The Mystery of the Cup

Isn't it wonderful to live in a world where technology allows us to obtain all sorts of arcane information in a mere moment, and modern corporations are committed to transparancy? Well, you do if you're in The Premiership.

I've been trying to work out who we could draw in the FA Cup tomorrow, and it's impossible! There's absolutely nothing on the internet telling you whether the sides that won in the third qualifying round over the weekend will be in the northern or southern sections of the draw, or which Blue Square Premier sides are in our half.

The FA's website has lots of information, but no answers on who we're going into the draw with. After spending ages trying to work it out, I decided to ask Wrexham's secretary Geraint Parry, working on the basis that he knows absolutely EVERYTHING. But he hadn't been given a definitive list from the FA either!

His list tallied with what I suspected would be our half of the draw (I did eventually find a website which said which of the weekend's games had been in the northern half, although Geraint pointed out that sometimes the FA will take teams from one half and put it into the other in the next round!)

We reckon there'll be twelve teams from the Blue Square Bet Premier for us to avoid;
Gateshead
Darlington
Barrow
Southport
Fleetwood
York City
Grimsby Town
Altrincham
Mansfield Town
Wrexham
Tamworth
Kidderminster Harriers

However, the way the draw has been split hasn't been too cruel to us: most of the sides at the top of the table are in the southern section. As for the other clubs, it looks like these are the sides who'll go into the draw with us, with the sides who are going to be in a replay in bold.

One league below us:

AFC Telford United

Guiseley

Workington

Eastwood Town

Nuneaton Town

Solihull Moors

Droylsden

Corby Town

Stalybridge Celtic

Vauxhall Motors

Redditch United

Two leagues below us:

Buxton

FC United of Manchester

North Ferriby United

Frickley Athletic

FC Halifax

Three leagues below us:

Mossley

Barwell

Newcastle Town

Sheffield

Three leagues below us:
Lincoln Moors Railway
Tipton Town

Four leagues below us:
Radcliffe Olympic

Fancy Lincoln Moors Railway at home?