FA Cup first round: What lies ahead for the lowest-ranked teams?
Hednesford Town might also stake a strong claim for being the weekend’s biggest headline.
The Pitmen are officially the lowest-ranked team left in the FA Cup and ply their trade in the eighth tier of English football, where they are 14th in the Northern Premier League Division One West.
Manager Steve King described his side’s progress as “unbelievable” having started the competition on 3 August in the extra preliminary round.
The Staffordshire side have won six ties and played an astonishing nine games in the competition, including three consecutive replays, just to get to the first round.
They are also the FA Cup’s leading scorers so far with 22 goals, 10 ahead of second highest Gainsborough Trinity who they host on Saturday (more on Gainsborough shortly).
There is one familiar face among the Hednesford squad in the shape of ex-Birmingham City, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Luton player Jake Jervis.
It marks the first time the club have reached the first round for 10 years, since losing 2-1 at home to Crawley in 2013-14.
Their best ever FA Cup run was in 1996-97 when they made it to the fourth round before being beaten 3-2 away at Middlesbrough.
