First up is the Carling Cup, in which the southeast Essex side get underway tomorrow night with a visit to the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park against West Ham United. Should Southend prevail in that match between side at either side of the A13, then the draw for Round Two is made on Wednesday evening, directly following the live SKY Sports clash between Newcastle United and Norwich City. This stage of the competition sees the fourteen non-European competing Premiership sides enter, as well as Leicester City (who received a bye with Millwall’s entry into Europe – they enter in Round Three) and the 35 Round One winners.
Then, on Saturday morning, the draw for Round One of the LDV Vans Trophy, where United are reigning Southern Area Champions and runners-up overall to Blackpool on that historic day at the Millennium Stadium. It will be made, as ever, live on SKY Sports One’s Soccer AM programme, although four sides (two from the northern section and two from the southern) will receive byes into Round Two. This draw will be made at the FA Communications Centre in Preston.
As is logical, Southend have been placed in the southern section, along with six Nationwide Conference sides (amongst them Dagenham & Redbridge), ten League One teams and thirteen other League Two outfits. The full line up for both the Southern and Northern Sections is as follows:
NORTHERN SECTION |
SOUTHERN SECTION |
League One | League One |
Barnsley | AFC Bournemouth |
Blackpool | Brentford |
Bradford City | Bristol City |
Chesterfield | Colchester United |
Doncaster Rovers | Luton Town |
Hartlepool United | Milton Keynes Dons |
Huddersfield Town | Peterborough United |
Hull City | Swindon Town |
Oldham Athletic | Torquay United |
Port Vale | Walsall |
Sheffield Wednesday |
League Two |
Stockport County | Boston United |
Tranmere Rovers | Bristol Rovers |
Wrexham | Cambridge United |
League Two | Cheltenham Town |
Bury | Kidderminster Harriers |
Chester City | Leyton Orient |
Darlington | Northampton Town |
Grimsby Town | Oxford United |
Lincoln City | Rushden & Diamonds |
Macclesfield Town | Shrewsbury Town |
Mansfield Town | Southend United |
Notts County | Swansea City |
Rochdale | Wycombe Wanderers |
Scunthorpe United | Yeovil Town |
Conference |
|
Accrington Stanley | Aldershot Town |
Carlisle United | Barnet |
Hereford United | Dagenham & Redbridge |
Morecambe | Exeter City |
Scarborough | Stevenage Borough |
York City | Woking |
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com