'27 Cup Competition

The tweaks of the Main Competition to the Premier League only rounds, has opened up the options for the Cup Competition to step into a few of the rounds that are now void and left weekends empty and meaningless as the Cup Rounds are excluded from the revamped competition 😳

Last time this competition expanded to take in games from Cup Competitions abroad, especially in the Final Rounds where we tracked the show pieces from across Europe. This time it's going to start with a bumper FA Cup first round proper (how belittling is it that it's called that to all the previous first rounds that have taken place) and then over 10 rounds build to the same finale as last season.

These are the rounds

• Rd 1 - 28 games from the FA Cup 1st Round

• Rd 2 - 14 games from the FA Cup 2nd Round

• Rd 3 - FA Cup 3rd Round - weekend of 9th January (28 games)

• Rd 4 - European Round - between 21st - 23rd January (14)

• Rd 5 - FA Cup 4th Round - weekend of 13th February (14)

• Rd 6 - European Knock Out Games - between 23rd - 24th February (14)

• Rd 7 - FA Cup 5th Round & European Games between 6th - 10th March (14)

• Rd 8 - FA Cup QFs & European & Other QFs/SFs across Europe (14)

• Rd 9 - FA Cup SFs & European QFS (14)

• Rd 10 - FINALS across Europe (14)

The FA Cup First round draw was made on Monday 20th October. Here it is.

1 Dover Athletic v Wealdstone

2 Mansfield Town v Macclesfield or Anstey Nomads

3 Huddersfield Town v Exeter City

4 Luton Town v Chesham United or Forest Green Rovers

5 Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United

6 Oldham Athletic v Sheffield Wednesday

7 Kidderminster Harriers v Doncaster Rovers

8 Leyton Orient v Harborough Town

9 Accrington Stanley v Wycombe Wanderers

10 MK Dons v Swindon Town

11 Newport County v Walsall

12 Bromley v Rotherham United

13 Barnet v Tranmere Rovers

14 Fleetwood Town v Rochdale

15 Barnsley v Aldershot or Tadley Calleva

16 Plymouth Parkway v Berkhamsted

17 Chesterfield v Leatherhead or Yeovil Town

18 Gillingham v Barrow or Gloucester City

19 Bury or Harrogate Town v AFC Fylde

20 Crewe Alexandra v AFC Wimbledon

21 Oxford United v Stevenage

22 Burton Albion v AFC Rushden & Diamonds

23 Bedford Town or Cray Wanderers v Stockport County

24 Port Vale v Scunthorpe United

25 Cheltenham Town v FC Halifax Town

26 Colchester United v Chorley or Worcester City

27 Eastleigh v Shrewsbury Town

28 Peterborough United v Reading

29 Wimborne Town v Crawley Town

30 Plymouth Argyle v Spalding United or Alvechurch

31 Hornchurch v Blackpool

32 Guiseley v Sutton United

33 Gateshead or Stafford Rangers v Grimsby Town

34 Oxford City v Leicester City

35 Bradford City v Marine

36 York City v Northampton Town

37 Altrincham or FC United of Manchester v Notts County

38 Boreham Wood v Wigan Athletic

39 Carlisle United v Salford City

40 Salisbury v Sholing

The first round sets of GuessWork will be on the website a few days after the draw is made, the 28 games are highlighted in red above.

The format, as per last season, will be based on the tried and tested basis of 'Just guess the scores'

Bank on the ones you're sure of (Bankers are Unlimited throughout), and hope you don't get them wrong.

Points on offer increase every round, as the games get more competitive. It's 10 plus the margin for a correct score, 3 for a correct result if you get the score wrong. (There's a bonus point if the score is wrong, but the margin is the same, you say 1-0 and it ends 2-1!!)

Points increase as teams progress through the rounds, so 20 for a score in the second round, 30 in the 3rd and so on.

But the round will remain relative to the team, so if Walsall get through to the 3rd Round and play Chelsea, then it's Round 3 for Walsall and Round 1 for Chelsea.

As per the main competition this season, that's not the end of it though as team coefficients will also kick-in.

Let's use one, that potential Walsall vs Chelsea game, as an example of how upsets affect the points. A 2-1 win if the teams were on a level footing (same coefficient) would be worth 11 points to Walsall, Chelsea would be worth 12.10 points as the Away Team has any points they win increased by 10%.

But, even without the coefficients a 2-1 win would be worth 33 points for Walsall as they are on their third game, but still 12.10 points for Chelsea on their first.

But, the 'Upset' caused by a Walsall 2-1 win, and you predicting it, should be worth so much more, shouldn't it, and that's where the coefficients kick in. Walsall have a coefficient of 4.25, Chelsea 1.27, which actually means the 2-1 win is worth 36.37 points if it's Walsall, and only 3.95 points if Chelsea win by the same margin.

BUT (big but), it's Walsall's third game in the competition, so those points are multiplied by 3, making a Walsall 2-1 win worth 109.11

And you could double or treble this by banking on it 😳😳😳 And, BTW, bank on Chelsea and get it wrong, then a 1-2 defeat would cost you MINUS 36.37 points, and if you think things like that don't happen you only need to look back at last season's third round win for Macclesfield over Palace, which cost Palace Guarantee Bankers MINUS 47.11 points, and recorded our single greatest loss on a game of 739.44 points!!!!

SO, bold and underlined so must be important, Bankers, if you get them wrong will hurt, as you will end up with MINUS points!!!! And as the rounds progress, the MINUS points will get bigger.

All Points are calculated at the end of normal time Draws are therefore a distinct possibility.

Once the cash pot is known, the winnings will be announced, but as per the previous seasons it's likely to be paid out to the top three teams of each half of competition, with a higher percentage of the pot going to the main competition.

Cup Last Player Standing

Alongside the main competition there will be a Last Player Standing Competition based on the points you score each round. You don’t need to do anything extra

BUT, the points in this competition WILL ignore be based on correct score and result predictions only, and will IGNORE any Banker enhancements or penalties.

Every one entering the main competition will be included and as long as you stay away from the bottom of the group left standing each round, you will play along in the next round, all the way through to the FInal Round when the 'Best' player will be crowned Champion

The final numbers knocked out each round will be declared before a ball is kicked, and will be determined by the number of entrants we have.

Wanna Join

Let's make it nice and easy. A simple thumbs up on the WhatsApp message gets you in.

£25.00 gets you in. The share of the pot will be posted on the website before we get going. And, the Hall Of Fame points also (25 for winning the Main Competition and 12 for the Last Player Standing, witha few for the runner-up spots)

As always, a percentage of all joining fees will be paid across to charity.

I've picked the The Bradley Lowery Foundation again this time round, We last supported them in this competition and raised £370.44

So feel free to share this with like minded individuals who think they might know a thing or two about football, and in particular the cup. They are welcome to join this, even if they aren't (yet) in the Main Competition.

The More The Merrier

Signing Up is EASY - Just message me back.