First Round

110 clubs have been accepted in to this season’s Sunday Cup. As that is not enough for a preliminary round, the competition will begin with the first round on 19^th October.

Of the 115 teams who took part last season, 45 have decided not to re-enter. There are some big names among them, including; two time champions Nicosia, Seymour and Bedfont, who contested the 1993 final, 2011 runners up Paddock and Plough FC Wellington, who pushed Oyster Martyrs to extra time in last season’s semi-final.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, as 39 sides who did not play last season, have entered this time. Several have played in the Sunday Cup before, the most notable being Comets Sports Club, who reached the semi-finals in 2011 and the quarter final in 2012 and 2013. It’s good to see them back in.

Several teams have changed their name, including Branksome Railway, who reached last season’s quarter final. They are now known as Patricks. The Molly were previously known as The Warden.

Once again, Liverpool County FA (20 teams) and the Liverpool & District league (11 teams) lead the way with the highest number of entrants. All three Cheshire side hail from the Wirral, so 23 of the 110 teams are from ‘Merseyside’. The Liverpool Business Houses league and North Home Counties league are just behind, with 9 entrants each.

Durham are the next best represented County FA with 11 teams. No surprise that interest is high up there, given that six of the last nine champions were from Durham.

I tend to stay fairly local in the first round and the game that has caught my eye is an all West Yorkshire affair between Bolton Woods (Bradford) and King George (Wakefield). It’s been a while since I’ve seen Bolton Woods and King George are making their debut. Besides them, the only Wakefield team to have competed in the Sunday Cup in my 30 years of watching it, were Redoubt, who played one game back in 2005, so King George are a bit of a collector’s item!

A first round preview will appear next month.