Do I know what I am letting myself in for? Where will the road take me?

Do I know what I am letting myself in for? A question one or two readers and friends have asked me over the last couple of weeks and the answer is yes ! I have been planning this for over a year now and because of this I have researched out how the journey would have panned out had I been travelling the road in season 2015-16.

 

The final destination: Wembley Stadium - The Holy Grail

Below are details of where the road would have taken me in 2015-16.

Rd	Home	Score	Away	Score	Att	Miles	Total
Ex P	Penrith	1	Jarrow Roofing	2	110	228	228
Prelm	Bishop Auckland	1	Jarrow Roofing	2	272	260	488
Q1	Jarrow Roofing	3	Congleton	4	106	258	746
Q2	Whitley Bay	2	Congleton	1	292	258	1004
Q3	Whitley Bay	2	Chorley	3	292	258	1262
Q4	Northwich Vic	1	Chorley	1	534	370	1632
Q4R	Chorley	1	Northwich Vic	2	1080	360	1992
Rd1	Northwich Vic	1	Boreham Wood	1	502	370	2362
Rd1R	Boreham Wood	1	Northwich Vic	2	512	750	3112
Rd2	Northampton	3	Northwich Vic	2	3837	660	3772
Rd 3	Northampton	2	MK Dons	2	5878	660	4432
Rd3R	MK Dons	3	Northampton	0	15133	682	5114
Rd 4	MK Dons	1	Chelsea	5	28127	682	5796
Rd 5	Chelsea	5	Man City	1	41594	798	6594
Rd 6	Everton	2	Chelsea	0	37823	420	7014
SF	Everton	1	Man United	2	86064	684	7698
Final	Man United	2	Crystal Palace	1	88610	684	8382

As you can see the road would have seen me spending some time early on in the North East, heading west to Lancashire, then south to Boreham Wood, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Chelsea. Latterly, there would be a diversion to Liverpool to see Everton knock out Chelsea before heading to Wembley Stadium for the semi final and final. The road last season would have been 8382 miles – how long will it be this season? I would have seen some great games last season and no doubt excitement is in store for me over the next ten months as I embark on the Road to Wembley from Scotland.

The draw for the Extra Preliminary Round takes place tomorrow and then the whole thing becomes very real. My friends from the FA Cup Factfile twitter feed have told me that the draw will feature all Step 5 teams and select clubs from step 6 based on finishing position and facilities and that the final list won't be confirmed until tomorrow! If you want to know what this means check out this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_League_System I have now given up trying to guess which Extra Preliminary Round will be closest to the Scottish border but we will find out tomorrow. Keep following !