Yes, once again it's FA Cup time in England, this time the 2nd round, where all surviving lower league and non-league teams dream of the victory that will take them into the 3rd round and a potential money spinning draw against one of the big boys. This round's small teams getting their moment in the spotlight include Swindon Supermarine a fantastically named team who very nearly went bust in June and are playing away to Colchester United, and Dover whose reward for beating Gillingham in the first round is a home tie against Aldershot. The two highest profile non-league clubs, FC United of Manchester and AFC Wimbledon both face league opposition, away to Brighton and home to Stevenage respectively.
As for Darlington, after upsetting Bristol Rovers, they now face York City at home, and events have conspired to give the match a real nostalgic small club feel. I posted earlier in the week about how the club is looking for donations for the youth team to be able to spend the night in London before they face Arsenal in the FA youth cup, they're still looking by the way, so go ahead and donate. Well the next step in that fundraising effort, to take place at saturday's game is the magnificently old fashioned, small club tactic of the bucket collection. If that doesn't tug at the heart strings enough, after a rough few days weather wise, the collection and the game itself can only take place thanks to the efforts of volounteer fans who helped shovel snow off the pitch (Darlington's ridiculously oversized stadium actually has the pipes for underground heating installed, they just can't afford to use it.). After all that effort, and with a bumper crowd expected, well every long suffering Darlo fan knows what will happen next, expect York to be drawn against Man Utd in the next round.
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