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Leagues apart

SOME 82 places separate the Premier League leaders and Newport, who sit 15th in Sky Bet League Two going into the weekend. The highest Newport have ever risen was to the old Second Division, which meant they were briefly in the same division as Manchester City. Though technically they were in the division from 1940 to 1947, World War II meant they played only one full season, with Newport losing 5-1 away and 3-0 at home in their two meetings with City.

FA Cup pedigree

NEWPORT have gained a welldeserved reputation as giant-killers in recent years given their highprofile victories over Leicester, Leeds and Middlesbrough, and they almost added Tottenham to the list before Harry Kane’s late equaliser denied them last season. But this fifth-round appearance matches their best ever run, last achieved in 1948-49 when they lost to Portsmouth at this stage. City, in contrast, are five-time winners of the cup, but despite the transformation in their fortunes they have lifted it only once – in 2011 – during the Sheikh Mansour era.

Financial gulf

THE total transfer value of Newport’s side is in the region of £50,000, which might not even cover the matchday bonuses of City. A chunk of that sum was spent on record signing Joe Day, with the goalkeeper costing in the region of £30,000 when he signed from Peterborough. Contrast that with the £35million City spent on their own stopper Ederson – then a record for a goalkeeper and coming only 12 months after Claudio Bravo joined for a reported £17million before failing to match expectations.