The title comes from a book I read and re-read when I was younger, Brian James 'Journey To Wembley', an odyssey through the rounds of the FA Cup in the 1976/77 season.
He chose Tividale as his starting point with the Black Country club being located in the middle of the country and, as he admitted, because he hadn’t heard of them before.
The warmth with which he was received at The Beeches makes for an excellent start to the book. James travels on the team coach with the players and learns a lot about them as they progress towards a tie against a Telford side managed by Geoff Hurst, an old friend of the author.
From there the journey moves on to Matlock Town, Carlisle United and Liverpool, the eventual finalists in the competition where they were beaten by Manchester United at Wembley.
Encountering the Anfield men early in the competition was a situation the author wanted to avoid but the contrast with 40 years on is that he had almost as easy access to the Liverpool team and management as he had at Tividale.
Anyway, it’s pleasing to see that Tividale still play at The Beeches ground and that is where the road to Wembley begins this Saturday with an FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie against Highgate United.
Admission is priced at £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and free for Under 16’s with a paying adult.
The tie is one of 185 taking place across the weekend with a full list on the FA Website.
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