Wembley is the ultimate destination in national non-league knockout

RUNCORN LINNETS v Bury

Isuzu FA Trophy Second Round Qualifying

Saturday, September 20th, ko 3pm

APEC Taxis Stadium, Stockham Lane, Murdishaw, Runcorn, WA7 6JG.

Please note that this is an all-ticket match and there will be no admission without a ticket.

Ticket information is available here

History trail

This is Bury's first tilt at the FA Trophy, following their promotion to Step 4 but it has already proved eventful with their inaugural tie against Wythenshawe Town having to be replayed.

Bury won the initial contest at Gigg Lane 3-1 thanks to Gabriel Johnson (2) and Kai Evans but were subsequently charged with fielding a suspended player.

The FA ordered a replay at Wythenshawe on Tuesday when a last-gasp DJ Pedro header saw them prevail 2-1. It brings them to the APEC with all roads leading to Wembley.

The Shakers have contested the FA Vase in the last two seasons, losing 1-0 at Wickham on debut in 2023-24.

In 2024-25, they beat Maghull 3-1 in the First Round Qualifying and Burscough 3-0 in the second before falling at the next hurdle to Chadderton, who triumphed 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

All three ties were played at home, although Bury were drawn away in two of them.

They obviously have a much stronger pedigree in the Football League/EFL Cup and also the Full Members’ Cup/EFL Trophy.

Bury made their League Cup bow at the inception  of the competition in 1960-61, beating Sheffield United 3-1 at home in the second round before losing at Everton in the third.

Two years later, they saw off the visiting Blades again en route to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out 4-3 on aggregate by top-flight Birmingham City.

The run still ranks as their best n the competition although they reached the quarter-finals in 1977-78, losing 3-0 to visiting Noftingham Forest.

Brian Clough's Forest would be champions of England that season and captured the European Cup in the next two.

One of the more memorable League Cup ties pitched the Greater Manchester outfit, then in old Third Division, against Manchester United in 1987-88 - this being Alex Ferguson’s first full season in charge of the Red Devils.

The tie was switched from Gigg Lane to Old Trafford, where Bury fans were in dreamland as Jamie Hoyland sent Bury ahead in the 52nd minute.

But Norman Whiteside (63 mins) and Brian McClair (68) rescued United, who were to finish as runners-up to Liverpool in the Division One title race.

The Shakers were Northern semi-finalists in the Full Members’ Cup in 1994-95, losing 2-1 at home to Rochdale.

On the competition's rebranding as the EFL Trophy, they reached the same round twice more but were again defeated at Carlisle United (2-3, 2002-03) and at Morecambe (0-2, 2007-08).

Runcorn Linnets come of age in FA Trophy

This will be Runcorn Linnets’ 21st game in the FA Trophy but our 20th tie on account of our 2019-20 match against Prescot Cables being won after a replay.

Our victory on penalties in this season’s First Round Qualifying was our third shootout in the competition.

Matty Rain scored the winning penalty in the shootout win against Garforth. Picture by Kelly Jones

We had lost the previous two, both at home - to NPL Premier Division outfit Morpeth Town in 2020-21 and, two seasons ago, our West Division rivals, Witton Albion.

That defeat by Morpeth came in the first round - our maiden appearance in the ‘proper’ stages – and we went one better in 2022-23 only to go down 3-2 at Spennymoor Town of National League North.

Our record attendance for the competition is 1,078 against FC United of Manchester in October 2021 for a Third Round Qualifying tie, which the Rebel Reds won 2-0.

We've met before

Saturday’s game comes 10 days after our inaugural meeting with Bury, who inflicted our first defeat of the season with Rustam Stepans scoring the only goal.

The Shakers were full value for their NPL West win at Gigg Lane, Linnets not really showing in attack until very late on.

The return league match is on Saturday, March 28th.

Player landmarks

Lewis Doyle is one short of 150 starts for Linnets and Harvey Washington one away from 50. Both scored their first goals of the season in Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Kidsgrove Athletic. It was Lewis’s 25th in 166 Runcorn career appearances while Harvey was on the scoresheet at the 56th attempt.

How to get here

By car - postcode for APEC Taxis Stadium is WA7 6GJ.

By train - Runcorn is served by two railway stations, Runcorn (Liverpool Lime Street to London line, also with services from Chester and Birmingham)  and Runcorn East (trains to and from Manchester, Chester and North Wales). Both stations are served by buses running close to the stadium, although Runcorn High Street bus station (10-minute walk) offers a wider choice for passengers using Runcorn Railway Station.

By bus - the ground is a short walk from the Runcorn Busway - alight at Orniston Bollingbroke Academy (Halton High School) and follow pathway on the opposite side of the busway from the school to Murdishaw Avenue and cross into Stockham Lane. Many local services (including Shopping City circular) run on the busway as well as those from Widnes, Warrington, Liverpool and Chester.

A local taxi service is provided by APEC Taxis (tel 01928 575757).

Parking

There is a large free car park on site.

Admission

Adults - £11.00.

Concessions (65+, 19-22) - £8.00.

18 and under - £2.00

There are two further opportunities for home fans to buy tickets in person from APEC Taxis Stadium, as follows:

Friday, September 19th - Noon-2pm

Saturday, September 20th - 11am-Noon