Remembering Warrington Town's giant-killing night amid warning FA Cup change will lead to fewer shocks

Ten years ago, lowly Warrington Town welcomed League Two’s Exeter City to a frigid Cantilever Park. It was the first time the then-eighth division club had reached the FA Cup proper in their 64-year history after two replays.

A hundred league places separated Town — the competition’s lowest-ranked team — and their professional opponents. Against all odds, defender Craig Robinson headed the ball into Exeter’s net on seven minutes, and Town’s defence held fast for the following 83.

At the final whistle, fans raced onto the pitch, congratulating Shaun Reid and his team, and celebrations continued in the dressing room for hours. It was perhaps the greatest night in the club’s history.

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Warrington Town’s chairman, Toby Macormac, described the cup run as “club-changing”, but warns that ‘David and Goliath contests’, those that give the world’s oldest competition its fast-evaporating magic, will be ‘fewer and fewer’ if the Football Association goes ahead with the scrapping of FA Cup replays.

“It was a great night, and you could see when Exeter turned up they just didn’t fancy it,” said Mr Macormac, who was also club chairman in 2014. “They had come to our ground and had never played anywhere like it before at the time.

“The ground was nowhere near as developed as it is now, so they turned up on a damp November night, the changing room was probably the smallest they’ve ever been in; so there were a number of contributing factors. We scored early and managed to hang on.”

The match was televised, as was the second round loss to Gateshead, providing the club with funds that contributed to the club’s rise to the National League North, English football’s 6th tier, over the last decade, as fans celebrated two promotions.

Mr Macormac says the second round match was televised because of the interest in Warrington Town’s story, despite the attractive draw. He said the funds accrued “did a number of things” for the club.

“It allowed work on the ground, it enhanced the community programme, and it furnished a number of challenges at the time. Obviously, the prize money was double what it is now, so it’s not apples for apples.

“We wouldn’t have gone up quicker, because there’s no secret that we did use some of it as a bit of a war chest to get out of the division and make headway. We went up the season after, and we probably wouldn’t if we hadn’t had that cup run.”

Mr Macormac described the Football Association’s decision to do away with replays as “very disappointing,” as did clubs across the county. He said: “It’s around the expansion of fixtures for the top six clubs, who have got squads more than big enough to cope with Warrington Town away on a Tuesday night in an FA Cup replay if we were ever to get that far.

“It’s further compounded by the money from live TV and the prize money being half of what they were ten years ago, when we had an amazing, club-changing run in the FA Cup. Not only are we now operating off a 50 per cent lower figure, you’ve now got the fact that there’s only one game to play.

“If you do get a tough away, you don’t have to win the game, you just don’t lose it. To not have that promise of a replay is disappointing. The number of David versus Goliath contests that the FA Cup provides, they will be fewer and fewer.”

Mr Macormac added: “A decision has been made, it’s poor, but I think clubs will end up getting on with it. I don’t see clubs pulling out of the FA Cup unless someone wants to take a real stand.”

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