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FA Cup’s longest ever saga

FIFTY years ago tomorrow, Alvechurch and Oxford City arrived at the halfway point of an FA Cup tie that both clubs must have envisaged might go to a replay or two, at most. How wrong they were.

by
The Non-League Football Paper Team
14 November 2021

By Nicholas Harling

CHAMPAGNE MOMENT: Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis pours fizz for Alvechurch’s exhausted players

FIFTY years ago tomorrow, Alvechurch and Oxford City arrived at the halfway point of an FA Cup tie that both clubs must have envisaged might go to a replay or two, at most. How wrong they were.
It took them 17 days and six games in all to reach a conclusion that ended the most drawnout saga in the history of the competition.
Bobby Hope, now a sprightly 71, was the man who decided the fourth qualifying round slog that had stretched to five replays lasting a total of 660 minut...

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