The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Second Round Qualifying
Saturday 30 September 2006
Winning clubs will receive £3,750



Workington Reds are definitely a team that have been lacking home comforts in the FA Cup recently.

The Cumbrian side travel to Ossett Albion this weekend after being drawn away for the ninth successive time in the competition.

The last time the Conference North outfit were picked out of the hat to play an FA Cup tie at their Borough Park stadium was way back in 2002 when they took on Mossley. Since then they have been forced to make trips to play Stalybridge (twice), Harrogate Railway, Shildon, Bishop Auckland, Bamber Bridge, Vauxhall Motors and Burscough.

For a club located right out on the coast in the north-west of England it has resulted in plenty of miles on the road for the team and their loyal fans.

Chairman Dale Brotherton explains: "I've got no idea why we keep getting drawn away from home, but there seems to be some kind of jinx!

"Due to our geographical position, we are used to making long journeys and even our local derbies with Barrow are still a 60-mile trip, but we have been to some unique places in The FA Cup in the past few years.

"If we get through against Ossett Albion I've been joking I'll have to go down to Soho Square with some super-glue to make sure the Workington ball comes out of the hat first."

Brotherton believes Workington, a former Football League club who were replaced by Wimbledon in 1977, should be aiming to reach The First Round of The FA Cup this season - and he knows exactly who he wants to play if they get that far.

"It's 20 years since we reached the first round, but when you see teams like Yeading get there then it has to be a realistic aim for us as well," he says.

"It would be nice to get that far this season and then play Carlisle - who are only 30 miles away - or maybe Nottingham Forest.

"The problem is that we have a bad record in the FA Cup against teams from lower divisions and we are two leagues higher than Ossett, so we need to guard against that this round."

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