FA Cup first round: ‘Baffled’ club chief blasts ‘confusing’ TV picks after Ollie Watkins’ former club snubbed
FA CUP bosses have been slammed for their “confusing” first round TV picks by a club chief hoping for a giant-killing.
Weston-super-Mare make the short 24-mile journey to Bristol Rovers tomorrow.
Weston-super-Mare travel to Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Stadium with the derby not on tele[/caption]
Ollie Watkins spent one season on loan at non-league club as a youngster[/caption]
The sixth tier club have come through three qualifying rounds to make the first round proper and have been rewarded with a local derby against League One opponents.
Many expected the game to be one of the five selected for TV coverage across ITV and the BBC this weekend.
But Weston-super-Mare’s huge clash has been surprisingly snubbed.
Tamworth welcome Huddersfield on the Beeb tonight and Northampton’s local derby with Kettering Town is on tele on Saturday.
Sutton vs Birmingham and Harrogate vs Wrexham are live on Sunday before the action concludes on Monday as Chesham United face Lincoln.
But the West Country clash’s rejection has frustrated Weston-super-Mare director Ed Bliss, who told Bristol Live: “It baffled all of us.
“You’ve got Birmingham and Sutton being televised. Confusing. You know why with Wrexham. They’ve got a bit of weight behind them. I’m not taking it away from them.
“But you can’t get a better opportunity to televise a game in the FA Cup than two reasonably well-matched teams on each other’s doorstep.
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“So it’s confusing, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Asked how much the club could have made if shown on tele, Bliss explained: “It would have been in the realms of about £80,000.
“So a game changer for us to build for next season, to plug in a little bit of finance for this season. But that’s the way it goes.”
Weston-super-Mare, who are top of the National League South, was where England hero Ollie Watkins played on loan in the 2014/15 season.
They are taking around 2,000 fans up the M5 to the Memorial Stadium for the huge FA Cup clash, which has been labelled one of the biggest games in the club’s history.
