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FA Cup first round: What lies ahead for the lowest ranked teams?


Arguably the biggest story of the first round belongs to Kettering Town.

It has already taken the Poppies four matches to get here, but they have been rewarded with a trip to their local rivals Northampton Town who play four divisions above.

Only 17 miles of the A43 separate these two clubs, who have coexisted for more than 125 years, but have only ever met in a competitive fixture twice before, making this all the more a special encounter.

The last such occasion was 35 years ago, also in the FA Cup first round, with Northampton winning 1-0, while the time before that was back in 1961 in the second round and ended 3-0 to the Cobblers.

Kettering are top of the Southern League Premier Division in the seventh tier, while Northampton are 18th in League One.

A total of 78 league places separate the two sides, though the visitors do have ex-Celtic and Norwich City striker Gary Hooper and former Newcastle forward Nile Ranger to call upon.

The game will be live on BBC Two on Saturday at 17:30 GMT.


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