Manchester United v Exeter City
The FA Cup, Third Round
Old Trafford
08 January 2005

Manchester United versus Exeter City this Saturday is a classic FA Cup Third Round tie. The biggest club in Europe against a cash-strapped Conference outfit.

Exeter know they have very little chance of creating an upset. But it promises to be a great day out for their army of fans who will be travelling from Devon to Manchester by trains, planes and automobiles. And the most important aspect of the occasion is that the Devon club will totally wipe out their crippling debts courtesy of 90 minutes of football.

Exeter manager Alex Inglethorpe said: "We’re really looking forward to the game at Old Trafford. It is the plum draw in The FA Cup to face Manchester United.

"No disrespect to everyone else in the Premiership, but the allure of playing United at Old Trafford is the tie that every non-League club dreams of.

"We are taking 9,000 fans with us up to Manchester. We are so proud that we can give this opportunity to our supporters. They are the ones who have been travelling all round the country to cheer us on at places like Tamworth and Burton. So to be able to offer them the chance to see us play at Old Trafford is a great way to say thank you to the fans."

Former Watford player Inglethorpe was only appointed as manager of Exeter three months ago. But he has made an immediate impact. Aside from the glory of the Cup run, the Grecians have climbed to fourth in the table and Inglethorpe has just been named as the Nationwide Conference Manager of the Month.

He said: "Things have been going well. Since I have been at the club, the team have performed. And it is always nice if you have to play at somewhere like Old Trafford to go into the match in good form and playing with confidence.

"We’ve been winning games. So as a manager, if your side is doing well then things are a bit easier.

"The FA Cup is a very welcome distraction, but our league position in the Conference is the most important thing. We really need to make sure that we do our best to gain promotion this season."

Exeter have had much publicised financial difficulties in recent years which almost resulted in the demise of the club. The debts are reported to be in the region of £500,000 and should be totally wiped out by their share of the gate receipts from Old Trafford. The manager feels this is a huge benefit.

"The problems that Exeter have had are well documented. Saturday’s FA Cup tie means that we could potentially start next season with a clean sheet of paper.

"It won’t give me any more cash to spend on players or whatever. But it will mean that the club can continue forward without owing lots of money.

I am not sure of the exact figures, but potentially the tie will bring in an awful lot of finance for us."

Since the formation of the Premiership, no non-League team has beaten a side from the top flight in The FA Cup. Inglethorpe is philosophical about Exeter’s chances against mighty Manchester United.

"Without sounding too corny, it is 11 men versus 11 on the pitch. I am sure United will have a lot more of the ball than us and create plenty of goalscoring opportunities. But there has to be a chance that we could win.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t play the game. If we didn’t think we could get something out of it, then we wouldn’t turn up! We would be wasting everyone’s time! So we have to believe that there is a chance for us to do well at Old Trafford.

"We are not under any pressure to go and get a result. No one expects anything from us. So it is a match where we can go out and do the very best that we can. We need to be as organised as possible and just see what happens."