FA Cup magic as strong as ever as draw comes to Bradford City

This is not the FA Cup first-round draw, just the BBC rehearsal for it.

So yes, the FA Cup definitely does matter.

It has been going on for a couple of months already, but when the first round kicks off in the first week of November is when it gets special, as non-league clubs pit their wits against Football League opposition.

Bradford legend Stuart McCall, now assistant manager of Preston North End, is making the draw with former Sheffield United striker Danny Webber. Having scored twice in the 1989 final for Everton, he does not need telling about the importance of this competition.

“At Preston we've drawn Arsenal at home in the League Cup so we know how excited the Guiseleys will be,” he says in a room whose name is a nod to when the Bantams won this trophy, the modern FA Cup, made in the city that season. “I think everyone just wants to get a home draw.

“The FA Cup for me growing up was the cup competition. Now the Champions League seems to have overtaken it, which is quite sad.

“You woke up on a Saturday morning, kick-off was always three o'clock, you used to watch the coverage with the cameras on the coach from the hotel to Wembley. It was one of the few live games on so it was special.

“I was fortunate I had some really good memories, a couple of sore ones as well like getting beaten at Telford with Bradford (as manager) but we got promoted that season so we concentrated on the league!

“I played in the final with Everton and the semi-final with Sheffield United at the ripe old age of 38 when we unfortunately got beaten 1-0 by Arsenal at Old Trafford. It always has been special for me.”

He might not look it, but McCall is 60 now. Despite the grey in Scarborough Athletic manager Jonathan Greening's beard he is 15 years younger, but feels much the same.

“As a kid growing up the FA Cup is the best competition in the word and everyone wants to be involved,” he says. “I was very lucky to be part of the (Manchester United) squad in 99 that won the Treble, I was part of the matchday squad at the FA Cup final against Newcastle," he says.

“I got to the quarter-finals with Middlesbrough, I captained West Brom against Portsmouth the year they won the FA Cup. It was an amazing feeling for me.

“As a kid my mum and dad made me watch the final from a young age. It was a big day with the family.”

This is the second year running Greening has taken his hometown club into the first round. Last year saw them take Forest Green to a replay which itself had to be replayed because the League Two club fielded an ineligible player.

This year, controversially, every tie from this point on will be decided on the day.

“Last year was an amazing run for us, the two games against Oxford City and three against Forest Green, it was a really exciting time to test ourselves against better players and better teams and we were probably a bit unlucky,” he says.

“For a club like ours, a fan-owned club without much money or a multi-multi-millionaire owner like Wrexham it helps us keep building the club and helps with our budget to bring the players in.”

Bradford are in a different financial league but it matters to their chief executive, Ryan Sparks, too.

“It's always high on the priority list,” he insists. “Every team at our level's ambition is to get out of their division but in this club's modern history arguably some of the best moments have been in the cups.

“This gives us the ability to spend more or invest in other areas.

“Losing replays was very frustrating but as long as it’s somewhat rectified down the line by finance into the lower leagues, it's not all lost.

“We were very disappointed to exit the Carabao Cup in the way we did (on penalties at Grimsby Town in round one), that was a red mark on our season so far.”

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FIRST-ROUND DRAW: Tonbridge Angels v Harborough Town; Sutton United v Birmingham City; Newport County v Peterborough United; Taunton or Maidenhead v Crawley Town; Harrogate Town v Wrexham; Woking v Cambridge United; Gillingham v Blackpool; Chesham United v Lincoln City; Chesterfield v Horsham; Southend United v Charlton Athletic; Notts County v Alfreton Town; Swindon Town v Colchester United; Salford City v Shrewsbury Town; Crewe Alexandra v Dagenham & Redbridge; Port Vale v Barnsley; Reading v Fleetwood Town; Stevenage v Guiseley; Northampton Town v Kettering Town; Rushall Olympic or Peterborough Sports v Accrington Stanley; Bristol Rovers v Weston-super-Mare; MK Dons v AFC Wimbledon; Altrincham or Solihull Moors v Maidstone United; Stockport County v Forest Green Rovers; Tranmere Rovers v Oldham Athletic; Rochdale v Bromley; Walsall v Bolton Wanderers; Grimsby Town v Wealdstone; Wycombe Wanderers v York City; Bradford City v Aldershot Town; Hednesford Town or Gateshead v Gainsborough Trinity or Boston United; Burton Albion v Scarborough Athletic; Carlisle United v Wigan Athletic; Tamworth v Huddersfield Town; Hartlepool or Brackley Town v Braintree Town; Curzon Ashton v Mansfield Town; Barrow v Doncaster Rovers; Worthing v Morecambe; Boreham Wood v Leyton Orient; Exeter City v Barnet; Rotherham United v Cheltenham Town.