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FA cup
Jan 28, 2024 17:50:22 GMT
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Post by tenacres on Jan 28, 2024 17:50:22 GMT
Maidstone the first step 6 side to reach the 5th round for 40 odd years.
Newport now 2-2 with Man Utd having come back from 2 down. Can they avoid defeat?!
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Post by hantslondoner on Jan 28, 2024 18:40:03 GMT
Great performance from County but United just had too much in the end.
Their lineup suggested they were taking it very seriously - it's probably their best chance of a trophy this season.
Maidstone even lost at Havant this season. What a win that was yesterday.
P.S. if you still want to see Man United at Eastleigh in the FA Cup this season - 11th Feb has the Womens' version, with another game for Southampton FC Women.
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FA cup
Jan 28, 2024 18:56:18 GMT
Post by unknownquantity on Jan 28, 2024 18:56:18 GMT
I think that Blyth Spartans in 1977/78 are the last step 2 club to reach the F Cup fifth round prior to Maidstone, but it is interesting to note that the National League was only formed in 1979/80. Prior to this do you class Southern League Premier Division and Northern Premier League clubs as step 1?
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FA cup
Jan 28, 2024 19:05:05 GMT
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Post by tenacres on Jan 28, 2024 19:05:05 GMT
I meant level 6 rather than step 6.
Yes surely southern league & northern premier league pre the conference were both surely step 1/level 5?
Are Maidstone the lowest ranked side ever to make the 5th round (110 in the pyramid)?
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FA cup
Jan 28, 2024 19:31:21 GMT
Post by unknownquantity on Jan 28, 2024 19:31:21 GMT
If you class the 22 Southern League Premier Division clubs and 24 Northern Premier League teams in 1977/78 as being higher ranked than Blyth Spartans who were in the Northern League at the time, then I think it is fair to say that Blyth were lower ranked than Maidstone are now.
However the pyramid was not in existence in 1977/78 and I think that every non-league club who has reached the 5th round since then having been playing in the top flight of non-league football.
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Post by hantslondoner on Jan 28, 2024 20:37:47 GMT
Hard one to judge - the Northern League didn't want to merge with the Northern Prem (travel distances) so were stuck on a limb somewhat, although there were some teams in there that would have been in the top 10 non-league clubs of the day (e.g. Blyth Spartans).
The Isthmian League also resisted a 'national' set up for some time (because, I think, of their amateur origins) but some of their teams were again at least the equal of any Southern League ones.
Blyth played Enfield in Round 3 that year and IMO they were two of the best non-league teams around at the time. IMO the best teams around at that time were: Bath City, Weymouth, Kettering (Southern), Enfield, Dagenham, Wycombe (Isthmian), Boston, Wigan, Scarborough, Altrincham (Northern Prem), Spennymoor and Blyth (Northern). I saw quite a few of them that year.
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FA cup
Jan 28, 2024 21:58:46 GMT
Post by unknownquantity on Jan 28, 2024 21:58:46 GMT
I agree it is a hard one to judge, but I did ask on this thread whether the Southern League Premier Division and the Northern Premier League who between them provided all the clubs for the newly formed Alliance Premier League should be classed as level 1 clubs. Also from 1962 to 1978 the five clubs voted into the football league all came from either of these leagues.
I think the election of Peterborough in 1960 was a strange one as they were playing in a Midland League that also contained Blyth Spartans and replaced Gateshead who were applying for re-election for the first time and did not even finish bottom of the table.
Actually one thing is that until 1974 the Northern and Isthmian Leagues were regarded as amateurs and their teams entered the F A Amateur Cup and it was difficult to judge how the amateurs compared with the professionals.
