The oldest and most prestigious cup competition in world football is back on our screens this weekend as BBC Sport and BT Sport present comprehensive coverage of the 2014/15 FA Cup First Round Proper.
Always one of the busiest weekends of the football calendar, First Round weekend is a special moment for minnow teams from the lower tiers of English football up and down the country, as they all vie to make their mark on this season’s competition against some familiar sides from Leagues One and Two.
More than 600 non-league sides have been knocked out since qualifying got under way in August, with now just 32 left in the competition as they are joined by the 48 clubs from the third and fourth-tiers of English football.
Four live First Round ties will be broadcast this weekend, two of which will shown on BT Sport as it begins its second season as an FA Cup broadcaster, one will be shown on Welsh-language channel S4C, while the BBC makes a triumphant return to covering the competition for the first time since 2008.
Fans will be able to follow the road to Wembley every step of the between now and next May’s final with the BBC and BT Sport’s comprehensive coverage throughout the 2014/15 season.
The FA Cup returns to BBC Television this season after a six-year absence and the corporation will provide its usual extensive multi-platform coverage on TV, radio and online, along a raft of new innovations that it is hoped will revive TV coverage of the competition.
The BBC will be giving extra prominence to the early rounds of the competition, placing lower league clubs in the spotlight, with BBC Local Radio stations across the country charting the route to the first round proper, with many local sides up against league teams ranked much higher than themselves.
Alongside live coverage of 16 games on BBC TV from round one in November to the showpiece final in May next year, the BBC’s FA Cup coverage will also include a new special Sunday interactive Final Score programme on BBC One during the early rounds, which will take in eight different FA Cup games with all the goals being shown from those fixtures as they happen.
There will also be tea-time highlights of all the weekend’s matches in the early rounds, airing either on Saturday or Sunday, while there will also be special editions of Football Focus on Saturday lunchtimes during every FA Cup weekend.
In addition, the FA Cup draw moves back to a permanent slot this season on Monday nights, hosted by Mark Chapman, which will be held at different footballing venues around the country during the season.
BBC Sport will be sharing live coverage of the FA Cup for the next four seasons with BT Sport, running through to the 2017-18 season, after the two broadacsters secured a multi-million pound rights deal in the summer of 2013, with the BBC taking over free-to-air rights from ITV.
The BBC will broadcast the first pick of matches from the first and second rounds, while BT Sport will screen at least two live matches during the opening two rounds, as well as replays if required.
From rounds three to six, BBC TV will show the first pick games and BT Sport the second choice, plus a selection of two other matches from rounds 3-5, with the third and fourth picks alternating between the two broadcasters each round, while both will share two quarter-final matches each.
The first pick of the replays during this phase of the competition will alternate between the BBC and BT, with the BBC screening one match while BT has the option of screening at least two other games.
The BBC has first pick of the semi-finals with the other being screened by BT Sport, with both channels sharing live coverage of the 2015 FA Cup Final at Wembley in late-May.
In addition, one other live FA Cup tie featuring Welsh teams during the early rounds of the competition will be televised by either Welsh-language channel S4C or on BBC Cymru Wales.
Follow all the excitement of this season’s FA Cup live on the BBC and BT Sport from now through to the showpiece final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, May 30, 2015.
For more details about this season’s FA Cup, visit www.thefa.com/thefacup.
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| FRIDAY 7th NOVEMBER |
| WARRINGTON TOWN v EXETER CITY 1st Round | 19:55 |
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| SUNDAY 9th NOVEMBER |
| FA Cup Final Score Instant goal clips from eight ties | 14:00 |
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The BBC marks its return to live coverage of the world’s oldest domestic cup competition with a trip to Cantilever Park for Warrington Town’s tie against Exeter City.
Warrington are playing in the First Round Proper for the first time in their 65-year history and are managed by Shaun Reid, brother of Everton FA Cup winner Peter, with his side having rewritten the record books by beating ten-man North Ferriby United 1-0 thanks to Lewis Field’s second-half strike.
