FC Halifax Town travel down to South London to face Sutton United on Saturday.
Here are ten things you may, or may not, know about our hosts.
- Gander Green Lane will be the destination for Saturday’s game. Sutton Unitedโs stadium holds 5,000 people. The pitch is a 3G surface and has caused quite the controversy. Alongside Bromley and Maidstone, there has been much debate whether, if promoted these teams would need to replace their current playing surfaces for a classic grass pitch.
- Sutton just missed out on playing in the quarter-final of the FA Cup in 2017. The Uโs, as they are well known, lost to Premier League giants 2-0 in the 5th round proper of the competition. Martin Keown, former Arsenal defender and now pundit stated he couldnโt understand why the players werenโt playing at a higher level.
- One player who certainly wonโt be playing at a higher level was substitute goalkeeper for the day, Wayne Shaw. Infamously, the player was spotted eating a pie during the game which sparked up the โPiegate scandalโ. He was later charged ยฃ350 and a two-month ban by the FA for breaching their betting rules.
- The club earned around ยฃ1 million on this FA Cup journey. They were the ninth non-league team to reach this stage of the competition.
- The comedian, Tim Vine, is a huge fan of the club. He went to his first game in 1988 in an FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough.
- There is a club in the country, the Gambia, named after the South London based club after an Englishman called Walter donated sports gear to Young Stars FC. Walter suggested they changed their name to Sutton United FC (Gambia). They play in the third tier of Gambian football.
- The Rolling Stones were formed in a pub in the borough of Sutton called the Red Lion. Itโs known as the Winning Post today.
- Paul McKinnon currently holds the scoring record at Sutton United. The striker had 8 spells at the club, playing 525 games and scoring 279 goals.
- This season, so far Sutton United sit on the same record as Hartlepool United. Both played 7, won 3, drawn 3, lost 1, scored 9 and conceded 2. Meaning both teams sit just outside the playoffs on 12 points.
- In 2017 an article was released on manager Paul Doswell. It stated that the manager wasnโt paid by the club. Instead, he paid the club, as he was a sponsor as well as managing.
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