Monday, 18 October 2004.
Six FA Cup heroes are in the running for The FA’s prestigious FA Cup ‘Player of the Round’ award, run in partnership with UMBRO after this weekend's Third Qualifying Round fixtures.
This round features possibly the first American to score a hat-trick in the history of The FA Cup, the first nominated goalkeeper of 2004/05 and the namesake of an England strike bowler.
They are joined by two further hat-trick scorers and another who scored twice in three minutes to see his side overcome high-flying Harrogate Town, a side three leagues above his conquering fellow Yorkshire side.
The three hat-trick heroes are Hornchurch’s Wayne Purser, Bath City’s Scott Partridge and Worksop Town’s, Boston born Chris Cleary.
Lining up against them are Vauxhall Motors’ ‘keeper Tim Dittmer, Liversedge’s two-goal hero Paddy Gaughan and Lymington and New Milton’s late match-winner, Jimmy Anderson.
Now fans are being urged to voice their support for all four players by voting in our poll that you can find on the homepage or on The FA Cup pillar - votes must be cast by 9.00am on Monday 25 October.
The player who secures the most votes will be crowned FA Cup ‘Player of the Round’ and will win £1000 worth of UMBRO football kit and equipment for a local school, club or organisation of his choice, plus an engraved silver salver.
The successful player will also join Bishop’s Cleeve FC’s Kevin Slack and AFC Wimbledon’s Rob Ursell in The FA’s Team of The FA Cup.
The team will be guaranteed VIP attendance at The FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday 21 May 2005 and a chance-of-a-lifetime introduction to the crowd, pitch side at half time.
The Team of The FA Cup will comprise Player of the Round winners from the First Qualifying round to the Semi Final. Last year’s team included five non-league players as well as Premiership stars Jose Antonio Reyes, Freddie Ljungberg and Bruno Cheyrou.
Football experts from BBC 5 Live, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Independent and The Non League Paper are involved in the Player of the Round nomination process.
Kevin Slack of Bishop’s Cleeve FC was the first player to be selected for The FA’s Team of the FA Cup. Kevin scored all five goals in a 5 – 3 First Qualifying Round victory over Highworth Town, whilst Rob Ursell scored a hat-trick from midfield in AFC Wimbledon's Second Qualifying Round victory against Dunstable Town.