Ramsbottom United joint manager Paul Fildes hopes a Buildbase FA Trophy run can chase away the winter blues following the toughest of seasons as he targets an upset over AFC Telford United in the third qualifying round.
The Rams finished bottom of the Northern Premier League Premier Division last season with just five wins and 112 goals conceded, seeing them relegated for the first time in the club’s 50-year history.
Fildes and Mark Fell came in over the summer and have stabilised the club, who currently sit 15th in Northern Premier League Division One North.
Ramsbottom United v AFC Telford United
The Buildbase FA Trophy
Third Round Qualifying
3pm, Saturday 26 November 2016
Harry Williams Riverside Stadium
By Joshua Doherty
Now the target is a cup run, and victory over the Bucks – two divisions above them – on Saturday would be the perfect way to bring the fans back to the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium.
Fildes said: “We’re still on a downer from last season a bit so we hope to up that. There are still people that have that bit of negativity and to bring a complete new side in has been tough, and there was always going to be a bit of a tough period.
“However, there are people coming back who perhaps didn’t want to come last season, I hear people saying ‘ah you should have come down’ and a cup run will really help with that.
“It’s is not a distraction at all, I want to win everything and I don’t want see it as a distraction, we have to do as well as we can in every game and myself or Mark do not see the point in resting players or anything like that. We want to win every game and it’ll do us good for sure.
“If we get to the next round then who knows what will happen from there.”
FA Trophy history
AFC Telford United’s best run in the competition came in 2008-09 when they reached the semi-finals before losing 4-2 on aggregate to York City.
In their previous incarnation as Telford United, the team won the competition on three occasions.
Ramsbottom United’s best season came in 2014-15 when they got to the first round before losing 3-0 to Stockport County.
Did you know?
Ramsbottom United forward Gareth Seddon featured in the Class of 92 film for his work at Salford City, where he made 60 appearances, scoring a hat-trick on his league debut.
One to watch
AFC Telford United midfielder John-Paul Kissock came though the Everton academy system and played for the England Under-16 and Under-18s squads.
The 26-year-old joined the Bucks on loan from Ebbsfleet this month to be closer to his Merseyside home, and Telford boss Rob Smith has previously asserted he is capable of playing at a much higher level.
The prize
A place in the first round proper awaits the winners of this tie, along with prize money of £4,000.
