It is FA Cup Third Round weekend and I’m afraid it all feels a bit underwhelming | OneFootball

Whilst Newcastle United don’t enter the FA Cup third round fray until Sunday afternoon, proceedings commenced on Thursday night.

In one of three ties played on Thursday,  the schedulers thought it was perfectly acceptable to kick off at 7pm on a Thursday evening in sub zero temperatures, only 6,126 hardy souls braved the elements at Bramall Lane to see Cardiff City make it to the 4th round.

It wasn’t any better at Craven Cottage either, although Goodison Park had a near capacity crowd for the visit of Peterborough.

The glamour of the FA Cup third round weekend is long gone and whilst we still might see an upset or two this weekend, it’s just not the same, many managers/head coaches electing to put out second string elevens with the league deemed more important. It seems to me that supporters of Sheffield United and Fulham expected as much and voted with their feet.

Newcastle United entertain Bromley on Sunday. In contrast, I would expect a capacity crowd, Bromley returning a fair few of their initial 4,900 allocation and these swiftly sold out.

This will be the first ever meeting between Newcastle United and Bromley, with the Ravens promoted to the Football League for the first time via the National League play-offs in May. So, who exactly are our opponents this weekend?

Despite being formed 133 years ago, this is the first time Bromley FC has made it to the third round of the FA Cup.

They were founder members of the Southern League in 1894, spent some time in the London, Kent and Spartan Leagues before joining and winning the Isthmian League in 1909 and 1910, as well as the FA Amateur Cup in 1911 (a feat they repeated in 1938 and 1949).

After spending time in the Athenian League from 1919 to 1953 (which they won in 1923, 1949 and 1951), they rejoined the Isthmian League (interestingly, our third round opponents on the way to the FA Cup Final of 1974, Hendon, were also from the Isthmian League).

It wasn’t until the 21st Century that Bromley made a serious assault on the football league pyramid, joining the Conference South in 2008, before winning promotion to the fifth tier in 2015. After two unsuccessful play-off attempts, as well as winning the FA Trophy in 2022, they won the National League play-offs in 2024 to reach the English Football League for the first time in their history (note: that could have been Gateshead FC had their tenure at the International Stadium been more certain).

It must be said, Bromley have made a reasonable start to life in the Football League. Managed by Andy Woodman, a former goalkeeping coach at Newcastle United and father of former player, Freddie, they currently sit 12th in the table, six points off a play-off spot and well clear of the relegation places. Their away form is better than their home form, having won five times on the road this season, although they were well beaten at second placed Crewe Alexandra last weekend, a defeat that ended an unbeaten run in the league that stretched back to mid-October.

After our win at the Emirates on Tuesday, I’m expecting (hoping) that Eddie Howe will rest several of our regular starting eleven.

We can’t be complacent but we should have enough to edge past Bromley.

Unlike that tie against Hendon in 1974, there won’t be a replay if the game ends all square. It’s extra time and potentially penalties on Sunday if that happens.