Communist Republic of Barnsley 1 Nouveau Riche Ex Communist Republic of Chelski 0

I wonder what sorts of odds you could have got for any of Cardiff, West Bromwich Albion, Barnsley or Portsmouth getting to the semi finals of the FA Cup, far less all of them. What a great competition. Barnsley last reached the semi finals ten days before the Titanic sank. My friend Daniel who grew up there reckons it is the most significant day in the history of the town. Who said that there was more to football than life and death?

Would you rather be a Chelsea player or an England Cricketer or Brendan Nelson today? Or just for James, how about an English Rugby Player? I am a bit surprised that he was surprised by Scottish reaction to that kind of win, ugly or not it was a win over the Auld Enemy. As always, very sweet.

Wootton Bassett attempts to get to Wembley

I have decided to tip the English Premier League for interest this year. I am not doing very well, which is not too surprising since I have not been following it much since we left Singapore. It is pretty popular here in Australia and gets time on the late night sports reports. I was looking at some results and noted that the FA Cup was just getting going with the FA Cup Qualifying Matches being played. It is a true community event, with these matches long forgotten when we get to the business end and when we get those Didier Drogba moments.

All those small community teams made up of working people having a shot to get to Wembley and a bit of glory. OK, pretty unlikely, but fantastic all the same. I just love some of the names.

FA Cup Qualifying

Biggleswade Town 1-3 Concord Rangers (at Bedford Fc)
Billingham Town 6-1 Eccleshill Utd
Corsham Town 5-1 Wantage
Eton Manor 3-1 Colney Heath
Highworth Town 0-0 Wootton Bassett Town
Lancing 1-1 Faversham Town
Lymington Town 4-1 AFC Wallingford
Sporting Bengal Utd 0-0 London APSA

more

Here is the story of the Highworth Town versus Wootton Bassett Town match.

Wooton Bassett itself, is a small town of about 10,000 people in Wiltshire, west of London with a population of around 10,000. I wonder how many were at the match?