Chasetown v Cardiff City
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Third Round Proper
1pm, Saturday 5 January 2008
Winning clubs receive £40,000
The FA Live TV fee is £150,000 per club
Click here for fixtures

The FA Cup can be vital for smaller clubs - just ask Chasetown who have banked £195,000 in broadcast payments and prize money from The FA during two recent runs in the competition.

In 2005 the Southern League Midlands Division side pocketed more than £100k before eventually being ousted by Oldham in a First Round Replay.

Charlie Blakemore's outfit emulated that achievement this season, upsetting Port Vale in a Second Round Replay to earn a home tie with Cardiff on Saturday - a tie which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live. That means this year's run will earn the non-League outfit £89k excluding gate receipts.

If The Scholars manage to add Cardiff to their list of victims then they will receive another £40,000 in prize money.

Chairman Jim Donnelly says the money has been crucial but added Chasetown will continue to run their finances sensibly.

"It's been a major boost for us and has helped us move forward at a faster pace," he said. "But we have our feet on the floor at Chasetown and go one step at a time. We run this football club like any other business and don't spend where we can't afford to.

"The investment from The Cup runs this year and two years ago means we can really look to the future and keep the club financially secure in the years to come."

Rather than spending the money on a quick-fix solution, like recruiting new players, Chasetown have wisely focused on a club's infrastructure.

"We made the First Round two years ago and got a replay against Oldham," added Donnelly. "The money from that was spent on ground renovations and invested into a fund to build a new stand behind the goal.

"The run we've had this season means that we've been able to get the ground ready for the Cardiff game this weekend, and planning permission allowing, we can start building our new stand at the end of this season."