Saturday 5th September 2026 ko 15:00

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round

WIMBORNE TOWN 0

PORTISHEAD TOWN 0

Att 435

Entry £14

Programme £3

It seemed such a long time since I’d visited Wimborne Town’s old Cuthbury home, well 2014 to be exact and given the club moved into the New Cuthbury in 2020 it was a little odd that I hadn’t visited their new home until now. There was a reason, and it was all down to groundhopping logic.

I work in Oxford and if there’s no traffic it takes 2 hours to get to Wimborne. I finish at 5:30 and since midweek games have to kick off here at 7:30 due to a floodlight curfew, I have absolutely no margin for error to make kick-off. And let’s face it who expects the M3 to behave during rush hour? It is also a groundhopper nervous twitch to dive for new grounds as soon as they open, when allowing them time to bed in, surely is a better policy, but as I type this I’m planning a visit to a brand new, just opened ground this Saturday, so what do I know?

My worry in visiting a new ground is that much of the character of the old place tends to be lost. I was even more twitchy for Wimborne, the new stadium was built as part of a deal that involved the sale of the old for housing. You think of the likes of Fry Club, and hope the deal is in the football club’s favour.

And thankfully the deal has clearly worked for Wimborne, as the New Cuthbury is a superb facilty. You look for the little details that endear, such as the refreshment kiosk that sells a good deal more than burgers and pies, and the spaces left for the club to improve their home as and when they graduate from the Step 3 Southern League Premier South. After the previous weekend’s lack of seats, I did enjoy the creature comforts! This blog will never be about programmes, but special mention must go to Wimborne’s- it is superb and I didn’t know that Carlisle United hero Jimmy Glass is General Manager here either!

The game was interesting, and even without my family connections to Portishead Town. To the untrained eye this was the Southern League versus the Western League Premier, but Posset won a play-off spot to play for promotion to Wimborne’s level last season, only to be relegated on ground grading issues. With them having retained much of last season’s squad, it was a fascinating tie.

And so it proved to be. Portishead shaded the first half, and only Kai Crampton in the home goal ensured the tie was goalless at half time. Wimborne looked a lot more creative after the break, but in the end the draw was the fair result. I headed back to the car wondering whether the visitors had blown their opportunity, even though the replay was in Somerset? My fears were well founded, as Wimborne won 3-1, but did need extra-time to do so.

Of course that was the start of Wimborne’s wonderful FA Cup run, and all the best to them as they host Crawley Town this Saturday!