2010/11 Season Review

The 47th FA Sunday Cup season commenced on 26th September, when the preliminary round games were played. This is the sixth consecutive season that the Sunday Cup has had a preliminary round and in each of those seasons, the number of entrants has exceeded 130, which is an impressive increase when compared to 2002/03, when just 90 teams entered. So, despite a worryingly long list of withdrawals, the Sunday Cup is actually enjoying a golden period in terms of the number of teams entering it.

There were only four preliminary round ties but they did take place in some of the competitions heartland areas of Liverpool, the North East and the West Midlands.

Unfortunately, Sandon Dock were the first team to withdraw, when they were unable to fulfil their fixture against Oak Tree Pub.

The other all Liverpool tie featured two ‘debutants’, Eagle Cons and Eden Vale (although Eagle were back-to-back finalists in the 1980’s and Eden Vale were semi finalists in 1997 and 1998).

For me, the first round is one of the most eagerly anticipated dates in the football calendar, as I decide which local side to watch.

In the end, I made the short journey to Thackley, to watch Wharfedale Triangle champions Malt Shovel play West Riding County Cup winners and Bradford Alliance champions, West Bowling. I made Bowling the favourites and they certainly justified this, by taking the lead in the first minute through a penalty.

However, Shovel equalised midway through the first half and only succumbed to an 88th minute winner, which on the balance of play, flattered Bowling.

This was a nightmare round for the traditionally strong Hull Sunday league, as all of their representatives went out. AFC Blackburn Leisure, Swanfield and Hessle Rangers all lost to North East opposition, whilst West Lee were one of the nine sides to withdraw.

For such a huge fan of the Sunday Cup, I found the number of withdrawals to be particularly disappointing. However, in the current economic climate, the costs of staging a home tie in the competition can be too much for a lot of sides.

The highest profile side to withdraw were two time champions Nicosia. I don’t know the reason for their withdrawal but based on their on the field displays, it was the correct decision, as they were sadly relegated from the Premier Division of the Liverpool Business Houses league.

It was also a disappointing day for the Cumberland FA, as they too watched all three of their entrants crash out.

Probably the unluckiest side were Gamlingay United, who lost despite scoring 5 goals in their home tie against former finalists, FC Houghton Centre.

Eden Vale were drawn away from home in the second round for the third
game running and managed a repeat of their preliminary round result, namely a 2-2 draw, followed by a 4-3 success in their penalty shoot out, over local rivals Home and Bargain.

Debutants Clumber from Nottingham claimed the result of the round, when they beat last season's runners up, Magnet Tavern.

Another impressive result was Queens Park’s victory over Witton Park Rose and Crown, although I’m sure having home advantage sure helped, following two postponements at West Auckland Town.

Another Durham v Merseyside clash saw Kelloe WMC pushed the much-fancied Oyster Martyrs all the way in their match at Coxhoe, only succumbing to the odd goal in 5.

Kelloe went on to win the Durham County FA Sunday Cup. They beat Hetton Lyons in the semi final, ending their 5 year unbeaten run!!

There were no prizes for guessing the result of the third round, as this was bestowed to Paddock who beat legends Hetton Lyons 3-2 in another tie that was reverted from the North East to Merseyside, as the weather played havoc with the northern half of the draw. Highlights of this stunning win can be found on youtube!

After several postponements, Mariners and Alder made (what I believe to be) Sunday Cup history, when they played their outstanding game on Thursday 20th January at Formby, thus becoming the first tie to be played midweek. Mariners triumphed by 4 goals to 1.

I was lucky enough to witness a first half master class from the Sunday Cup’s standout player of this season, Leighton McGivern, as he pretty much took on the Huddersfield Irish defence single handed, as his side, Oyster Martyrs, gained revenge for their defeat in the third round last season.

While high scoring mis-matches can often be found in the earlier rounds, it is unusual for them to occur in the latter stages of the competition. However, Oyster Martyr’s 7-1 fourth round demolition of Sunderland RCA Barnes, was
the first time a side had scored 7 in a last 16 game since Celtic SC (Luton) beat Oakwood Sports 7-0 in 1997.

Home advantage counted for very little in the fifth round, as three of the four teams drawn at home lost. Paddock achieved another quality result by travelling all the way down to Hampshire to beat Knighton Arms of the City of Southampton league by 4-1.

The two Scouse sides dominated the semi-finals, with both Oyster Martyrs and Paddock enjoying comfortable 3 goal winning margins. Paddock recorded another 4-1 win, this time over Comets Sports Club of the Berkhamsted league, Whilst Oyster Martyrs were 3-0 winners against Duke of York at Rushden & Diamonds.

It was disappointing to note that both semi-final attendances were less than 400. In the past, I’ve seen first round games with bigger crowds!

Due to the unavailability of Anfield, the first all Merseyside final was played at Tranmere and I think it’s fair to say that the occasion got the better of both sides, with neither able to recapture the form they had shown in earlier rounds.

A flash of inspiration from star man Leighton McGivern was the difference between the sides, as his strike made up for the pain of 2009, when Oyster narrowly lost in the final to Scots Grey.

Sunday Cup blog
A few weeks after the blog was launched in July, I decided to add a stat counter to monitor the number of visits to the site, in order to make sure that I wasn’t just rambling on to myself!

The results have been very encouraging and I’m delighted to announce that since August, there has been over 4,000 page loads, and 1,800 visitors (of which over 1,000 have returned to the site).

For a Sunday football competition with very little in the way of publicity (outside of the FA website) I’m delighted that the blog has found an audience and look forward to seeing the figures continuing to rise next season!