FA spotlight on record holders

The proud holders of the record for the longest ever tie when they needed five replays in the fourth qualifying round to knock out Oxford City in 1971-72 - one that will never be broken following the advent of penalties - the Football Association’s spotlight will be on the Midlands League champions on Wednesday (16 August) when the trophy arrives at Lye Meadow.

After the BBC announced it will broadcast one game live from every qualifying round for the first time last week, the FA’s media arm FATV are filming the visit for a mini film to be shown across the governing body’s YouTube and Emirates FA Cup channels this season.

At the request of the FA, excited officials at the EVO-STIK League South club are now trying to track down a number of their players from the marathon tie as well as fans to invite them to the special event which is taking place the day after their first away game of the season at Gresley on Tuesday night. The Church, who kick off at home to Leek Town on Saturday, reached the first round proper after a tie lasting eleven hours, Alvechurch eventually winning 1-0 after scorelines of 2–2, 1–1, 1–1, 0–0 and 0–0.

The EVO-STIK League's clubs won't have to reach the first round of the Emirates FA Cup this season to be seen by millions after the BBC said it would be broadcasting one game live from every round. Since the FA Cup returned to the BBC in 2014 to cover Warrington Town's historic win over Exeter City, the corporation had only shown live matches from the first round proper before deciding to kick off six rounds earlier in the qualifying stage.

The new coverage started with the extra preliminary round clash between North West Counties League clubs Litherland REMYCA and AFC Liverpool being live-streamed across BBC Sport's digital platforms, allowing audiences to watch the game live on PC, mobile or connected TV. The match was also be available live and on-demand on the BBC iPlayer.

All bar one of the clubs playing in EVO-STIK League North and EVO-STIK League South kick off in the preliminary round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday 19 August. EVO-STIK League Stamford lead the league's charge into this season's competition on Friday 18 August when they head to Cambridge City in a 7.45pm kick-off.

Image courtesy of thefa.com

Follow us: @evostikleague on Twitter | Facebook www.facebook.com/evostikleague