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FA cup
Jan 28, 2024 22:03:32 GMT
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Post by tenacres on Jan 28, 2024 22:03:32 GMT
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FA cup
Jan 29, 2024 9:16:54 GMT
Post by hantslondoner on Jan 29, 2024 9:16:54 GMT
I agree it is a hard one to judge, but I did ask on this thread whether the Southern League Premier Division and the Northern Premier League who between them provided all the clubs for the newly formed Alliance Premier League should be classed as level 1 clubs. Also from 1962 to 1978 the five clubs voted into the football league all came from either of these leagues. I think the election of Peterborough in 1960 was a strange one as they were playing in a Midland League that also contained Blyth Spartans and replaced Gateshead who were applying for re-election for the first time and did not even finish bottom of the table. Actually one thing is that until 1974 the Northern and Isthmian Leagues were regarded as amateurs and their teams entered the F A Amateur Cup and it was difficult to judge how the amateurs compared with the professionals. As I said, Isthmian League clubs didn't apply to the Alliance for 2-3 years, and Northern League clubs didn't at all, as far as I remember. At the time I much preferred to watch Isthmian League football to Southern, and regarded Northern Prem as the most 'professional' outside the FL. Blyth Spartans were only in the Midland League for two seasons (then joined the Northern Counties League). Peterborough had won the Midland league five years in a row by 1960, had reached rounds 3/4 three times in the previous four years (which meant a lot ot the time), and had applied 29 times for election to the FL! www.theposh.com/news/2020/may/60-years-on--posh-celebrate-election-into-leagueAgree it seemed hard on Gateshead at the times (article below suggests why - but surely Hartlepool were a better candidate to go?), so it's good to see them doing well nowadays: www.chroniclelive.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/can-gateshead-fc-finally-right-7114139
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Post by unknownquantity on Jan 29, 2024 23:56:09 GMT
I think what is apparent is Blyth Spartans during the 1970's and 1980'Blyths Spartans were far more successful than the other clubs in their division winning the title 10 times during that period. I also believe that of the teams who played in the Northern League in 1977/78 to reach step 2 in the non-league pyramid, but as stated some clubs probably preferred to remain in the No Northern League.
The attachment shows how close Altrincham were to gaining league status in 1980 and giving Rochdale an earlier introduction to non-league footbal.
I hope that other people are not finding this thread too boring, and I expect that some people might not remember the era when election to the football league was determined by the votes of member clubs.
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FA cup
Jan 30, 2024 8:55:00 GMT
Post by hantslondoner on Jan 30, 2024 8:55:00 GMT
There was a period at that time when Alty were the best team in non-league football for a few years, their facilities were absolutely fine for the FL, and they should have gone up. It was only the 'old boys' network that denied them. Enfield were IMO probably the next best but facilities would have counted against them. Blyth were up there too, I've been to their ground and it's a great place to watch.
The thread is about the FA Cup in general, so from the title people can ignore it if they want to. Or the mods could move it to something like the 'Off Topic' section?
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FA cup
Jan 31, 2024 7:13:36 GMT
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Post by rocky on Jan 31, 2024 7:13:36 GMT
You carry on guys, am enjoying this reading about the history of non league. Do you know when Eastleigh first entered the FA cup?
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FA cup
Jan 31, 2024 8:34:05 GMT
Post by hantslondoner on Jan 31, 2024 8:34:05 GMT
1981-82 as Eastleigh. You can find their complete record here www.fchd.info/EASTLEIG.HTMand there's a link to Swaythling at the top of the page if you want that too!
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FA cup
Jan 31, 2024 8:45:16 GMT
Post by unknownquantity on Jan 31, 2024 8:45:16 GMT
I believe Eastleigh first entered the F A Cup in 1975/76 when they were known as Swaythling Athletic. By typing in Eastleigh football club history database you can view the club's record from 1981/82 onwards when they were known as Eastleigh and this has links to the time they were known as Swaythling Athletic and later Swaythling.
Actually the fact that from the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's both Enfield and Altrincham won both the Vauxhall Conference and the F A Trophy one cannot really argue that at the time that they were not two of the best non-league clubs of that era and Enfield were also one of the better teams in the final years of the F A Amateur Cup.
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Post by hantslondoner on Jan 31, 2024 8:56:31 GMT
Actually the fact that from the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's both Enfield and Altrincham won both the Vauxhall Conference and the F A Trophy one cannot really argue that at the time that they were not two of the best non-league clubs of that era and Enfield were also one of the better teams in the final years of the F A Amateur Cup. Agree - maybe add to that Wealdstone later in the 80s - in 1986 they were the first side to do the 'double'. A classic lineup including Stuart Pearce, and, later, Vinnie Jones. I was a regular visitor there at the time. And then they blew it all by selling their ground, going into a groundshare with Watford, and becoming nomadic for 20+ years, until taking over Ruislip Manor FC and battling their way back into the NL.
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