Cup tie going to put Rushall Olympic 'on the map'

Hednesford's Keys Park, Rushall's Dales Lane and Walsall's Bescot home are all within an 11-mile radius

Walsall's Bescot Stadium ought to be the epicentre of FA Cup excitement in the West Midlands this Saturday when the majority of this year's first-round ties kick off, as of old, at 3pm.

Walsall, one of the promotion front runners in League Two, host last season's beaten League One play-off finalists, 1958 FA Cup winners Bolton Wanderers - a meeting that has potential 'tie of the round' written all over it.

Instead, Saddlers-Wanderers is a mere sideshow - one of three first-round ties taking place all within an 11-mile radius of each other - as two of Walsall's local non-league neighbours also face big tests in a schedule that's created a logistical and political nightmare for the local radio station, BBC Radio WM.

National League North side Rushall Olympic, who play on a FIFA-approved artificial 3G pitch just three miles to the north-west of Walsall, host League Two side Accrington Stanley.

A few more miles further north, after a few lean years, in which their very existence was threatened, Hednesford Town are back in the competition, taking on Gainsborough Trinity.

Hednesford stole some of the local thunder, headlines-wise, by sacking manager Steve King on Thursday night but this is still a keenly-awaited weekend best summed up by Rushall's long-serving chairman John Allen, who once worked for Hednesford, who said this is all about putting their club "on the map".

Rushall Olympic v Accrington Stanley

Rushall Olympic play on a FIFA-approved 3G playing surface at their Dales Lane home

When Accrington Stanley got paired with Rushall, having for so long been on the end of years of mickey-taking following a famous 1980s TV advert for milk, the Lancashire side probably had every right to say "Rushall Olympic? Who are they?"

Rushall have come a long way since the days when kids dreamed of emulating an FA Cup legend like Liverpool's record Wembley final scorer Ian Rush - as two boys did in that advert.

The former mining village side started in the Walsall & District Amateur League and, via the Staffordshire County League and the West Midlands Regional League, are now in the sixth tier of English football - playing ex-Football League clubs like Chester, Hereford, Southport and Scunthorpe.

This is the Pics' debut in the FA Cup first round proper - a very special day for chairman Allen, who took charge 27 years ago.

He was actually part of neighbours Hednesford's coaching staff when they went to Bryan Robson's star-studded Middlesbrough, the eventual finalists, in round four of the cup in 1997. But this is something else.

"That put Hednesford on the map," Allen told BBC Radio WM. "And this cup run is putting Rushall on the map.

"Everywhere we go, we get asked by opposition fans, 'Where is Rushall?'' Well, they'll know now."

"In terms of national appeal, it's the biggest day we've ever had," said son Nick Allen, the Pics' vice-chairman.

For those sniffing an FA Cup shock, it is still the team 23rd in the sixth tier taking on a Stanley side 20th in League Two, 51 places higher up the ladder - but try telling that to a suitably exuberant John Allen.

"Because of injuries, we've not been doing too well," he said.

"But we're getting over them, we've got a great manager, who's got a great cup record, and it wouldn't surprise me, come quarter to five on Saturday, if we're saying 'Come on, bring on whoever you like now'."

Hednesford Town v Gainsborough Trinity

Keys Park has been Hednesford's home since 1995

The meeting of the Pitmen and the Trinity is the least glamorous of all the 40 first-round ties.

Eighth-tier side Hednesford, now managerless and the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, take on seventh-tier Gainsborough.

But Trinity have decent pedigree. The Lincolnshire side were early members of the Football League from 1893 to 1912. It was also the place where legendary chiropodist-turned-soccer boss Neil Warnock began his managerial career 44 years ago.

Hednesford have more recent memories to look back on - their run to the fourth round in 1996-97, when they beat Telford United, Southport and two league clubs, former FA Cup winners Blackpool and York City.

They still have the proud memory of Joe O'Connor netting twice at the Riverside, before being beaten 3-2 by Middlesbrough in the fourth round, thanks to two late goals from Jan-Age Fjortoft and Fabrizio Ravanelli.

After almost folding 18 months ago, this is the first time the Pitmen have made the first round since losing to Crawley 11 years ago.

Chief executive Marvin Robinson, who had two spells with Hednesford in his playing days, is hoping to launch the club's path back to happier times, having previously labelled them "a sleeping giant in the non-league world".

But Thursday evening's decision to part company with manager King so close to this game was certainly a moment for people to wake up and take notice.

Walsall v Bolton Wanderers

Mat Sadler became Walsall manager in May 2023 - almost three years after Ian Evatt took over at Bolton

After reaching the third round last season - and being drawn away from home each time before bowing out at Southampton - Walsall boss Mat Sadler is just pleased to have earned a home tie.

Ian Evatt's Bolton have yet to hit last season's heights, when they ended 2023 in the top two, only to falter over the second half of the season, miss an automatic promotion place and then be stunned by unfancied Oxford United in the play-off final.

"I'm under no illusions of how good Bolton are," Saddlers boss Sadler told BBC Radio WM.

"But it's a game we'll approach on the front foot. It should be a good attendance and a good atmosphere."

Wins at Sheppey United in a televised first-round tie and then Alfreton - after a frozen pitch abandonment in Derbyshire, a 0-0 stalemate and a single-goal replay win - earned a lucrative third-round trip to St Mary's.

That is where the run ended, but it still helped trigger a timely run of six wins in seven games just when the fans had been starting to turn.

Their better form over the second half of the campaign was the prelude to the start they have enjoyed this season, in second place behind only Port Vale, having won eight of their first 13 games.