Felixstowe & Walton find themselves in the 1st Qualifying round of this season’s competition for only the second time since the clubs merged at the turn of the century, and they have progressed beyond this stage just once, losing a replay at Southern League North Greenford six years ago.
Having come through the preliminary rounds the Seasiders are joined by just three other Thurlow Nunn League clubs and all four face tough opposition from higher leagues.
In the Seasiders’ case they host Tilbury FC from the Ryman League (North) with the visitors promoting the tie as the ‘Battle of the Dockers’, they include the Port of Tilbury as one of their main sponsors and derive their ‘Dockers’ nick-name from their long association with the nation capital’s main Port.
The Seasiders have had to travel in the two earlier rounds, knocking out Spartan South Midlands League Broxbourne Borough 5-1 at the Extra Preliminary stage and then seeing off Essex Senior League Ilford FC in the Preliminary Round 2-0. Tilbury joined the competition in the Preliminary Round, beating fellow Ryman League side Brentwood Town away 2-1 to set up this clash.
Felixstowe & Walton will go into this game kicking themselves for missing out on three midweek league points that would have pushed them up into second spot in the table with a game in hand, after being held to a draw at newly promoted Wivenhoe Town on Wednesday evening when their hosts grabbed a late equaliser from a game the Seasiders had dominated after taking a first half lead through Jordy Matthews.
They will certainly need to improve their finishing having created a number of chances in that game and will almost certainly find the Dockers’ defence just as tough or an even tougher nut to crack.
The sides have met once before, back in 1989 when the then Felixstowe Town knocked Tilbury out of the FA Vase 6-3 at the 1st round stage before losing to the Dockers near neighbours East Thurrock 1-2, hopefully history will repeat itself here but the Dockers are likely to provide much stiffer opposition this time round.
While a little bit of glory comes to the 116 winners who progress to the next stage, there is also the prize of £3,000 on offer. The Seasiders have already picked up £3,450 from their earlier wins and a further few pounds in the bank would certainly not go amiss with the new clubhouse on schedule to be finished in February – not quite the £1.8 million the eventual winner will receive, but definitely an unscheduled bonus for the club’s bank account.
Entry for the game is £6 with concessions £3.00, and a free close up view of the new clubhouse as it grows!
