Tomorrow is the first round of the FA Cup, a chance for teams from minor leagues to compete against Football League sides. There is no equivalent tournament in any major US sport; Mahoning Valley Scrappers will never take the field against the Damn Yankees in any competitive game.
I have not, in the past, paid too much attention to the first round, as teams from the top two divisions in English football do not join until the third round, which is played in early January. This year my team, Norwich City, have slipped into the third tier; known rather confusingly as League One. They have been drawn away against Paulton Rovers, from a village of a little under 5000 people. Paulton get the chance to play against a team who were in the Premier League just a few years ago in a match televised live on national TV. They play in the Southern League Division One South & West. That places them five divisions below Norwich City; a David to Norwich’s relative Goliath.
For once I do not want the underdog to triumph.
