One of the longest cup runs ever ...
The FA Trophy is very, very skewed towards teams in the National League to the extent that teams in the fourth tier of non-league football have to fight their way through TEN rounds to get to the final at Wembley. By comparison a Premier League or Championship club only needs to contest FIVE rounds to get to Wembley in the FA Cup.
So step 4 teams haven't a hope in hell in the FA Trophy. But trying telling that to Southern League Division One Central Halesowen Town. Thus far the Yeltz have fought their way through NINE rounds to reach the two-legged semi-final, playing FIFTEEN games in the process, with at least two to come. And they have already defeated SIX teams from higher divisions.
Halesowen's Trophy fixtures thus far have been
Sat 28 Sep A Dereham Town FA Trophy EP 2 - 1 153 IL-1-N (step 4)
Sat 12 Oct A Evesham United FA Trophy P 1 - 1 382 SL-1-SW (step 4)
Tue 15 Oct H Evesham United FA Trophy P 3 - 0 389
Tue 29 Oct H Stamford FA Trophy 1Q 2 - 2 306 NPL-1-SE (step 4)
Tue 5 Nov A Stamford FA Trophy 1QR 3 - 0 183
Sat 9 Nov H Grantham Town FA Trophy 2Q 2 - 1 493 NPL-P (step 3)
Sat 23 Nov H Gateshead FA Trophy 3Q 1 - 0 546 NL-N (step 2)
Sat 14 Dec A Bradford (Park Avenue) FA Trophy 1 2 - 2 285 NL-N (step 2)
Tue 17 Dec H Bradford (Park Avenue) FA Trophy 1 2 - 0 426
Sat 11 Jan H Maidenhead United FA Trophy 2 2 - 2 892 NL-P (step 1)
Tue 21 Jan A Maidenhead United FA Trophy 2R 3 - 1 275
Sat 8 Feb A FC Halifax Town FA Trophy 3 1 - 0 1,483 NL-P (step 1)
Sat 29 Feb A Barnet FA Trophy 4 2 - 1 1,483 NL-P (step 1)
Sat 21 Mar H Concord Rangers or Royston Town FA Trophy SF (1) NL-S (step 2) or
Sat 28 Mar A Concord Rangers or Royston Town FA Trophy SF (2) or SL-P-C (step 3)
This all begs the question as to why the FA Trophy is seeded. It isn't the FA Cup where there is big element of glamour attached to the bigger clubs. With only 296 entries, the competition could be played in eight full rounds with a small preliminary round.
Halesowen are also top of their league despite having played fewer games than their rivals.