The FA Cup First Round 18-19 is here this weekend, and we have the predictions and preview you need as League One and League Two sides join the Non League sides who have already been busy qualifying for months. It is a good time to get on board.
Some call the FA Cup the greatest annual sporting competition, and at this stage – FA Cup First Round 18-19 – it still is. The big EPL and Championship sides join in Round 3, and maintain the fun until the usual suspects make the quarter finals, and it becomes a little more dull.
Our favourite thing of this stage of the FA Cup is that there are still many Non League sides left in the draw, some are fallen Football League sides, some have great names, a lot most have never heard of. Dreams of a potential third round clash against an EPL side is just two wins away.
Here then is our FA Cup First Round 18-19 Predictions and Preview, where we are looking for upsets, certainties and interesting bits and pieces.
FA Cup First Round 18-19 Points of Interest
There 32 Non League sides at this stage – 16 come from the National League Premier (5th Tier), 13 from the National League North/South (6th Tier), and three from the seventh tier.
The three seventh tier teams are:
- Haringey Borough
- Metropolitan Police
- Hitchin Town
The average gap in League Positions between the teams is 34 places. The biggest five are listed below:
- 89 Places – Haringey Borough (7th Tier) v AFC Wimbledon (3rd)
- 76 Places – Alfreton Town (6th Tier) v Fleetwood Town (3rd)
- 73 Places – Metropolitan Police (7th Tier) v Newport County (4th)
- 68 Places – Maidenhead Utd (5th Tier) v Portsmouth (3rd)
- 63 Places – Choley (6th Tier) v Doncaster Rovers (3rd)
The closest matched fixture is Walsall (11th) v Coventry (8th) in League One. It is only 40 km apart too.
There are 11 all Football League fixtures.
There are six all Non League fixtures.
There are some former winners of the FA Cup in the FA Cup First Round 18-19 – Portsmouth (2010) and Coventry (1987)
The games with the lowest combined league position are:
- Hitchin Town v Solihull Moors
- Torquay United v Woking
- Southport v Boreham Wood
- Weston-Super-Mare v Wrexham
- Chesterfield v Billericay Town
FA Cup First Round 18-19 Predictions
Here are our bold predictions for the First Round of the FA Cup, split into nice little groups.
THE BIG CUPSETS
HARINGEY BOROUGH to beat Wimbledon
MAIDSTONE to beat Macclesfield
ALDERSHOT to beat Bradford
SALFORD to beat Shrewsbury
BARNET to beat Bristol Rovers
HAMPTON & RICHMOND to beat Oldham
HARTLEPOOL to beat Gilingham
THE MINI CUPSETS
WYCOMBE to beat Luton
COLCHESTER to beat Accrington
STEVENAGE to beat Plymouth
EXETER to beat Blackpool
THE HOME COMFORTS
SOUTHEND to beat Crawley
CREWE to beat Carlisle
BARNSLEY to beat Notts County
YEOVIL to beat Stockport County
SWINDON to beat York City
SUTTON UTD to beat Slough
LINCOLN to beat Northampton
TRANMERE to beat Oxford
TORQUAY to beat Woking
ROCHDALE to beat Gateshead
THE AWAY PAYS
SUNDERLAND to beat Port Vale
CHARLTON to beat Mansfield
FLEETWOOD to beat Alfreton Town
DONCASTER to beat Chorley
MILTON KEYNES to beat Grimsby
BURTON to beat Scunthorpe
PORTSMOUTH to beat Maidstone
PETERBOROUGH to beat Bromley
NEWPORT to beat Met Police
COVENTRY to beat Walsall
BOREHAM WOOD to beat Southport
THE NO IDEA SO WE’LL GO FOR A DRAW
HITCHIN TOWN v SOLIHULL MOORS
GUISELEY v CARMBIDGE UTD
EBBSFLEET v CHELTENHAM
WESTON SUPER MARE v WREXHAM
BURY v DOVER
OUR BEST OF THE BEST
Here we take one from each category and put it into a Super Multi.
SALFORD to beat Shrewsbury
STEVENAGE to beat Plymouth
BARNSLEY to beat Notts County
SUNDERLAND to beat Port Vale
$1 for $33
FA Cup First Round 18-19 Teams of Interest
With so many teams at this stage of the FA Cup that are as far from the EPL behemoths as it gets, we thought we’d highlight a few of the interesting ones.
METROPOLITAN POLICE (The Met)
League / Position: 9th in Southern Football League Premier Division South (7th Tier)
This is their fifth appearance in the FA Cup First Round,
As the name would suggest it was solely made up of only Met Police staff back in the day, but that has since been relaxed.