The Grecians’ trip to the North-West will kick off on Friday, November 7 at 7.55pm, and will be screened live on BBC Two, a tie which marks the first FA Cup match to be broadcast live on BBC TV since the final in 2008.
Non-league Warrington, who play in the eighth tier and are entirely semi-professional, have reached the first round for the first time ever, while League Two Exeter City have lost in the first round of the FA Cup in each of the last four seasons.
Dan Walker presents BBC Two’s coverage in Match of the Day Live from Warrington’s Cantilever Park on Friday, November 7, where he will be joined by special guests to preview the opening match of this season’s competition proper from 7.30pm.
Alongside its live tie, the BBC’s FA Cup coverage over the weekend with a Football Focus special on Saturday, live from Weston-Super-Mare, at 12.20pm on BBC One, with the programme being based at the ground of Weston-super-Mare AFC ahead of the Conference South side’s home tie against League One Doncaster Rovers.
All the goals from Saturday’s games will be shown on a loop on BBC Red Button from 6.00pm on Saturday evening, while updates on the all the latest from the 3.00pm FA Cup kick-offs will be shown on Saturday’s Final Score on BBC One and BBC Red Button.
This will be followed on Sunday by the first airing of the new FA Cup Final Score from 1.55pm on BBC One, presented by Jason Mohammad, with cameras at eight First Round ties with instant goal and match highlights as they happen.
Extended highlights and all the goals from the weekend’s games will be shown in a 90-minute highlights programme on Sunday tea-time, on BBC Two at 6.30pm, presented by Manish Bhasin.
The BBC’s FA Cup weekend concludes on Monday night when Mark Chapman introduces live coverage of the second round draw on BBC Two at 7.00pm, live from the National Football Museum in Manchester.
BBC Sport’s FA Cup website – bbc.co.uk/facup – will be the place to see all the weekend’s goals on-demand, as well as live text commentaries, reports and opinion from the BBC pundits.
All TV/radio coverage will be available to watch/listen via the BBC Sport app on all mobile devices, while all of BBC TV’s FA Cup coverage will be available on catch-up via BBC iPlayer shortly after transmission.
Looking ahead further into the competition, the draw for the fabled Third Round of the FA Cup takes place on December 8, preceding a month of dedicated FA Cup content in January, with two live games on BBC One from rounds three to six.
There will be FA Cup highlights shown on Match of the Day on both Saturday and Sunday from round three onwards and the BBC’s Get Inspired will be holding participation events which will tie in with key FA Cup moments.
A similar pattern will follow for future rounds, culminating in FA Cup final week, when a special documentary will be aired on BBC One, with the showpiece match being played at Wembley on Saturday, May 30, 2015.
Read more about BBC’s coverage in SOTB’s Q&A with head of football Mark Cole
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| SUNDAY 9th NOVEMBER |
| FC HALIFAX TOWN v BRADFORD CITY 1st Round | 12:00 |
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| MONDAY 10th NOVEMBER |
| HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE v PRESTON 1st Round | 20:00 |
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BT Sport kicks off its second season of FA Cup coverage with two live ties from the First Round Proper, featuring ties which pitch League 1 sides travelling to face lower league opposition.
The pay-TV channel’s live coverage starts on Sunday, November 9, with the Yorkshire derby between FC Halifax Town and Bradford City, kicking off at 12.00pm as both sides aim to book their spot into round two next month.
Separated from Bradford by eight miles and two promotions, the Shayman qualified for the First Round in style by beating Chorley 5-0 in a fourth qualifying round replay, to set up the first visit from Bradford City to the Shay in 16 years.
This tie will be followed on Monday, November 10, as the BT Sport cameras travel to West Leigh Park to see Havant & Waterlooville face League One side Preston North End, kicking off at 8.00pm.
Managed by Lee Bradbury, Havant’s biggest FA Cup moment to date came in 2008 when they went to Liverpool in the Fourth Round and shocked the Anfield faithful by taking a 2-1 lead, but the Premier League side battled back to win 5-2 thanks to a Yossi Benayoun hat-trick.
