Grier's Guide to Macclesfield
When: Macclesfield Town, Sunday 10 November
The town: Market town in Cheshire, with a traditional nickname of "Treacle Town" after an unfortunate horse-drawn wagon accident led to treacle being spilled in the streets. More importantly, it has a Football League club. And we're playing them, on TV, in the FA Cup. After almost 19 years of waiting, we've stopped embarrassing ourselves in the cup and we're back in the first round proper. COYKs.
The ground: Moss Rose Ground, 149 London Rd, Macclesfield SK11 7SP . With a capacity of 6,355 it's the best ground we'll have played in for some time. We're likely to be given the John Askey Terrace behind one of the goals - hopefully we'll travel in good numbers as there's no roof, so we'll need to be loud to compensate. We may also be given some seats along the side. Regular prices are £22 to sit or £15 to stand - no word yet on whether that will change for the FA Cup. You need a ticket to get into the ground although you should be able to buy one on the day at the away box office if you're not able to in advance.
Directions: The Sunday lunchtime kickoff has made things a bit trickier, especially when it comes to train prices. At time of writing a return journey is around £84, a blow only slightly softened by a stingy 20% groupsave discount if there's three or more of you. It only takes an hour and 40 minutes from Euston though, with the ground a 25 minute walk to the south. By car, a good run from Kingston will take around three and a half hours up the M40 and M6. Parking should be possible in the streets near the ground. The Ks Supporters Club is also running a coach - details here: https://www.kingstonian.com/news/supporters-club-travel-to-macclesfield/683
Our record there: Somewhat surprisingly given Macclesfield have been a non-league club for much of their history, we've never met - the Silkmen made it to the Football League just before we made it to the Conference. Our last visit to the County of Cheshire was in 2001 when we drew 0-0 with Chester City, the result that was to seal our relegation from the Conference. At least in this game we'll have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Recent form: Despite only narrowly staying up last season under Sol Campbell's management and having continuing off-field concerns - Campbell has left and they have financial worries - they're doing a better job this time round and sit a solid 14th in League Two. Make no mistake, they will be a significant step up from Weston and Dartford in terms of quality and fitness.
Players to watch: Their top scorer is Theo Archibald, a former Celtic youngster who has five goals so far this season. They're mainly a young side and have five players on loan from clubs higher up the Football League, but veteran midfielder Jay Harris has played over 400 league games in his career.
Crowd: At just over 2,000 they currently have the lowest average crowd in the Football League, despite a good turnout for the recent game against local side Port Vale.
Drinking: The 12:45 Sunday kickoff doesn't really lend itself to pre-match drinking but the bar at the ground is reportedly open to both home and away fans - a rarity in the Football League. There won't be many pubs open before 12:00 except for the Wetherspoons, which is called The Society Rooms and is more or less on the way from the station to the ground.
Food: The range of food inside the ground reportedly includes a selection of pies as well as the usual burgers and hot dogs, or there's a Co-Op and a Burger King nearby.
