Horsham Gear Up For The Cup

Horsham FC secured safe passage to the 2nd round of the FA Cup with an solid 4-1 win over Maidenhead United.

Their reward for securing a 2nd round place for the first time in their history a tie against Swansea City FC.

Hornets Manager John Maggs had already targeted Swansea City along with Leeds United and Nottingham Forest as his dream ties for Round two.

Club Secretary John Lines has been gearing up for historic clash at Queens Road.John Lines took some time out of those preparations to talk to Swansea Vital.

There is a great deal of excitement at the prospect of this game in Horsham how are preparations going to make sure they Atspeed Ground is up to scratch?

"We are of course very excited at the prospect of entertaining Swansea City and we are working towards making this a memorable occasion. You must bear in mind we are a Ryman Premier league Club and as such our ground qualifies for that standard. We have of course had the Police and Fire Safety Officers involved in making security arrangements but the ground is what it is.'"

Can Horsham fc cause a cup upset after the convincing win against Maidenhead in the first round a lot is expected of the club?

"Nothing is expected of us, we are clearly the underdogs as we were with Maidenhead United but our team has immense character and team spirit as well as ability. We are not nervous of the occasion and it will be a good game."

Manager John Maggs was delighted at the draw how did the players react to being drawn against league opposition?

"The Players love playing at Home.The added bonus is that it is against quality opposition."

Sky sports will be broadcasting the game how much does the £75.000 extra revenue from the FA Broadcast fund help a non league club ?

"Like most non-league clubs, we have a negative balance sheet!We do not have wealthy Directors and we try to make our books balance as best we can with good business sense.The payment received from Sky will go a long way towards keeping our bank manager happy! Naturally a game like this also costs a very large amount in additional costs to stage. For instance, we have to pay for ancillary floodlighting to meet the requirement of Sky's high definition cameras and there is a strong possibility we will have to pay several thousand pounds to have the pitch covered in case of frost or heavy rain. Its not all profit but it is a welcome windfall."

As Per FA Cup rules and guidelines Horsham fc are required to pay travelling expenses for players and staff of Swansea City fc. Have Swansea City fc waived those costs?

"Our discussions with Swansea's representatives have been very amicable and professional. The waiving of expenses has not been raised or expected to be raised.'"

The game will be likely a sell out as far as Horsham fc fans are concerned what arrangements will you be making for away supporters?

"Based upon our given Ground capacity of 2854, Swansea have received 15% as required by the FA, numbering some 428 tickets. In accordance with Police requirements, the Swansea supporters will be in a covered terraced section of the ground. Indications from Swansea are that possibly only 200-250 will travel and we will monitor that position."

Interview copyrighted to Swansea Vital express permission for reproduction must be sought.Image courtesy of Horsham Football Club and Kindly used with express permission by Official Site web master Mr Mark Wells. Not to be transmitted or copied without express permission