Fund-raisers on Fylde Cup pilgrimage

Don’t say that to three fans from the Newcastle area, who have embarked on a Cup quest, which sees them make the long trip to Plymouth with AFC Fylde supporters to watch the first round tie at Home Park.

The indomitable trio - Malcolm Larkin, Sandy Wilson and Mac Crawford - have embarked on a Road to Wembley odyssey, to raise funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

The idea is to follow a winning team from the qualifying stages right through to the Wembley decider next spring.

The journey kicked off at Newcastle Benfield FC and when Buxton beat them in one of the preliminary stages, the Derbyshire team was the next team they watched.

Adventure

AFC Fylde duly beat Buxton and then Kings Lynn, and so tomorrow it is off to Plymouth for the next stage in the cross-country adventure, taking them to all points, north, south, east and west.

By the early hours of Sunday, the threesome will have clocked up thousands of miles already - and there will still be eight more rounds to go, including the semi-final and final.

Malcolm said: “I nearly cried when the draw came out and found that we had to go all the way down to Plymouth - we had already had another long journey to Kings Lynn.

“But seriously, we are looking forward to it and the support we have had so far from all the clubs we have visited has been tremendous.”

They have even picked up a supporter from Manchester - Chris Pratt - to join up with them and they were making the most of the free coach travel on offer from AFC Fylde.

Malcolm said: “We have been very impressed with AFC Fylde’s plans for the future, with their new ground - I hope they do make it into the Conference next because it can only be good for the area.”

Two of the lads - Malcolm (left) and Chris (right) met up with Coasters’ manager Dave Challinor at the National Football Museum in Manchester prior to the big match.

Pride of place went to the trophy all teams are after - the FA Cup itself.