Gretna's great Cup expectations

The long road to Wembley continues this weekend with 143 ties in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup. The country's most famous sporting tournament is very much a nation-wide event: 141 ties take place in England, from Workington in Cumbria to St Blazey in Cornwall, one (Merthyr Tydfil v Brockenhurst) in Wales - and one in Scotland.

Gretna, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, take on Mossley at their Raydale Park home, hoping to emulate their achievements of 1991, when they reached the first round proper and were unlucky to lose to Rochdale after a replay. The Dumfries and Galloway-based side are the only Scottish club to compete in an English league, and in Football Association competitions.

Gretna have a team packed full of experience. Their long- serving manager, Mike McCartney, still plays at the age of 42, while the play-maker Russell Coughlin, like McCartney a former Carlisle and Plymouth player, is a relative youngster at 37. Up front goals are expected from the 34-year-old Iain Ferguson, who played in the 1987 Uefa Cup final for Dundee United and also served Rangers, Hearts and Dundee.

Blyth Spartans make the short trip to Spennymoor with an even older player- manager at the helm, the 45-year-old goalkeeper John Burridge. Another Northumberland outfit, the former Football League club Ashington, entertain Farsley Celtic in what could be the last FA Cup tie at their Portland Park home.

The grand old stadium, which hosted a rather more glamourous FA Cup fixture against Aston Villa in 1924, during Ashington's eight seasons in the Third Division North, has been sold by its owners, Wansbeck District Council, for retail development. A new ground is to be built, but in the meantime Ashington, managed by the former Sunderland full-back, Cecil Irwin, who is a newsagent in the town, will move in with Bedlington Terriers.

Hyde United entertain Louth with more than just their FA Cup fortunes to worry about. Roy Oldham, the leader of Tameside Council, has caused a storm in north-west non-League circles by suggesting that Hyde, Stalybridge Celtic and the other four senior semi-professional sides in the borough should merge and form two or three new clubs. However, indignant protests from all the clubs involved mean that the scheme is unlikely to become reality.

Four GM Vauxhall Conference sides face away ties with Leek, at Winsford, looking the most likely to suffer defeat.