Barrow

[ntfc_kjd]

This game now feels significant, need the win for some confidence & £££.

I have no idea if we will rotate or stick.

My guess would be

           Thompson

Lintott Willis Sherring kioki

    McWilliams leonard

Hoskins  Hondermark  Pinnock

             Simpson/Dobson (at this rate Dobson would be an improvement)


This is probably far off but i haven’t a clue who will be picked,
Can we afford to put Hoskins up front and put another defender in midfield?!?

Will we hit 3000 attendance ?

[Coolcat]

I'll be there. Tin hat on but... interesting that here as well as other clubs STHs bang on about how they show their undying loyalty, life blood of the club etc etc, yet conspicuous by their absence at earlier round cup games where they are asked to shell out for a ticket!
Bolton Wanderers for example, have 16000 STHs, yet only 6000 odd attendance for their League Cup game against Middlesbrough...who themselves took over 2000 fans!

Special mention to Boro, as I sat in the Exeter Arms in Derby last night. 1400 Boro made the long, long trek from Teeside to Devon last night. On Saturday, they travel again...to Plymouth!

For Barrow, would like to see Hylton partnering Simpson up front. Think they would compliment each other well! 

[Lizard68]

I'll be there Coolcat, and yes I am a season ticket holder as is my son who will also be in attendance 

[Coolcat]

I'll be there Coolcat, and yes I am a season ticket holder as is my son who will also be in attendance 

👍👍👍

[1HorshamCobbler]

I'll also be trekking up from Horsham (I actually quite like the cup) assuming there is a train station and railway line left after the storm.

[606 Parklands_Cobbler]

I'd go something like this just to change it up slightly but keeping the core with Leonard playing further foward.

Burge
Lintott Willis Sherring Koiki
McWilliams Hondermarck
Abimbola Leonard Pinnock
Hoskins

[the grumpy old man]

I'll be there. Tin hat on but... interesting that here as well as other clubs STHs bang on about how they show their undying loyalty, life blood of the club etc etc, yet conspicuous by their absence at earlier round cup games where they are asked to shell out for a ticket!
Bolton Wanderers for example, have 16000 STHs, yet only 6000 odd attendance for their League Cup game against Middlesbrough...who themselves took over 2000 fans!

Special mention to Boro, as I sat in the Exeter Arms in Derby last night. 1400 Boro made the long, long trek from Teeside to Devon last night. On Saturday, they travel again...to Plymouth!

For Barrow, would like to see Hylton partnering Simpson up front. Think they would compliment each other well! 

I am a season ticket holder and I will be there also, along with my son in law who is a Cardiff fan.

[Coolcat]

I'll also be trekking up from Horsham (I actually quite like the cup) assuming there is a train station and railway line left after the storm.

Don't forget it's a 1.30pm k.o. That's quite an early start from Sussex, which as I'm typing, reminds me of a similar but reverse trek from Leicester to Littlehampton by train in the Cup all those years ago. Early k.o. and extremely dodgy were my recollections!

[Deepcut Cobbler]

I'm not a STH and I will not be there...

[corno_ntfc]

Dreading it.

Almost must win.

Certainly need to avoid conceding early.

[Coolcat]

I'm not a STH and I will not be there...

You are confusing me now! 

[EB Claret]

I'll be there with another couple of STH's, hoping for a morale boosting win.

We all know what hope does...

UTC.

[GrangeParkCobbler]

Might as well get the preview in early then!!

Its FA Cup 1st round day and we sure could do with a bit of "the magic of the Cup". Just a reminder that £41,000 is on offer to the 1st round winners.

So its Barrow who are the visitors for this early kickoff. They were founded in 1901 and spent their early years in the Lancashire League before elevation to the Football League in 1921. It was over 40 years before they won their first promotion, from the fourth division to the third in 1967, but success was short lived and after relegation in 1970 they finished bottom of the fourth tier in 1971. They did win re-election but were less fortunate the following season when after a 23rd placed finish they were voted out and replaced by Hereford. It was 48 more long years before they won back their place in League 2 after winning the National League, now they are in their fourth season back and finished 9th. This season they sit 8th in the table following a 1-0 win over Morecambe on Tuesday night.

Only beaten three times in the league this season they are on a four game unbeaten run and they have kept clean sheets in all four of those games. They have won in the league at Tranmere, Harrogate and Forest Green so far and gained draws at Accrington and recently MK Dons coming back from 2-0 down with 90 minutes on the clock. In the Cups they have lost all three cup ties so far, a 1-0 defeat at Bolton in the Carabao Cup was followed by defeats in the Trophy at home to Blackpool and away at Morecambe.

