reading should win I don’t think any of us need to be reminded of the diabolical crap this club has managed to produce against both of the previous non league sides we’ve been pitched against.

[Royal_jimmy]

Harborough are based in Market Harborough (although there is an actual place called Harborough a bit further north). I’d never heard of them until the 1st Round draw but they play in the Southern League Premier Central (tier 7), so are 4 divisions below Reading, that’s a club of the same standard as Bracknell Town. Currently they are 16th in their division (that’s 103 places below Reading).

Their most well known current player is Richard Stearman (now 37).

Harborough started out in the first round qualifying back at the end of August, their route to this round has been…

1Q - Darlaston (h) > 1-1
1QR - Darlaston (a) > 2-3
2Q - Stourbridge (h) > 4-2
3Q - Leamington (h) > 1-0
4Q - Bury (h) > 1-0
1RP - Tonbridge Angels (a) > 1-4

While Reading should win I don’t think any of us need to be reminded of the diabolical crap this club has managed to produce against both of the previous non league sides we’ve been pitched against.

Happy for Harborough Town fans to get a decent day out.

If we did lose though, that'd top off Kidderminster away as the most embarassing defeat in our history.

[AthleticoSpizz]

We’re hardly going to be the nations darlings for the day however it plays out.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Whatever happens we'll be the bad guys.

So I say don't patronise them - send out a strong team. Try and win by as big a margin as possible. Afford them the respect of taking them, and the tie, seriously.

An obviously, do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, lose.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Whatever happens we'll be the bad guys.

So I say don't patronise them - send out a strong team. Try and win by as big a margin as possible. Afford them the respect of taking them, and the tie, seriously.

An obviously, do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, lose.

Little chance of a strong team being put out, and I'd expect something similar to Saturday.

The cup game comes just after 2 tough away games at Peterborough and Barnsley, the latter in midweek, and we have another midweek league game following the cup tie.

[Brogue]

Harborough’s reaction to drawing us in the cup

https://x.com/jackraff/status/185316607 ... zleRCWjxvA

[Sutekh]

Harborough’s reaction to drawing is in the cup

https://x.com/jackraff/status/185316607 ... zleRCWjxvA

Probably the biggest game in their (short) history, certainly the best/biggest stadium they will have ever been to and, given Reading’s recent record against small sides on top of the off the field mess something they’ll see as having a chance in if they turn up on the day. Though they might be slightly disappointed in the crowd turn out.

[Royals and Racers]

Whatever happens we'll be the bad guys.

So I say don't patronise them - send out a strong team. Try and win by as big a margin as possible. Afford them the respect of taking them, and the tie, seriously.

An obviously, do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, lose.

Little chance of a strong team being put out, and I'd expect something similar to Saturday.

The cup game comes just after 2 tough away games at Peterborough and Barnsley, the latter in midweek, and we have another midweek league game following the cup tie.

If we are the Monday game obviously the Cambridge match will be postponed.

[Sutekh]

Reckon the tv games will be:

Blackpool vs Birmingham
Kettering vs Doncaster
Walsall vs Charlton
Wealdstone vs Wycombe

[mikey_1871]

Reckon the tv games will be:

Blackpool vs Birmingham
Kettering vs Doncaster
Walsall vs Charlton
Wealdstone vs Wycombe

Would be harsh on Harborough. Can't see Walsall v Charlton being that attractive but you're probably right on the others.

Think we'll be one of them, Harborough getting this far is a story and playing against a 'big name' (for R2) is the sort of thing that ends up on TV. Hopefully RFC see sense and reduce tickets to £10 if so, good to get a decent crowd in and we'll get the tv money as well

[Dirk Gently]

Reckon the tv games will be:

Blackpool vs Birmingham
Kettering vs Doncaster
Walsall vs Charlton
Wealdstone vs Wycombe

Would be harsh on Harborough. Can't see Walsall v Charlton being that attractive but you're probably right on the others.

Think we'll be one of them, Harborough getting this far is a story and playing against a 'big name' (for R2) is the sort of thing that ends up on TV. Hopefully RFC see sense and reduce tickets to £10 if so, good to get a decent crowd in and we'll get the tv money as well

Aren't ticket prices decided jointly by the clubs, and if they can't decide the FA agrees? So Harborough might push for a higher price to maximise income - it's the old question of "will cheaper prices mean a bigger overall income?"

[Brogue]

Reckon the tv games will be:

Blackpool vs Birmingham
Kettering vs Doncaster
Walsall vs Charlton
Wealdstone vs Wycombe

Would be harsh on Harborough. Can't see Walsall v Charlton being that attractive but you're probably right on the others.

Think we'll be one of them, Harborough getting this far is a story and playing against a 'big name' (for R2) is the sort of thing that ends up on TV. Hopefully RFC see sense and reduce tickets to £10 if so, good to get a decent crowd in and we'll get the tv money as well

Aren't ticket prices decided jointly by the clubs, and if they can't decide the FA agrees? So Harborough might push for a higher price to maximise income - it's the old question of "will cheaper prices mean a bigger overall income?"

no. https://thefsa.org.uk/news/the-price-of ... away-fans/

[tidus_mi2]

Still, based on that article, the cheapest price is still £10 and we charged £15 knowing that Fleetwood wasn't a remotely attractive draw at all.

Maybe some business dude drew up a profit/loss graph and deduced £15 was the optimal price but it seems like a poor decision.

[stealthpapes]

Still, based on that article, the cheapest price is still £10 and we charged £15 knowing that Fleetwood wasn't a remotely attractive draw at all.

Maybe some business dude drew up a profit/loss graph and deduced £15 was the optimal price but it seems like a poor decision.

It's probably quite a flat curve with a fair bit of uncertainty on some of the inputs. Leave BusinessDudeRoyal alone.