I have decided to undertake a round by round FA CUP challenge to try and raise money for the MS Society. This years FA CUP sponsored by BUDWEISER starts on Saturday August 17th 2013 with the extra preliminary round and ends of course at Wembley on Saturday May 17th 2014. My involvement is quite simple really. I intend to pick a team in the extra preliminary round and watch their match, and continue following them until they are beaten and when they are beaten I will follow their victors until they are beaten and so on through all the rounds. This means I hope to watch all 14 rounds of the competition and somehow get a ticket for the final itself at Wembley, which in itself is a challenge these days. There will without a doubt be many logistical challenges for me throughout the months in getting to the various grounds up and down the country, but with a car, a rail timetable and a map i have no doubt i will be able to get around and achieve my goal. I will write a journal for each match and my travel to and from the match to keep you informed of how I am doing, and lets hope that the British weather doesn't have too much of an impact especially during the winter months ahead. For all of you not familiar with how the FA Cup works, the problems I will possibly have to deal with are postponements and replays. Travelling to a match on a Saurday afternoon is not a problem, however should the Saturday game be a draw then the replay will be 10 days after probably on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening, that is when I could possibly have problems.  I could end up having to travel to Carlisle or Hartlepool lets say for a midweek replay, and that is about an 800 mile round trip. Could be interesting.

The team I have decided to start following is HORNDEAN FC which is fairly local to me and their match in the extra preliminary round is against CALNE TOWN FC on Saturday. August 17th. If there is anyone out there who wishes to join me at any of the games then please feel free to contact me so that I can make any necessary arrangements.

As all of my friends and relatives know my wife Diane has had MS for 18 years and has been through some tough times, but the MS Society has always been there for her when she needed help, so this is my chance to say a big thank you to them and try and raise much needed funds for the society in their ongoing battle with this very debilitating disease which affects many many people. It would be great if you could help me achieve my target of £1000. If you wish to donate any funds, please feel free to make it a one off figure or even an amount per match, it really is up to you.

Finally, just so everyone is aware, all expenses incurred during my travels around the country will come out of my own pocket. I will not take any expenses out of the final amount raised.

Many thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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