Giantkillers Droylsden have been expelled from the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player.

Last week, Droylsden thought they had won their second-round tie against League Two side Chesterfield at the fourth time of asking after fog, a controversial goal and floodlight failure had foiled three previous attempts to separate the sides.

But it turned out that defender Sean Newton, who scored both their goals in a 2-1 win, was ineligible after collecting his fifth booking of the season on December 9.

An FA Cup protest sub-committee met on Monday and ordered that Droylsden be removed from the competition and League Two side Chesterfield will now play Ipswich in the third round on Saturday.  Read more... (447 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

I was watching the FA Cup games over the weekend, enjoying the small stadiums, packed to the rafters, cheering their team on against bigger, more famous opponents.

The FA Cup brought memories of previous FA Cup ties that I saw as a kid. Standing on the terraces of Wembley watching Man United beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Or following Coventry to Leyton Orient in the early 1970’s and having the ground be full of only Coventry supporters at the end as the Sky Blues won easily.  Read more... (229 words, estimated 55 secs reading time)