Bring On Willand Rovers!

During a break at work this afternoon I took a brief moment to check on the Football Association website and see if the draw for the Second Qualifying Round had been announced. It had, and there before me was a list of eighty fixtures to be played in just under two weeks. One of them would be a fixture for Bath City. The identity of their opponent could make or break the club's short term financial outlook.

Anxiously my eyes scanned down the list, trying to go slowly enough so as not to miss 'Bath City' in the eight-point type, but not really succeeding. In my nervousness I tried to somehow read the entire list at once, which, or course, is totally impossible. It just made me panicky. Eventually my attention fixed on match number 70: Willand Rovers v. Bath City. My reaction went like this: Willand Rovers? Who the heck are Willand Rovers? Perfect!

The perfect draw for any club is an opponent so far down the league tables you have never heard of them. As I have never even heard of Willand, let alone a football club from there, I knew instantly that City had had a good draw. A bit of digging on the Internet turned up the following: Willand Rovers are a small club who currently sit fourteenth in the Premier Division of the Toolstation Western. For those of you who do not read the fine print of the Non-League Paper each week, this means that Willand play three leagues below City. That's good! The mid-Devon village of Willand is nine miles north of Exeter, and at the last census it registered 3,750 souls. On average 62 of these show up to watch their local football club each week. This is the sort of team City should be able to defeat easily, even in the midst of an injury crisis. City should beat them even if they have a big night out the night before and end up sleeping on someone's floor under some pizza boxes. It should be a cinch.

'Should' is a really dangerous word in football. After all, City should have easily beaten Lewes on Saturday but could only eke out a meagre draw. No City fan or player will be assuming a victory against Willand is a sure thing. It is too important a match to approach any opponent without a healthy dose of respect.

It is a curious thing, though, why City fans should be so pleased by a draw against a team most of us had never heard of. The reason is, of course, money. The prize money in the early rounds of the FA cup dwarfs the match day revenue. Even though the amounts are modest by Football League standards, to advance a few rounds, even a few qualifying rounds, can transform a non-league club's short term budget. If City do defeat Willand then they will pocket an invaluable £4,500. What's more they will go into the draw for the Third Qualifying Round, the winner of which will net £7,500. If I was of a less sober disposition I might even be thinking ahead to the Fourth (and final) Qualifying Round and its prize money of £12,500. A berth in the First Round Proper and its £18,000 prize is too fantastical to even think about, so I won't. Well, I won't admit it, anyway.

£4,500 will look pretty good to Willand too. Just to have come this far is a pretty big achievement for them. To reach the Second Qualifying Round they would have needed to dispatch three opponents already. They will be playing to win. If they are anything like the lower league teams I've seen City play so far they will put all eleven players behind the ball and try and deny City any space to operate in their half. If they manage to keep City from scoring long enough their confidence will begin to increase and then, with some luck, they might score a goal on a break. It doesn't sound likely, but it didn't sound likely when Aylesbury United tried the same strategy against City in last year's FA Cup and won. I still have nightmares about that match and would like to make the trip to Devon and, hopefully, see that ghost exorcised.

There is a lot to say for a day trip to Willand in two weeks time. The seventy-five mile journey is through some of the most beautiful countryside in England. Willand is also home to a small theme park called, 'Diggerland.' I'm not sure how yet, but evidently children as young as five are somehow able to drive full sized JCB tractors at this place without injuring anyone. This would be my children's' idea of heaven (heck, it might be my idea of heaven come to think of it). It could be a really good family day out. It could be, but it really only will be if City come away with a victory and the chance for another good draw in the next round. Anything else would be too awful to think about. Anything else will mean a long drive home through that beautiful countryside with my kids asking their mother, 'Why is Daddy so upset?' repeatedly. That's the downside of drawing a team from three leagues below - if you lose it hurts a lot more.

I'm not going to think about that, though. I'm going to think how pleased I am that City have had such a fortunate draw. I'm going to think about how good it will be for the club to win this round. I'm going to think how much worse it would have been to draw Newport County. I'm going to absolutely not think about the possibility that City could lose. Really. Not for a second.