Chelmsford City V Bromsgrove Sporting, FA Cup Third Round Qualifying, The EMJ Community Stadium, Saturday 28th September 2024, 3:00pm kick-off.
Following a 21-day absence from the EMJ Community Stadium, Chelmsford City will return to home action on Saturday for a FA Cup third round qualifying clash against Bromsgrove Sporting.
This weekend’s game between City and Step 3 outfit Bromsgrove Sporting will be a repeat of the FA Cup third round qualifying tie which took place between both sides during last season. Robbie Simpson’s squad travelled to the Rouslers’ Victoria Ground home stadium last September at the same stage of the FA Cup and played out a 2-2 draw in Worcestershire, before winning the replay in Essex 3-0.
Paul Smith’s side entered this season’s FA Cup at the first round qualifying stage of the competition and overcame Belper Town and Bottesford Town to earn a place in the hat for last week’s third round qualifying draw. The Clarets meanwhile, beat fellow Essex outfit Tilbury 2-0 earlier this month to set up this weekend’s clash.
Here’s all that Clarets supporters need to know ahead of the game…
Team & match stats:
- Bromsgrove Sporting’s tally of FA Cup wins this season (two so far) will equal their tally of Southern League Premier Division Central wins this season (three so far) if Paul Smith’s side are the winners of this weekend’s match.
- Robbie Simpson’s players are looking to keep up their 100% winning record in all competitions during September (P4, W4).
- Last season’s third qualifying round clashes between Chelmsford City and Bromsgrove Sporting were the first ever meetings between both sides.
- City played Bromsgrove Rovers, the Rouslers’ predecessors, on ten occasions. The Clarets only won one of these ten games.
Opposition:
Southern League Premier Division Central side Bromsgrove Sporting struggled at the wrong end of their league table last season. 2023-24 was an inconsistent campaign for the Worcestershire club, in which the Rouslers finished 17th in the table and five points above the drop zone.
Following a run of two victories in 16 games, Bromsgrove’s hierarchy made a change in the dugout midway through last season. Player-manager Michael McGrath, who oversaw the Rouslers’ FA Cup exit to the Clarets last season, was replaced by Tim Flowers in February. 57-year-old Flowers, who won the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers and was capped 11 times by England during his playing career, took on the position of interim manager at the Victoria Ground. Flowers successfully steered the Rouslers to safety and another year playing at Step 3 of the Non-League pyramid
Upon the conclusion of last season, current manager Paul Smith begun his second stint as Bromsgrove Sporting boss. Smith’s appointment in May marked his return to the dugout at the Victoria Ground, following on from his hugely successful four-year spell with the Rouslers from 2014 to 2018, in which he guided the club to a league title and a memorable run to the semi-final of the FA Vase.
Smith’s side have showed some signs of promise this season, but have arguably lacked the consistency needed in order to fulfil chairman Rod Brown’s demand that Bromsgrove Sporting become a “competent mid-table side” in the Southern League Premier Division Central. So far this season, Smith’s reshaped Rouslers squad has failed to win back-to-back league games and sits 18th in the league standings. However, Smith may be looking forward to getting back on the road with his squad this weekend. Bromsgrove Sporting’s players arrive into Saturday’s game on the back of two consecutive home defeats in the last week, something which they will hope to make up for in front of their travelling fans in Essex on Saturday.
Team News:
Ryan Blackman is set to remain absent. Cameron James and Geofrey Okonkwo are continuing to progress in their recoveries from respective knee injuries.
Kalvin Kalala and Jake Hyde were absent from last week’s matchday squad which travelled to Hornchurch; the fitness of both players will be assessed ahead of this weekend’s game.
Matchday & ticketing information:
Supporters can click here to buy tickets ahead of matchday, via the club’s Ticketpass website. Online tickets will be available until 12pm on the day of the game. Online ticket prices are as follows:
- Adults – £13.00*
- Concessions – £8.00*
- Students (17 – 24 with a valid Student ID Card) – £3.00*
- Youth (12 – 17) – £3.00*
- Under-12s (when accompanied by an adult) – Free
*plus booking fee
Tickets will also be available on the gate on the day of the fixture. Matchday prices are as follows:
- Adults – £15.00
- Concessions – £10.00
- Students (17 – 24) (with a valid Student ID Card) – £5.00
- Youth (12 – 17) – £5.00
- Under-12s (when accompanied by an adult) – Free
FA Cup rules:
If the scores are level after 90 minutes on Saturday, then there will be no extra-time and a replay will be held at Bromsgrove Sporting’s Victoria Ground stadium on the evening of Tuesday 1st October 2024.
How to follow the game:
Radio Clarets will provide live audio commentary of proceedings at the EMJ Community Stadium.
Clarets fans can find pre-match coverage of Saturday’s match and live updates of proceedings in Essex by following the club’s X (formerly Twitter) page: @OfficialClarets and Instagram page: chelmsfordcityfc.
Post-match reactions will be found on the club’s website, official social media channels and on ClaretsTV.
by