This weekend marks the start of the competition for the FA Cup, the most prestigious trophy in English football, with the start of the preliminary round, when all the amateur teams in the local leagues around the country have their chance of a cup run for glory, i.e. it’s the round where all the Davids battle it out for a chance to challenge Goliath.
By way of an example, Market Drayton Town, the team from the town of my birth, has a home tie today against Kidsgrove Athletic, which kicks off at 3 pm.
The FA website has a list of fixtures for the preliminary round, which runs to many pages, a screenshot of which is shown below.
However, if – as many people do – you relied on the BBC as a source of sports news, you’d be completely unaware of the existence of the FA Cup preliminary round, as proven by the following screenshot taken today at the same time as the above FA screenshot.
That’s right! According to Auntie, there are no FA Cup fixtures for the next 7 days.
The BBC likes to base its reputation on its reliable and accurate coverage of news and events.
Is this reputation undeserved? Answers in the comments below please.