Mulbarton Wanderers secured a 2-0 win over Woodford Town in a controversial FA Cup replay in Norfolk, settling a tie that had drawn international attention after the Football Association ordered it to be played again. A record crowd of 806 attended the replay, and the victory earned Mulbarton £3,375 from the FA Cup prize fund plus a home tie against Gloucester City in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup, the world’s oldest football competition.
The first meeting made international headlines after the FA made the rare decision to order a replay due to a referee’s error. Woodford Town, a London club playing in a league below Mulbarton, had lodged an appeal over the laws of the game being applied incorrectly during the initial game, which Mulbarton had won 2-1. The FA ruled that the game should be replayed and switched to Norfolk.
The controversy centred on an incident in the initial match. With the score still 0-0 in the first half, Woodford had a penalty disallowed because their players encroached into the penalty area. The game was then restarted with Mulbarton awarded a free-kick, rather than Woodford being allowed to retake the penalty.
Mulbarton introduced advance ticketing because of what was described as unprecedented demand for the replay. Speaking before the game, joint first team manager Danny Self said: “There’s all the emotions, you ask questions and you’re frustrated. Then you ask can we appeal this and you’re told you can’t. Whether we agree or disagree, we are where we are and we’ve just got to prepare for it.”
Dan Robathan, a retired Premier League and FIFA referee, defended the original matchday official. He said: “There’s a misconception that when we make a decision, that we don’t care which is so far from the truth. It hits you quite personally and you don’t want to have a negative effect on a game. But you’re trying to process all that at once and I can only assume he’s got confused with the law in that moment.”
Mulbarton is a village club around six miles (10km) south of Norwich. It has risen through local leagues in recent years and is competing at step four of the non-league pyramid for the first time this season. Its next tie, at home to Gloucester City, is scheduled for the weekend of Saturday 3 October. Gloucester play at step three of non-league in the Southern League Premier Division South. The winner will claim £5,625 and the loser £1,875, while Woodford collect £1,125 from the prize fund despite losing the replay.