The draw was made live on BBC Television this afternoon some twenty minutes after the final whistle at Moss Rose, and number thirty-nine was pulled out of the hat first, meaning that the tie will take place at Roots Hall, on the weekend starting Saturday 8th November 2003. Should the match be against the Gulls, there is a slight possibility that the clash could be shown live on TV, although other noticeable clashes such as Scarborough vs. Doncaster Rovers and Accrington Stanley against Huddersfield Town stand out.
Of course, Blues played Canvey in pre-season, sliding to a one-nil defeat in a bad-tempered fixture, strangely for a League side against one outside of the Football League at Roots Hall, with ex-Arsenal player Ty Gooden scoring a header just before the half-time interval. And just three years ago, in the second round of the same competition, United came up against the Islanders in a match played at the Hall, despite Canvey having been awarded the home advantage. 11,402 turned up to see Scott Forbes and Ben Abbey score the goals that propelled the Seasiders into a Third Round fixture against fellow Ryman Premier League outfit Kingstonian, which Southend lost 1-0.
However, should the home side prevail in tomorrow’s Fourth Qualifying Round game, then the Shrimpers will face Mangotsfield United for the first time. The small village, just outside of Bristol, has housed a football club intermittently for the last one hundred and fifteen years. In 1893, the club chairman, Edward Colston MP, presented a trophy to Warmley FC, winners of the Bristol & District League for the first time. The trophy is still used today for the winners of the Screwfix Western League.
Mangotsfield FC was disbanded, and then reformed, on a number of occasions after relegation from the Amateur Section, Division One of the Bristol & District League in 1898, until it merged with a local Reserve XI in January 1951, forming Mangotsfield United FC in time for entry to Division Five of the same League in 1951/2. United won promotion for five successive seasons, joining the Bristol & District Premier Combination in 1957 at the end of the run. They stayed there for fifteen years until acceptance into the Western League.
‘The Field’ remained in the top Division for ten years, but were demoted to Division One in 1982, bouncing back a year later. After finishing third in 1990, they went two better the next year to pip Torrington to the Great Mills League Premier Division. However, they were stopped from progressing higher than the resultant Screwfix Direct League.
Ground improvements were undertaken to improve Cossham Street, including the erection of Conference Standard floodlights. In May 2000, they finished second in the Screwfix Direct League, thus gaining promotion to the Dr. Martens League Western Division, one step below Chelmsford City, where they reside today. Last season they finished sixth, and they lie tenth, six points off of top-placed Redditch United, at the moment after ten games this time around. Both Bristol City and Bristol Rovers have played reserve games at Cossham Street in the past.
Should tomorrow's match between Canvey and Mangotsfield finish level, The Little Gazette hope to be at the replay to provide our usual comprehensive coverage as the Shrimpers find out who they will face in Round One.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com