Trafford FC are on the brink of making history and as one of the lowest ranked sides left in this season's FA Cup travel to Atherton Collieries tonight in a third qualifying round replay
Trafford FC walk out in front of more than 1,000 people for their FA Cup third round qualifying tie with Atherton Collieries
Trafford FC walk out in front of more than 1,000 people for their FA Cup third round qualifying tie with Atherton Collieries (Image: Jon Pidgeon/Trafford FC)
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“I was taking paracetamol on Saturday night because I’d been opening so many cans of beer behind the bar."
The words of Trafford FC director Pete McGrath neatly encapsulate the sometimes chaotic nature of non-league football and the there’s-nothing-else-like-it magic of the FA Cup.
Step nine side Trafford had more than 1,000 people watching their FA Cup third qualifying round tie against Atherton Collieries on Saturday at Shawe View, more than twice their average home attendance.
It meant McGrath, who usually updates the club’s X feed, was pressed into emergency action as barman.
“I didn’t even see the game until the last 10 minutes and I only saw that because we had sold out of everything we had,” said McGrath, speaking to the Manchester Evening News ahead of Tuesday’s replay after Trafford drew 2-2 at the weekend, only being denied a place in the next round by a stoppage time equaliser by Colls, who play a level above.
“We have display cans on top of the fridge which are sat in the warm and people even bought them!”
The queue for the bar at Trafford FC during the game with Atherton Collieries
The queue for the bar at Trafford FC during the game with Atherton Collieries (Image: Jon Pidgeon/Trafford FC)
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The bumper crowd bolstered the club coffers and the FA Cup prizemoney has also provided a welcome windfall to Trafford, who play in the North West Counties Premier League having been relegated last season.
The victors in tonight’s replay will earn a trip to National League promotion chasers AFC Fylde in the next round and move within one win of the first round proper and potential Football League opposition. They will also bank £5,625 from the prize pot, with Trafford having already taken home more than £8,000 in prizemoney alone, even if a slither of that cash has been spent on funding long distance away trips.
The North, who play a mile or two down the round from Manchester United's training ground, have faced three away ties in the cup including a lengthy jaunt to Heaton Stannington near Newcastle, but the financial benefits will make a huge difference to a club intent on pushing for promotion this term.
“The prizemoney comes in very useful,” McGrath added. “It doesn’t sound a lot when you have Premier League players on £150,000 a week but it is a big chunk of our budget.
“The players have been awesome, they have been playing two games a week and this is your butchers, bakers and candlestick makers! They have day jobs. It has been an immense effort.”
“It is taxing,” agrees Trafford boss Tom Baker. “It’s been hard work, we’ve had a really tough run, five games (including tonight’s replay) have been against teams from higher divisions and away from home.
“These lads work full time jobs, 40 hour weeks. It is always difficult for a non-league player, we went to Heaton Stannington on a Saturday, left at 8am and didn’t get back until 10.30pm. Then we had Barnoldswick away on the Tuesday night with lads leaving early from work and getting back at 11.30pm. I think not enough credit goes to non-league players for the time and effort they put in and the dedication needed.”
That dedication has also been shown by the club’s supporters, who showed up in numbers at the weekend and are expected to travel in decent numbers tonight to watch what they hope will be an historic night for the club.
A packed house watched Trafford FC's FA Cup third round qualifying tie with Atherton Collieries
A packed house watched Trafford FC's FA Cup third round qualifying tie with Atherton Collieries (Image: Jon Pidgeon/Trafford FC)
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Trafford have never before reached the fourth qualifying round and while they are already playing catch up in the league as the result of their cup run, Baker sees no downside to their progress. And he even has a cup story of his own to tell his players.
The former midfielder was in the Halifax Town team that reached the first round proper as a non-league club in 2011, earning a plum home tie with Charlton Athletic.
“I have done this journey as a non league player and I know how exciting it is for players at this level,” he said. “It is dreams coming true and for the club it is huge from a publicity and financial point of view. Saturday was a great occasion and we have to try and get the job finished.”
Lining up alongside Baker against Charlton that day was Jamie Vardy, perhaps the beacon of non-league fairy-tale stories.
Trafford will hope to write their own tonight.