Beer runs dry and 14-hour days: Trafford FC's remarkable FA Cup run on a shoestring

Trafford FC, a ninth-tier North West Counties Premier League side, face Atherton Collieries in an FA Cup third qualifying round replay on Tuesday, one result away from a potential tie against Football League opposition and a total prize pot exceeding £12,000.

The scale of the occasion was captured perfectly by club director Pete McGrath, who spent Saturday’s original tie — a 2-2 draw at Shawe View — working behind the bar rather than watching the match. “I was taking paracetamol on Saturday night because I’d been opening so many cans of beer behind the bar,” McGrath told the Manchester Evening News. “I didn’t even see the game until the last 10 minutes and I only saw that because we had sold out of everything we had. We have display cans on top of the fridge which are sat in the warm and people even bought them!”

More than 1,000 supporters attended Saturday’s tie — more than double Trafford’s average home gate — only for Atherton Collieries, who play a level above, to deny the hosts a place in the next round with a stoppage-time equaliser.

The winner of Tuesday’s replay travels to National League promotion chasers AFC Fylde, banking £5,625 in the process. Trafford have already earned more than £8,000 in prize money across the run, a sum that carries real weight at a club relegated from the Northern Premier League last season. “The prizemoney comes in very useful,” McGrath said. “It doesn’t sound a lot when you have Premier League players on £150,000 a week but it is a big chunk of our budget.”

The financial reward has come at a cost in effort. Trafford, who train a mile or two from Manchester United’s Carrington training ground, have faced three away ties in the competition, including a round trip to Heaton Stannington near Newcastle that saw the squad leave at 8am and return at 10.30pm. Players then had a midweek away fixture at Barnoldswick, with some leaving work early and not getting home until 11.30pm.

“These lads work full time jobs, 40-hour weeks,” said manager Tom Baker. “It is always difficult for a non-league player. I think not enough credit goes to non-league players for the time and effort they put in and the dedication needed. Your butchers, bakers and candlestick makers — they have day jobs. It has been an immense effort.”

Five of Trafford’s cup fixtures so far have come against higher-division opposition, all away from home. Should they progress on Tuesday, one more win would place them in the FA Cup first round proper for the first time in the club’s history.