On September 12, 2020, Marine AFC started their FA Cup journey in the preliminary round against Barnoldswick Town with a dramatic 2-1 home victory secured by two late goals in the last five minutes. Four months and seven games on and amazingly they are still in the FA Cup as they prepare for a home tie against Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur at their Rossett Park ground.
In one of the most amazing cup runs of all-time arguably, Marine have had to win seven games just to get to this point.
For a club who play in the eighth tier of English football in the Northern Premier League Division One North West – and usually face teams such as Mossley and Tadcaster Albion – they will now pit their wits against a Spurs side managed by Jose Mourinho which features players such as Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and World Cup winner Hugo Lloris.
It’s fair to say that it hasn’t been an easy ride for Marine during their cup run so far as they have beaten the likes of Chester, Colchester United and Havant & Waterlooville in recent rounds.
It took a 120th-minute goal against the latter in the second round by part-time striker and full-time teacher Niall Cummins to see the Merseyside minnows into the third round. As a result the club are now only this far in the competition for the second time in their history and have been rewarded with a home tie against one of England’s elite.
It’s quite the story for the non-league minnows who just last year were facing their ‘biggest challenge ever’ as a club to survive due to the Covid-19 outbreak. But just under a year on, they now have a mouthwatering match to look forward to and the financial benefits that come with it.
Marine rely heavily on volunteers and their goodwill but hopefully the windfall of this tie will stabilise the club and secure its future so that the future generations can hopefully witness a cup run similar to their one this year or even play a part.
Games of this magnitude very rarely come along for clubs of Marine’s size and it is in fact the biggest gap of a tie between two teams in the FA Cup third round history – with eight leagues separating the pair.
Their budgets are also worlds apart too with Marine’s squad boasting a bin man, a teacher and other regular occupations while Tottenham can call upon a World Cup winner and Champions League winner among theirs.
The two teams are of course chalk and cheese but the magic of the FA Cup can result in shocks. It’s a great shame that Marine’s big day won’t be played in front of a full stadium due to Covid, a factor which could potentially cost the club £100,000 in revenue lost but thankfully they have had other ideas.
The selling of ‘virtual tickets’ for £10 means the club can earn some matchday income – with the club having sold over 17,000 tickets for Sunday – smashing their club record attendance. Innovative ways like this have helped make the club sustainable and mean they can enjoy the match in the knowledge they are financially secure too.
Not many people outside Marine will fancy their chances against Spurs but within the town FA Cup fever has well and truly been caught.
No doubt on television during the game you will see a few eagle-eyed supporters sitting on trees looking through bushes or perching on whatever they can find to catch a glimpse of this historic occasion.
While it’s disappointing that there will be no fans present, the occasion of the tie will leave no one at Marine feeling that – come whatever the full-time score.
By Ryan Lancaster