They play out of East Molesey in the south west London fringe, near Kingston and Twickenham.
WESTON SUPER MARE (The Seagulls)
League / Position: 22nd and Last in National League South (6th Tier)
A side that can lay claim to the feat of never being relegated.
They made the second round of the FA Cup in 03-04, and have a great name.
They play in Weston Super Mare in Somerset, just across the Severn from Cardiff in Wales.
STOCKPORT COUNTY (The Hatters)
League / Position: 9th in National League North (6th Tier)
From a side that has never been relegated to one whose fall is among the biggest whilst still staying in business. In 2003 Stockport County were relegated from the second tier what is now called the Championship. Within ten years they were in the sixth tier National League North.
Hard to get anyone other diehards to follow the club, sitting in the shadows of the big Manchester clubs.
Were Football League Trophy (Knockout for L1 and L2) Runners Up in 92 and 93.
FA Cup First Round 18-19 TV Games
Here are the TV Games in the UK across BBC and BT Sport.
Currently we have no idea how these games are being shown elsewhere. Sadly not on ESPN by the looks this year for those in Australia.
HARINGEY BOROUGH v WIMBLEDON
MAIDENHEAD v PORTSMOUTH
PORT VALE v SUNDERLAND
HAMPTON & RICHMOND v OLDHAM
FA Cup First Round 18-19 Fixture List
| Team | Tier | Team2 | Tier | Clash | Pos Diff |
| Hitchin Town | 7 | Solihull Moors | 5 | All NL | 62 |
| Torquay United | 6 | Woking | 6 | All NL | 4 |
| Southport | 6 | Boreham Wood | 5 | All NL | 34 |
| Weston-super-Mare | 6 | Wrexham | 5 | All NL | 45 |
| Chesterfield | 5 | Billericay Town | 6 | All NL | -6 |
| Haringey Borough | 7 | AFC Wimbledon | 3 | Other | 89 |
| Sutton United | 5 | Slough Town | 6 | All NL | -25 |
| Metropolitan Police | 7 | Newport County | 4 | Other | 73 |
| Swindon Town | 4 | York City | 6 | Other | -46 |
| Guiseley | 6 | Cambridge United | 4 | Other | 42 |
| Hampton & Richmond Borough | 6 | Oldham Athletic | 4 | Other | 48 |
| Yeovil Town | 4 | Stockport County | 6 | Other | -43 |
| Tranmere Rovers | 4 | Oxford City | 6 | Other | -61 |
| Maidstone United | 5 | Macclesfield Town | 4 | Other | 18 |
| Ebbsfleet United | 5 | Cheltenham Town | 4 | Other | 16 |
| Morecambe | 4 | Halifax Town | 5 | Other | -20 |
| Bury | 4 | Dover Athletic | 5 | Other | -38 |
| Alfreton Town | 6 | Fleetwood Town | 3 | Other | 76 |
| Aldershot Town | 5 | Bradford City | 3 | Other | 37 |
| Chorley | 6 | Doncaster Rovers | 3 | Other | 63 |
| Barnet | 5 | Bristol Rovers | 3 | Other | 40 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 4 | Carlisle United | 4 | Other | 7 |
| Gillingham | 3 | Hartlepool United | 5 | Other | -40 |
| Rochdale | 3 | Gateshead | 5 | Other | -40 |
| Grimsby Town | 4 | Milton Keynes Dons | 4 | Other | 19 |
| Maidenhead United | 5 | Portsmouth | 3 | Other | 68 |
| Shrewsbury Town | 3 | Salford City | 5 | Other | -33 |
| Bromley | 5 | Peterborough United | 3 | Other | 59 |
| Lincoln City | 4 | Northampton Town | 4 | Other | -15 |
| Oxford United | 3 | Forest Green Rovers | 4 | All EFL | -12 |
| Plymouth Argyle | 3 | Stevenage | 4 | All EFL | -10 |
| Barnsley | 3 | Notts County | 4 | All EFL | -42 |
| Southend United | 3 | Crawley Town | 4 | All EFL | -23 |
| Port Vale | 4 | Sunderland | 3 | All EFL | 35 |
| Exeter City | 4 | Blackpool | 3 | All EFL | 20 |
| Mansfield Town | 4 | Charlton Athletic | 3 | All EFL | 25 |
| Accrington Stanley | 3 | Colchester United | 4 | All EFL | -20 |
| Scunthorpe United | 3 | Burton Albion | 3 | All EFL | 5 |
| Luton Town | 3 | Wycombe Wanderers | 3 | All EFL | -10 |
| Walsall | 3 | Coventry City | 3 | All EFL | 3 |
