It may be an unlucky number for some, but Bridlington Town manager Gary Allanson is convinced this is the year his side breaks a 13-year Emirates FA Cup hoodoo by reaching the second round qualifying.
The Seasiders have not been past this stage of the competition since 2003 when they lost in a replay to Farsley Celtic.
But they face a familiar foe in Newcastle Benfield on Saturday, the team who dumped them out at this stage no fewer than three times in eight years.
Newcastle Benfield v Bridlington Town
Emirates FA Cup
First Round Qualifying
3pm, Saturday 3 September
Sam Smith’s Park
by Jack Miller
And while revenge will be on the mind for warehouse manager Allanson – who is entering his fourth season in charge of a second stint at the Yorkshire club – he admits it is more about the prestige of the competition for his players and fans.
“Winning this tie is a big ask for the club, and it’s a great achievement for us and the supporters just to be involved in The FA Cup,” he said.
“It’s a special time for us and there’s always that little bit more excitement when an FA Cup week rolls around – once you’re involved in football as soon as The FA Cup is mentioned you get that buzz.”
Allanson continued: “The prospect of getting further than we have done for a while is giving us that little bit extra in terms of enthusiasm to achieve it, and we want to do it for those same supporters that have been coming to the club for 15 or 20 years.
“We have faced Newcastle Benfield in this competition before and they have beaten us more than once, so it is going to be a tough tie for us, but we certainly will want to get one over on them. It was the same in the last round when we played Guisborough Town who knocked us out in 2013.
“I am pleased with how things are going in the league. We got a great result last weekend and it’s looking good for us at the moment.
“We’re an offensive team, but we have to work on the defence as we are conceding too many goals at the moment. Newcastle are like us and have a very potent strikeforce so we’ll have to be wary of that.”
FA Cup history
Bridlington Town have made the first round in both 1960-61 and 1991-92 when they were defeated by Bishop Auckland and York City respectively.
In contrast Newcastle Benfield have never made it to the first round, coming close in 2006-07 when York downed them 1-0 thanks to a Clayton Donaldson penalty in the final qualifying round.
They have a good FA Cup record against Bridlington Town however, beating them three times since 2007, and have knocked out Thackley and Padiham so far in this run.
Did you know?
Allanson started out as a professional footballer for Doncaster Rovers, where he was given his debut by Scotland and Leeds legend Billy Bremner soon after his 17th birthday.
He notched up 22 appearances for Rovers before entering a career in non-league football with the likes of Goole Town and North Ferriby United.
Ones to watch
Bridlington have been banging in the goals of late, scoring four times at Handsworth Parramore last weekend and three times in each round of this year’s FA Cup so far.
So it is no surprise then that Allanson is tipping his strike duo of Joel Sutton and Brett Agnew to be the danger men when they travel north on Saturday.
He said: “Joel is a young lad who has come through the ranks at Hull City and scored a hat-trick last weekend, but Brett has also scored five or six goals already this season.
“He scored the decisive goals in the last round against Guisborough and in the round before against Silsden, so he will be important for us as well.
“We’ve got the right mix of experience and youth this season and hopefully in the next month or so they will gel even better – starting on Saturday.”
The prize
The winner of the tie will take home £3,000 and book themselves a place in second round qualifying.
