Victories over sides in the Pitching In Northern Premier League playoff places, Hebburn Town and Stockton Town (after a replay) show that the visitors should not be underestimated. Though their form since being beaten by Scarborough in the Emirates FA Cup has seen two wins, a draw and three defeats, including a 4-0 loss away from home to Curzon Ashton. Chester are just a couple of points outside the elongated playoff spots, and have averaged attendances of circa two thousand this season. A narrow 1-0 win against Needham Market will see Chester travelling to Gainsborough in good spirits, but the Holy Blues will have the self-belief that they can spring an upset. Away fans, you can buy your tickets here.
Talking ahead of the Trophy game, boss Russ Wilcox was proud of the news coming out about the other cup game on the horizon, but wanted to keep the players' feet on the ground.
"It's amazing to see that we have sold our full allocation of 1050 tickets for the FA Cup game away at Harrogate Town on Friday 29th November 2024 at 7.45pm. It will be amazing to have this number of fans with us, singing loud and proud and as a club we thank you for your support. We are all looking forward to that challenge that lies ahead, but in the meantime, we must be fully focused on the next three games, starting against Chester FC this weekend."
"This will be a very difficult game against a very good, well organised team who train full time and are in the league above. As ever, we embrace the challenge ahead. And I ask that you please keep giving the players your full backing. Be as loud as you can in support of your players that are giving everything for your football club. It really does make a positive difference to us."
Wilcox's 'Cup-Kings' may have fallen behind in terms of league fixtures, but by the time Harrogate comes around, they'll have played nine cup games. Some feat for the Holy Blues, and one Russ and the Board won't be too displeased about, although the list of fixtures that have been rearranged is quite, quite frightening. See our updated fixtures page for a full breakdown, and make sure your diary list is as up to date as possible. Victories against Chester and/or Harrogate could mean yet more adjustments to our league programme!
Sponsors
We welcome our sponsors along for the Chester game, and we hope you enjoy the hospitality afforded to you. The Gainsborough Veterans & Armed Forces Breakfast Group are our Bronze Match Sponsors, and they will be joined by the Match Ball Sponsors of Stuart Allbones, Mark Bellamy and David Lane. Thank you to each of our sponsors, we appreciate each and every one of your contributions. Without your backing, we would really struggle. If you are interested in sponsoring a Gainsborough Trinity Home game, we have a range of packages available, to suit all budgets. So why not drop Geoff Holmes an email to discuss what we can do for you or your business!
Programme
It's a busy couple of weeks at the moment, producing our high quality programme, full of reading, fabulous pictures and all the news and views from inside the club. A huge thank you again to all of our regular contributors. A rather happy looking Joe Stacey features on the cover, along with more action photos from Bryan Pye, welcome back, sir! Thanks also to Dale Storey, Jamie Johnson, Steve Andrews and Pip Anderson. Rick Ward, Liam McNulty, Russ Wilcox, Dylan Cogill and Matt Boles, there will be more too. You all help to make the programme what it is, so thank you! Don't forget, you can grab your copies of the matchday programme on the turnstiles. At a cost of £2.50 a copy. Get them before they're all gone!
Elsewhere
There are fourteen teams involved in NPL action, as the Holy Blues look to get one step closer to Wembley, here are the fixtures as the league table continues to skew even more, with Trinity having six games in hand on Whitby and Matlock by 5pm!
Ashton United vs Leek Town
Blyth Spartans vs Matlock Town
FC United of Manchester vs Workington
Guiseley vs Hebburn Town
Morpeth Town vs Lancaster City
Prescot Cables vs Hyde United
Whitby Town vs Mickleover
Other NPL sides still involved in the Izusu FA Trophy:
Bamber Bridge vs Farsley Celtic
Curzon Ashton vs Macclesfield
Radcliffe vs Worksop Town
Scunthorpe United vs Warrington Rylands
St Albans City vs Basford United
Stockton Town vs Scarborough Athletic
Preview by Rob Hughes (@AATM_Media)
Photos by Bryan Pye