Pete Wild is the man in charge of the team, the former Oldham and Halifax manager has been in the Holker Street hotseat since May last year and has won 25 of his 72 games in charge.

Emile Acquah is their leading scorer sitting on five goals so far. The 23 year old forward started out in the youth setup at Southend before joining Maidenhead on a free after a loan spell there, moving to Barrow in the summer for an undisclosed fee. Dom Telford is also amongst their forwards, the former Forest Green marksman made a move to Crawley and despite scoring 15 goals in 50 odd games he was moved on before the window closed. Barrow snapped him up and he has scored two in his last three including the winner on Tuesday night.

Sam Foley is the connection in the Barrow camp, he appeared for us between 2017 and 2019. After spells in Scotland with St Mirren and Motherwell he found himself back south of the border with Tranmere until joining Barrow last summer. He's started 33 games for the Cumbrians plus made another 29 appearances off the bench scoring three goals.

Barrows recent FA Cup history is pretty good, they have made the third round four times in the last 15 years, not bad considering they were a non-league side for most of those. One of those third round outings was in 2021/22 where after wins at Banbury and then over Ipswich in a replay they fell by the odd goal in a 5-4 thriller at Barnsley. Last season they fell in the first round like us, losing to Mansfield.

We of course have lost in the first round of the FA Cup for the last three straight seasons, losing twice to non-league sides in Oxford City and Chesterfield with a replay defeat to Cambridge sandwiched in between those. That means our last FA Cup victory was against Burton back in January 2020, that third round win giving us a tie against Derby in which we went down in the replay. We beat Chippenham and Notts County in the 1st and 2nd rounds respectively.

We have won 13 of the 18 meetings between the two sides over the years, this will be our first Cup meeting though. In 2022 we lost at home 1-0 before "that" 3-1 win on the last day. Last season we did the double over them on our way to promotion, a 3-1 win at home in September in front of 4605 fans, Hoskins Bowie and Magloire on the scoresheet, and then a 2-0 win back in January with Fox and McWilliams grabbing second half goals.

Paul Howard is the referee appointed to take charge of the game. Not a regular for us, he will take charge of his first Cobblers game since March 2022 (a 1-1 home draw with Walsall), but would you believe that he was the referee for that FA Cup defeat on the plastic at Oxford City back in 2020....... So far this season its 38 yellows and one red in his 11 games.

[Deepcut Cobbler]

You are confusing me now! 

I thought that it was a roll call

[Tabasco Kid]

I thought that it was a roll call

Only after the bugle has sounded..

[1HorshamCobbler]

Rob, I tend to get an early train from Horsham in any case, enables chance for something to eat before the game and allow for any train delays etc so will usually leave Horsham between 7 and 8. And yes, I recollect the Littlehampton game well, Orange 'Marigold' hats and I met the now fellow Horsham Cobbler prior to the game back then.

[Tabasco Kid]

Rob, I tend to get an early train from Horsham in any case, enables chance for something to eat before the game and allow for any train delays etc so will usually leave Horsham between 7 and 8. And yes, I recollect the Littlehampton game well, Orange 'Marigold' hats and I met the now fellow Horsham Cobbler prior to the game back then.

My know it all niece lives down your way, and she always maintained that it was a lot quicker and easier, to get a taxi to Three Bridges, and the train from there. Any truth in this?

[guest3643]

Waterlogged pitch?

[Coolcat]

My know it all niece lives down your way, and she always maintained that it was a lot quicker and easier, to get a taxi to Three Bridges, and the train from there. Any truth in this?

Remember when we played Crawley (then non-league) in the Cup, driving into Crawley, winding down window, ask a random dogwalker "excuse me mate, where's the football ground?" Straight up the road for about a mile he said. Handy and on the right lines - no Google maps in the Nineties of course.
After a mile, there it is...Three Bridges FC. C**t! 

[Worthless Recluse]

Remember when we played Crawley (then non-league) in the Cup, driving into Crawley, winding down window, ask a random dogwalker "excuse me mate, where's the football ground?" Straight up the road for about a mile he said. Handy and on the right lines - no Google maps in the Nineties of course.
After a mile, there it is...Three Bridges FC. C**t! 

December 2018, inspite of G maps, i did similar and was met with a 'no idea mate'.
Found it via some allotments.