The draw, which will be announced at 9:15 a.m., has again been split into two halves – southern and northern – although, of course, an early trip to Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park takes just as long as a journey to Hartlepool’s Victoria Ground. In a change to the normal format, however, each regional section has been split into two – seeded and unseeded sides – who will face each other in the first round. The draw will have three components – firstly to decide whether the seeded side is home or away, then which seeded side is designated to each fixture, and then which unseeded team will tackle them first up.
The seeding has been determined by League position in 2003/4, and the Shrimpers are obviously in the unseeded section. However, in the seeded area are pre-season opposition Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as West Ham United and Ipswich Town from the East Anglian region. Just sneaking into the seeds at number sixteen are Colchester United, meaning the mouth-watering prospect of a Layer Road or Roots Hall rematch of Blues’ LDV Vans Trophy Area Final victory last season.
The full list of seeds is as follows:
West Ham United
Ipswich Town
Reading
Coventry City
Cardiff City
Watford
Gillingham
Milton Keynes Dons (formerly Wimbledon)
Plymouth Argyle
Queens Park Rangers
Brighton & Hove Albion
Bristol City
Swindon Town
AFC Bournemouth
Luton Town
Colchester United
The unseeded teams in the southern section, who United will not face are:
Brentford
Peterborough United
Rushden & Diamonds
Wycombe Wanderers
Torquay United
Northampton Town
Yeovil Town
Oxford United
Swansea City
Boston United
Cambridge United
Cheltenham Town
Bristol Rovers
Kidderminster Harriers
Southend United
Leyton Orient
The first round takes place in the week commencing Monday 23rd August 2004. News of the draw will appear as soon as we have it here at TLG.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com