By Dr Colm Hickey
In 1969, The Beatles, arguably, the greatest band that Britain has ever seen, began recording Let it Be which was to prove to be its final album. It includes the classic tracks, ‘Let it Be,’ ‘Get Back,’ ‘Across the Universe’ and, what was to prove to be the group’s last ever single, ‘The Long and Winding Road.’
Released in May 1970 in America it was the band’s 20th and last number one hit as Paul McCartney had announced in April that he was leaving. Its message is mixed, for although McCartney said of it, ‘I was a bit flipped out and tripped out at that time. It’s a sad song because it’s all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach. This is the road that you never get to the end of.” It has, for others, become almost an anthem of resilience, and an expression of hope over expectation.
The long and winding road,
That leads to your door,
Will never disappear,
I’ve seen that road before.
It always leads me here,
Lead me to your door.
(Lennon and McCartney)
Many of you will support clubs in the Premier League. They have money to burn. Premier League clubs spent as much as the other four top European tiers combined after smashing their own transfer window record by a third. Figures from Deloitte show a spend of £1.92bn. In total, Premier League clubs were responsible for 49 per cent of collective gross spend across the big five. The English topflight spent the equivalent of €2.2bn while Serie A spent €749.2m, Ligue 1 forked out €558.0m, La Liga invested €505.7m and Bundesliga spent €484.1m.
For these big boys the FA Cup, while a desirable competition to win in terms of status, means very little in terms of finance. Winning the tournament brings £2million coupled with another £1.9 million in prize money from previous rounds. So, for a Premier League club the money is good, but not great. For them, one can argue ‘the magic of the cup’ lies in its tradition rather than in its finance.
For non-league clubs, however, it is a different story altogether. Only one non-league club has won the FA Cup and that was Tottenham Hotspur in 1901 when it played in the Southern League but was one of the stronger clubs in the southeast. Today, every non-league club that enters the FA Cup does so more in hope than expectation. None believe that they will, or even can win it, but entering gives three important things: participation in the greatest football cup competition in the world, community engagement and, often crucially, the chance to make some money to keep the financial wolves from the clubhouse door and to live to fight another day.
This year 208 teams contested the extra preliminary round. The winners got £1215 and the losers £375, Preliminary Round Winners got £1444, losers. Winning the 1st Round of Qualifying brings £2250, the 2nd Round of Qualifying £3375, the 3rd Round of Qualifying £5625, the 4th Round of Qualifying £9375. All this leads to a non-league jackpot of a potential £41,000 for winning a First Round tie. This might come with a fixture with a League 1 or 2 team and a possibility of being chosen for Match of the Day. For most non-league clubs with tiny budgets such figures are a very welcome addition to their cash strapped finances.
This is why it is a long and winding road, and it is a road I travelled on recently as I boarded the coach at Hanwell Town for our fixture away to Eastbourne Town. The coach was full. The team were in the back the committee and supporters who all paid £20 for travel in the front. We stopped at Cobham Service station and met other non-league teams going to London for their fixtures. We arrived at the ground at 1pm and the committee was welcomed by the Directors of Eastbourne Town for whom this was a big game as we are two levels above them in the football pyramid.
There was a very healthy crowd of about three hundred and as the game kicked off in the warm September sunshine everyone was in a relaxed and friendly mood. Eastbourne relished their underdog status and with resolute defending, allied to excellent goalkeeping, kept the score goalless at half time. The second half was more of the same until in the 75th minute Hanwell scored. Eastbourne huffed and puffed, but in the last minute Hanwell scored a second and won the match.
Afterwards, in the boardroom, over sandwiches, tea, cake and beer, we ran through the highlights of the game and left our new found friends and got on the coach back to Hanwell. Another motorway stop, and some songs in the coach including Oasis’s ‘Wonderwall,’ Smokie’s, ‘Alice,’ and Neil Diamond’s, Sweet Caroline’ put everyone in a good mood.
When we got back to Hanwell at 8.30 I had a ten minute walk to the bus stop only to find that the next bus was 20 minutes away, so I walked up and over the hill home getting in at about 9pm. So, it was a long and winding road for me. Would I do it again? You bet I would, and I will. I’ve just heard that we been drawn away to Cray Wanderers in the 2nd Qualifying Round. I cannot wait!