Whitby Town have booked their place in the FA Cup first round proper for the first time in 20 years following a 3-1 victory at home in a 4th qualifying round replay on Tuesday against Chelmsford City.
The seaside club have played five matches in the FA Cup this season with only one of those being a replay in the game just gone against Chelmsford who play in the division above Whitby all be it the southern variant.
Two goals from Whitby in six minutes gave the hosts a comfortable lead going into the break, then after half time Chelmsford managed to claw a goal back with 15 minutes to go before The Seasiders sealed the game with a Junior Mondal 90th minute goal and his second of the game.
Whitby Town manager, Nathan Haslam said “I can’t praise my lads anymore than what the supporters gave them” after a crowd 943 watched their triumph on Tuesday night, “we should’ve put it to bed on Saturday but we’ve gone again”.
The reward for Whitby is a trip down to Bristol at the Memorial Stadium where they will face up against League One opposition in Bristol Rovers managed by ex England and Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton.
This type of cup tie is huge for the smaller sides as it generates a huge sum of money for the club with the FA Cup sharing the ticket revenue evenly between the two sides as well as a higher chance of making it onto TV due to the size of the league gap, creating even more revenue.
The Seasiders will be hoping to cause an upset and continue their FA Cup fairytale, hopefully facing more football league sides up and down the country.
