One of the most exciting days of the season is almost upon us. FootballCynic is not referring to the first day of the turgid Premiership, but the Extra Preliminary Round of the F.A. Cup. £500 is the prize money on offer to the winners of the ties and there are, as they say, some real corkers. If you are looking for the tie where the competing teams contain the most letters, you would be choosing Norton & Stockton Ancients v Newcastle Benfield. On the contrary, if you were looking for fewest letters, you would be heading south to see Selsey play Egham or Wick play Molseley. This year, no fewer than four ‘Welfare’ teams take part, including Brodsworth Welfare who entertain Ashton Town. You could be excused for thinking that Meir KA F.C. is one of those appalling sides from Latvia which waste their time playing in the early rounds of the UEFA Cup. Yet, Meir KA is a team from Stoke – and the KA stands for Kings Arms – the original name of the Sunday team. However, one of the teams to watch must be Jarrow Roofing who play at home to Spennymoor Town. Saturday will not be the day to have a leaky roof in Jarrow, it would seem. Our tip for the round, however, is Esh Winning, who we assume can only win at the loathed Team Northumbria (FootballCynic can’t stand the name ‘Team GB’ which commentators use at the Olympics). However, don’t forget Meir KA – the website should be praised as one of all too few that features the fans (see below) – in fact, it seems to feature them all. Go Esh (as they say in the USofA)!