This is the seventh time that the Hawks, a Conference South side, have reached the first round proper and they needed a replay to see off Essex’s Canvey Island 3-0 in the fourth qualifying round.
Preston North End have a famous FA Cup history having made the final seven times, lifting the trophy in 1889 and 1938.
BT Sport’s live FA Cup coverage will be presented by Jake Humphrey from pitchside alongside regular pundits including Michael Owen, Robbie Savage, Owen Hargreaves and Steve McManaman, as well as a number of special guests.
Ian Darke and Darren Fletcher lead commentary duties on all of BT Sport’s FA Cup ties, while Ray Stubbs and Darryl Currie provide reports and interviews from pitchside.
As well as the live games, BT Sport will broadcast highlights and goal clips from each round of the competition in programmes throughout each FA Cup weekend, starting with the best of the action from Saturday’s first round ties at 7.30pm on BT Sport 2.
BT Sport will also simulcast live coverage of the draw for the Second Round, which will be made on Monday, November 10, presented by the BBC’s Mark Chapman from the National Football Museum in Manchester, during SportsHUB on BT Sport 1 from 7.00pm.
Alongside comprehensive TV coverage, fans can enjoy all the action on the go throughout each FA Cup weekend via the BT Sport app, while match highlights, goal clips, interviews and special features will also be available to watch on the app and via btsport.com.
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| SUNDAY 9th NOVEMBER |
| Wrexham v Woking 1st Round | 14:00 |
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Welsh-language channel S4C will also get in on the FA Cup act this weekend as it broadcasts the First Round tie between Wrexham and Woking exclusively on the channel on Sunday afternoon.
S4C’s Sunday afternoon sport show Clwb will be at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground for live coverage of the entire match, with the Sgorio team introducing the action at 1.50pm ahead of kick off at 2.00pm.
Wrexham has a proud FA Cup history and will aim to maintain that famous record under the guidance of new manager Kevin Wilkin.
Commenting on the match, Dafydd Rhys, S4C’s director of content, said: “It’s another great FA Cup scoop for S4C and brilliant news for football fans all over the UK. It’s an interesting draw between two top sides in the Vanarama Conference league.
“We regularly show highlights of Wrexham’s Conference matches on Clwb and this coverage reflects our passion for covering Welsh football in all competitions where rights allow.”
S4C is available outside Wales on Sky channel 134, Freesat 120 and Virgin TV 166. The match will be shown live simultaneously on the S4C website, available online throughout the UK and also on-demand for 30 days.
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Saturday 8th November Football Focus: FA Cup Special Live from Weston-Super-Mare AFC 12.20pm-1.10pm BBC One Final Score Feat: FA Cup score updates LIVE: 2.30pm-6.00pm BBC Red Button / 4.30pm-5.20pm BBC One FA Cup Goals Highlights: 6.00pm & 12.20am (Loop) BBC Red Button
Sunday 9th November FC HALIFAX TOWN v BRADFORD CITY Kick-off: 12:00 LIVE: 11.30am-2.00pm BT Sport 1 WREXHAM v WOKING Kick-off: 14:00 LIVE: 1.50pm-4.10pm S4C FA Cup Final Score Feat: Instant goal clips & match highlights LIVE: 1.55pm-4.20pm BBC One Featured Matches (all k/o 2.00pm): Blyth Spartans v Altrincham Braintree Town v Chesterfield Coventry City v Worcester City Forest Green Rovers v Scunthorpe United Gosport Borough v Colchester United Norton United v Gateshead Portsmouth v Aldershot Town Stevenage v Maidstone United Wrexham v Woking Match of the Day: FA Cup 1st Round Featured Matches: Weston Super Mare v Doncaster Rovers
Barnet v Wycombe Wanderers Highlights: 6.30pm-8.00pm BBC Two
Monday 10th November FA CUP 2nd ROUND DRAW Venue: National Football Museum, Manchester LIVE: 7.00pm-7.30pm BBC Two / BT Sport 1 HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE v PRESTON NORTH END Kick-off 20:00 LIVE: 7.45pm-10.15pm BT Sport 1
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