Chasetown want to replicate their FA Cup run in The Trophy.
Lincoln United v Chasetwon
The FA Carlsberg Trophy
Preliminary Round
3pm, Saturday 3 October 2009
Winning clubs will receive £2,000 from The FA prize fund
Click here for the full Preliminary Round fixtures
Chasetown's FA Cup fairytale might have died at the first hurdle but manager Charlie Blakemore is hoping his side will rekindle memories of yesteryear in this season's FA Trophy.
The Midlands side won the hearts of the nation after making it through to The FA Cup Third Round in 2008, a journey which saw them defeat Port Vale in a dramatic replay before going out to eventual finalists Cardiff City.
The effects of their successful foray into the world's most famous knockout competition is still felt around the town with Chasetown's profile having soared since those heady days.
The television cameras may have since departed and the media frenzy which engulfed Blakemore's men may only be a distant memory, but their achievements have not been forgotten.
And with thousands of pounds in the bank following their exploits, Blakemore says the club is in great health at time of financial difficulty for so many other non-League clubs.
"The club is in an excellent financial shape," said Blakemore.
"The FA Cup has given us so much stability whereas so many other clubs of our size are struggling. But we're very careful with our money. We're not big spenders, we don't have any big benefactors and we're doing all the work ourselves.
"We've also quadrupled our gates in the past year so we're heading in the right direction.
"Unfortunately we lost our First Round Qualifying tie which was very disappointing but sometimes your luck runs out. We rode our luck when we had our run in The FA Cup and hopefully we can have some more in The Trophy this season."
The Northern Premier League First Division South side have endured a mixed start to the season with the Scholars having suffered a number of injuries to key players. But Blakemore is hopeful his walking wounded will be ready for an eagerly anticipated clash with an in-form Lincoln United.
"They're are having a good run at the moment and they've done really well in this season's FA Cup," he added.
"We beat them 1-0 earlier in the season but I don't think that will have an outcome on this game. Form goes out the window and it's all about who wants it more on the day.
"We've had a patchy start but we've played really well in the last few games and we're just about finding our feet. The spirit in the camp is really good at the moment and everyone's looking forward to the tie."
