Glamour - what's that? Pools draw Boston in FA Cup

By Albatross
December 5 2004

It's hardly an attractive draw for either side - the "Glamour" of the FA Cup has given Pools a home draw against Boston United. It does give us a much better chance of getting to Round 4 though.... Wonder what the chances of the game being on Telly are then!

Boston got to the third round by getting past Hornchurch in the first round and then Hereford with a 3-2 win at Edgar Street; while it's hardly the glamour tie that we could have got, it does provide us with an excellent chance to progress.

We've only played Boston three times, the first being an FA Cup tie back in 1971 when the then non-league side beat Pools 2-1, with Bobby Veart getting the Pools Goal. We then did the double over them in our promotion year, winning 2-0 at the Vic.

So far this season Boston have been more in the headlines for Paul Gascoigne's brief stay rather than performances on the pitch - they sit just below mid-table in Division 3, and while they don't look in danger of a relegation battle a run that currently stands at one win in six league games, plus wins over two non-league sides in the FA Cup, is hardly going to have Pools quaking in their boots.

It's not exactly a big prize after demolishing Aldershot then, but Boston will no doubt be thinking the same. On the other hand, the prospect of more money and a possible plum tie in the fourth round is not to be sniffed at. Pools and Boston have both won £40K in prize money so far - and the same amount again will go to the winners of the 3rd round tie at the Vic. There's then if anything more chance of pulling out a big club in round four, and TV money rises considerably from hereon in - if Pools got through to Round 4 and were chosen to be the live game, there's a £150K payment - and even just for extended highlights the best part of £20K is on the table.

It's fairly safe to say that we won't be selected as one of the televised fixtures this time round though. With "Romance of the cup" ties such as Yeading v Newcastle, Man Utd v Exeter and Chelsea v Scunthorpe, plus a number of Premiership v Championship ties, we'll be lucky if they show the goals on Match of the Day! One oddity though - there are no all-Premiership ties. Anyone for a Conspiracy Theory?