Dereham Town v Metropolitan Police
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Third Round Qualifying
3pm, Saturday 6 October 2012
Aldiss Park, Dereham Town FC,
Winning clubs receive £7500 from The FA's prize fund
Click here for fixtures
By Nicholas Veevers
Metropolitan Police manager Jim Cooper is dreaming of taking his side all the way in The FA Cup, but is prepared to stop at a game with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Third Round Proper.
Cooper is an ardent Chelsea fan and has been at Wembley for their recent Cup Final successes so admits it would be a dream for his side to get that far and land such a plum tie in west London.
But the Police have a Third Round Qualifying tie at Dereham Town to overcome first in a competition that Cooper holds close to his heart.
"The power of The FA Cup is phenomenal," he told FATV.
"Everyone raises their game for it and wants a good Cup run so hopefully this is our year.
"I've been to four or five Cup Finals with Chelsea and been lucky enough to win most of them, it's just a great event
"If we could get through to the Third Round and get drawn out at Stamford Bridge, that'd be it for me, I'd have to resign from from my position!"
And due to the club's un-mistakable identity, the Blues boss and Police Officer knows his squad can expect a lively welcome in Norfolk from the crowd, even though there are only two PCs on the playing staff.
"We get a lot of stick, but it's all good banter and I absolutely love it," he admitted.
"It's good hearted and we find it funny and look forward to the games because of it.
"We have players in the squad who have no association to the Metropolitan Police Service at all and they get equally as much stick, so it's quite good for a member of the public to receive that stick and realise what we actually get on a daily basis!"
Watch the full interview with Jim in the Media Gallery above, where he also pays tribute to Manchester PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone who were tragically murdered last month.
The Budweiser Club Futures programme will give 16 grants of £50,000 to clubs in steps 5–7 national league system over the next two years. Two £100,000 super grants are also up for grabs. If your club is in need of help to fund a project, Budweiser Club Futures applications can be made here before the closing date of 31 October 2012.
