All
this talk about equality has made me realise that I should at least cover the
Men’s 2019/20 FA Cup. I’m not going to
go to all the matches as I did that in 2013/14. I will try to attend this opening
fixture and possibly some milestone fixtures such as the 1st Round
Proper, 3rd Round Proper and perhaps the final (provided I can get
tickets for either of those games).
I
will pick one route and keep an eye on the results – that way I can compare
attendances and prize money etc with the women’s game – to see how different
grass roots football is for the different genders.
As
Manchester City won the 2018/19 FA Cup I shall also be starting with the closet
game to the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City is the starting point for both
these journeys.
Draw
Number 25 Avro V Litherland Remyca
V
As
you can see (below), Avro Football Club is based 5 miles from the Etihad in an area of
Oldham. The club was formed in 1936 at
the Failsworth factory of the British Aircraft manufactory - Avro. They play in
the North West Counties Football League Premier Division in the 9th
Tier of the Men’s Football Pyramid. They were promoted from the first Division
North Last season after finishing 2nd.
Avro
FC play their home games at Vestacare Stadium and this is where the game on 10th
August will be held. It is their first
ever venture in to the FA Cup.
The
winner of this game will receive £2,250 in FA Prize money and the loser
receives £750.
736
Men’s Teams have entered the competition and 368 teams are taking part in the
Extra-Preliminary Round. You can already
see a massive gender discrepancy in the number of grass roots teams playing the
game. The women’s draw only has 20 teams entered at this stage (plus I can’t
find any information regarding prize money for the women’s Extra-Preliminary
Round – the FA’s own page only has information for last year and it only
starts with the Preliminary Round Fund).
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