Alvechurch excited to face Town cup trip
CHELTENHAM Town will play Southern League Premier Division Central side Alvechurch at home in the first round of the FA Cup.
The tie will take place over the weekend of November 5, with the winners receiving £41,000 in prize money.
Speaking on BBC One after the draw was made at their Lye Meadow ground, Alvechurch manager Ian Long said: “It’s a tough tie against a League One side away from home.”
“They had a player off us last season and they will know quite a lot about us.
“We’re excited. It’s not a million miles away from here so hopefully the fans will follow us down to Cheltenham.”
Robins head coach Wade Elliott said: “Before the draw, I am hoping for a home tie against lower ranked opposition and that’s what we’ve got.
“But I’ve been there myself, on both sides of it and we certainly won’t think it’ll be easy at all, but we’ll cross that bridge in a couple of weeks.
“We know quite a bit about them. We took Dylan Barkers from there. We have good links through Micky Moore and Marcus Bignot. They know all about us, but we know all about them as well.”
The Robins beat Alvechurch 2-1 in the final day of the 1984/85 season to clinch the Southern League title and there have been 19 non-league meetings in total.
Chris Burns netted five times in a 6-0 Midland Floodlit Cup win for Cheltenham at Whaddon Road in 1989 before he earned his move to Portsmouth, while Alvechurch knocked Cheltenham out of the Southern League Cup at the semifinal stage in 1982-3
Dylan Barkers joined Cheltenham from Alvechurch in the summer of 2021 and returned on loan to Lye Meadow last season. The midfielder is cup tied from his ongoing loan spell at Maidstone United, so will be unable to face his old club this term.
Former Cheltenham Town boss Steve Cotterill also played for the Worcestershire club, while Robins midfielder Archie Brennan was loaned to Alvechurch in the 2019/20 campaign.
Alvechurch, from four levels below their EFL FA Cup hosts, beat Worksop 3-2 in the fourth qualifying round to reach the first round proper for the first time in 49 years.