FA Cup: Jersey Bulls will not feel pressure of live television cameras

Jersey Bulls regularly play in front of crowds that number more than 1,000

Jersey Bulls will not feel the pressure of live television coverage of their upcoming FA Cup match, according to the club's chief executive Ian Horswell.

The islanders' trip to Sutton Common Rovers in the second qualifying round will be live on BBC Sport on Saturday.

"Our players are used to playing in front of large crowds," Horswell said.

"We stream games regularly away from home so they know the TV cameras and the spotlight's on them, so I don't think it'll be pressure for us."

The Bulls were formed in the summer of 2019 and have won 41 of their 43 competitive matches.

They had already gained promotion from the Combined Counties League Division One in their first season before the campaign was declared null and void due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

They were promoted to the ninth tier Combined Counties Premier Division this summer after a restructure in non-league football.

"It is obviously a novelty, it is going to be the biggest crowd viewing collectively because it's going national all across the nation, so it's super exciting," Horswell added to BBC Radio Jersey.

"It's not just good for Jersey Bulls football club, it's good for football in general in the island and it's also great for Jersey as an island.

"It's such a shame we're not at home and the BBC cameras could have come over and visited our beautiful island, but we're excited nonetheless and we're all looking forward to Saturday."

The Bulls are the top scorers in this year's FA Cup having hit the target 19 times in their three qualifying matches so far.

They were 10-1 victors against Horsham YMCA in the extra preliminary round before winning 4-0 at Newhaven in the preliminary round last month and beating VCD Athletic 5-1 at Springfield Stadium in the last round.

"We're not looking as a club further than this round at the moment," he added.

"If there was a draw, Sutton Common Rovers would come back to Jersey on Tuesday, which would be our first competitive night game which would be another bit of history if that happened.

"If we were to get through no more teams come in from a higher level so it'll be step two, which is three divisions above us, so again we've just got to take it one game at a time.

"It'll be an extremely tough match for the lads, we've had a few injuries in the last couple of games as well so we've got everything crossed that some of these lads can pull through and everyone's available that can possibly be available."