National League South side face Grimsby in the third round and those at the club are desparate for the ride to continue
Weeks on from the FA Cup third-round draw, inside Weston-super-Mare’s modest clubhouse at their stadium a couple of miles from the holiday haven beachfront, there is still a tinge of incredulity at what might have been. Bridget Bolland, operations manager and one of the mini-army of staff who keep the part-time sixth-tier side ticking, relays how, normally, visiting teams have their post-match meal on a bench beside the skittles alley, sausage and chips usually the offering. The thought of Bruno Fernandes or Erling Haaland tucking in here is yet to fully evaporate.
But the draw meant Weston, the promotion-chasing National League South side who have reached this stage of the Cup for the first time, have been preparing for a different challenge: a tie at fourth-tier Grimsby Town, who beat Manchester United in the Carabao Cup in August. “As a United fan, I hated them that night,” says Weston’s manager, Scott Rogers. “I was going mad at the TV. But I’m hoping we can do something similar. There’s always an upset in the Cup: why can’t it be us?”
Continue reading…National League South side face Grimsby in the third round and those at the club are desparate for the ride to continueWeeks on from the FA Cup third-round draw, inside Weston-super-Mare’s modest clubhouse at their stadium a couple of miles from the holiday haven beachfront, there is still a tinge of incredulity at what might have been. Bridget Bolland, operations manager and one of the mini-army of staff who keep the part-time sixth-tier side ticking, relays how, normally, visiting teams have their post-match meal on a bench beside the skittles alley, sausage and chips usually the offering. The thought of Bruno Fernandes or Erling Haaland tucking in here is yet to fully evaporate.But the draw meant Weston, the promotion-chasing National League South side who have reached this stage of the Cup for the first time, have been preparing for a different challenge: a tie at fourth-tier Grimsby Town, who beat Manchester United in the Carabao Cup in August. “As a United fan, I hated them that night,” says Weston’s manager, Scott Rogers. “I was going mad at the TV. But I’m hoping we can do something similar. There’s always an upset in the Cup: why can’t it be us?” Continue reading…