Chorley FA Cup preview

[Sweden Stag]

This weekend will see a break from EFL action as the first round of the classic FA Cup will be played. And for the Stags, the draw gave them a completely new opponent in any competition. And the tale is of the Magpies, but not those of Notts County or those at Newcastle. This time, it is about the Conference National newcomers after an absence since 1990, namely Chorley from Lancashire.

This is also the third season running the Chorley Magpies have reached the first round proper, and in the two latest seasons, League One opponents found it tough at Chorley’s headquarters Victory Park. In 2017-18, Fleetwood needed a last-minute winner to progress, and last season, Doncaster needed a replay to comfortably see off Chorley.

For the Stags, last season’s FA Cup first round was marred by refereeing on par with the display the previewer saw on telly regarding the playoff semifinal first leg at Newport. We were drawn at home to Charlton, who equalized by the virtue of an offside goal at One Call to a 1-1 scoreline. And in the replay at The Valley, a Stags free-kick with the score at 2-0 was taken by Charlton instead. That mistake by the officials proved costly as Charlton in the end ran out 5-0 winners, a score-line which was far too high as the Stags had several chances to score in their first visit to The Valley since the 1977-78 Division Two campaign.

Chorley have on a dozen occasions including this season reached the first round of the FA Cup, and in 1986-87, they had their finest hours, drawn to Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first game at Chorley was drawn as was the replay at Molineux. In the second replay at Bolton’s old Burnden Park, Chorley joined the giant-killing ranks by slaying the Wolves to a convicing 3-0 scoreline, thus setting up a second-round tie at home to Preston. The Lilywhite, also then like Wolves in the League basement, needed a replay to progress at Deepdale in front of over 16000. A couple of seasons later, Chorley became giant-killers again. In 1990, Bury were slain at Victory Park to a 2-1 scoreline in the first round before going out at Shrewsbury by the only goal of the game.

This season is Chorley’s third at highest non-league level at all time. The Magpies made their debut at that level on August 20, 1988 when they lost at home to Barnet to a 3-2 scoreline. One week later, Chorley gained their first-ever home win at this level when beating Wycombe to the tune of 3-2 at Victory Park. Other teams Chorley faced then include the old Newport club, Yeovil, Kidderminster, Cheltenham and Macclesfield. In the end, Chorley finished in 17th position in their inaugural Conference season following Championship in the Northern Premier League in 1987-88.

In 1989-90, Chorley ended up being relegated from the Conf National on the final day of that season after losing 4-1 at home to Barnet, while Fisher Athetic won at Merthyr to the same scoreline. That same season, Chorley also faced Darlington and Barrow.

This season, Chorley have found it tough going. Just one victory, at home to Stockport, but ten draws in their first 20 games is proof. And the bottom position. But that counts for nothing on Saturday as well as the Stags’ five home league defeats so far, the latest to a good Colchester side last Saturday. Best Chorley scorer so far is Chris Holroyd with six league goals. A player with vast experience (i.e. at Brighton) to watch out for. Another Chorley player with former EFL experience is Courtney Meppen-Walter, who faced the Stags as a Carlisle player in January 2015.

The Stags’ best FA Cup campaign is 1968-69 when reaching the quarter-finals after beating West Ham at home.

I think no player has ever played for the Stags and the Chorley Magpies in the entire League and Cup history. If some Stagsnet reader know about even a single player, just let me know in the preview thread. Come on Mansfield!

[eggy]

I think no player has ever played for the Stags and the Chorley Magpies in the entire League and Cup history. If some Stagsnet reader know about even a single player, just let me know in the preview thread. Come on Mansfield!

The only tenuous connections I can find are Craig Allardyce and Cameron Belford. Did either of them actually play a game for us?

[Spiritater]

Nortei Norty played in a PSF once