A Sprinkle of Magic – Non-League Clubs in the FA Cup, by Aaron Moore, published by Pitch Publishing, Price: £12.99
WE all love a cup shock, don’t we? Well, apart from those on the receiving end.
In A Sprinkle of Magic, author Aaron Moore tells the tale of a number of Non-League clubs who battled through various qualifying rounds to reach the first round proper and beyond.
He covers the period from 2009-10 onwards, featuring the likes of Bath City, Stourbridge (twice), Warrington Town and Lincoln City.
Some may well stick in the mind of neutral football fans as well as those who followed their teams to glory. Warrington’s victory against Exeter in 2014 is one that captured the public’s imagination, as did Lincoln’s incredible run to the quarter-finals in 2017 under the Cowley brothers.
Moore covers the whole of the cup runs as welll as giving some background about how each club was doing in that particular season (and what happened after the cup publicity had died down).
He also interviews someone connected with each club, whether it be the chairman, webmaster or press officer, among others, to get their recollections on the glory days.
It’s a shame the author wasn’t able to speak to some of the managers and/or players involved. It would have been fascinating to get their thoughts on what may well have been the peak days in their career.
A bit more detail on the showpiece game(s) in the run would have been good, too, though, overall, it is a solid offering with plenty of depth and content. It will bring back plenty of good memories for those from the clubs covered – and for general football fans as well.
Rating out of 10: 7
