After the curtailment decision for tiers three and below of the women’s football pyramid, the campaign is over for many amateur sides. Unless you’re still in this season’s FA Cup that is.
With Covid-19 postponements and league suspensions ravaging the 2020/21 season, certain teams will
now play these crucial cup games with no preparation, no games and no team training. One FA Cup First Round tie is still to be played.
National League Division One South East duo Kent Football United and Enfield Town look to progress
in a tie that has already been postponed and delayed on multiple occasions. The fixture is set for March 31st at The Efes Stadium, home of the Kent side, at 7.30pm.
Enfield Town sat third in the fourth tier with 12 points from the six games they managed to complete,
one point behind both Ipswich Town and Hashtag United while Kent were eighth with six from six.
Billy Highton’s Towners face their third away trip from three in this season’s FA Cup, having beaten
Hashtag United and Luton Town in the previous two qualifying rounds. During multiple lockdowns, the side has been restricted to online meetings and virtual sessions instead of physical training.
They haven’t played a competitive match since December 12th, when they defeated Cambridge
away in the league. Influential midfielder Beau Parker was player of the match on that occasion and it’s a very different season than expected for the 19-year-old.
“As a team we’ve been doing HIIT workouts and ball mastery on Tuesdays and Thursdays over Zoom
while doing runs twice a week,” the Enfield midfielder explained. “I played in the FA Cup with Crystal Palace last season coming on as sub which was amazing.”
Parker made the move from Championship side Palace ahead of the current season and after debuting for Palace in the second tier, featured in last season’s FA Cup.
The lively youngster sees this year’s competition as a fantastic opportunity to showcase the qualities
of the lower leagues.
“The chance to start in the FA Cup is always the dream of young players. I’ve got three goals in the
competition so far and I’m excited to see how far the team can go.”
With Enfield Town a partner club of the EDSV Academy – the football programme that Parker is a part
of – the future looks bright for the side.
“We’re building something exciting. We wanted the league to continue, it’s a shame but health
comes first and now we can make the FA Cup are sole focus.”
The winner of the First Round tie could face an interesting run with the draw already having been
made. A trip to Chichester and Selsey in the Second Round would then be followed by the winner of Hounslow
or Leyton Orient before a headline tie at WSL strugglers West Ham United in the Fourth Round.
“We can’t wait to get back to action and we know we have the potential and opportunity to make it
all the way to the Fourth Round,” Parker said.
With the motivation of this possible Fourth Round tie, a disastrous season could easily end up in
being one to savour.
