Round One has kicked off, so here’s an overview of who’s playing.
Match A – StillluvQPR #39 v Vanishing Spray FC #36
The reigning Champions were first out of the draw and their first hurdle is the highest-positioned club in the First Round. Vanishing Spray improved from last place to 5th with four wins from five games, and a draw last week brought them level on points with fourth. These two have never played each other in the BFFA, despite being in the association for nine and eleven seasons respectively.
The winner of this game will meet the winner of Match G, Borussia Teeth vs. Atletico Topo Chico.
Match B – Gnonto Seed #24 v East Loop United #38
The highest-scoring side going into the First Round are previous runners-up Gnonto Seed. As Wijnaldum Leviosa, they went all the way in 2019 from the First Round to the Final, only to be beaten there by an incredible 79-59 against Smash & Grab. This weekend they are up against another team that lost in a BFFA Cup Final, two years before them.
They and East Loop United have drawn swords in Cup competition not once, not twice, but three times before. In Season 3, ELU won 38-37 in the Quarter-Final. They went on to be Runners-Up.
In Season 6, Gnonto Seed won 56-36 in Round One. They were knocked out in the next round.
And in Season 8, Gnonto Seed won 61-57 in Round Two. They made it as far as the Quarter-Finals.
The winner of this game will unfortunately face #1-ranked Gloopy Yarbles in Round Two.
Match C – Sporting Wicker Park #35 v Partey Time FC #34
Our third tie gives us the biggest gap between the two sides; this weekend they are 29 places apart. However, they are having near-identical seasons so far – both are 8-0-11 in the league, both have won just one of their last four, and the two teams have scored practically the same; Partey being marginally better with 657 FPts over SWP’s 650.
The newcomers were bottom of League Two for four weeks, but have since crawled their way back upto seventh. Meanwhile, Wicker Park have been zigzagging through the Premier League going from tenth to third then back down to eighth. Sporting Wicker Park are another side that have been to the Final but lost on the big day, back in 2016, and they were also Semi-Finalists last season going out to HLAB (appearing in Match H).
The winner of this game gets a home fixture against League Two leaders Boudi’s Crew.
Match D – AI-Jiggery-Pokery #32 v GoFysFC #40
The next rookies to appear in the 2025 Cup are AI-Jiggery-Pokery, and they’ve been given the ranked-40th side to begin against in the start of their BFFA Cup story. GoFysFC, one of our original members, have not yet made it to the Cup Quarter-Finals, but have appeared in Champions League QF’s and SF’s and won the Premier League. So there’s no denying that GoFys are capable.
Eerily, both sides are using the Brighton Verbruggen-Steele goalkeeper handcuffs (also, both started the season with a Verbruggen-José Sá combo!), and both have Raúl Jiménez & Jhon Durán attacking options. So this could be an incredibly close game. The winner of which will go up against League Two’s Jaysokker who are currently second.
Match E – IB Lausig #27 v Uncle Monty #29
In the first of two league-rivals ties, the Championship’s IB Lausig (6th) re-meet Uncle Monty (8th), and this one is a League-and-Cup double-header!
In Gameweek 2, IB Lausig thrashed the two-time league champions Uncle Monty 57-30, and then in GW11 they did it again, 48-29. This weekend is doubly important as both sides need a few wins to catch up with the rest of the teams above them.
The winner will be rewarded with another all-Championship knockout match.
Match F – Harambe Hotspur #37 v Flubbing Yanks #33
League Two’s bottom two sides have been given probably the best opportunity to turn their season around and find something new to fight for. Although the league table may seem bleak to them, one of them will be going through to the next stage. However… that said, the next game will be against #3 All Star Gunners, so it will be a tough ask to get themselves into the Third Round Draw. Regardless of the odds, the first step is getting the GW20 win.
Previously, both have won one against the other – Harambe won 41-26 in GW6, Flubbing Yanks won 33-29 in GW15. Also, this week they are both facing bottom half sides in the league, against whom they have won both previous games, so one of these two could be lining up for double joy on Monday night.
Match G – Borussia Teeth #30 v Atletico Topo Chico #25
The highest league position held by our sixteen first rounders is the 3rd place commanded by ATC. The Championship side have been flirting with promotion all season, never lower than 7th and tickling 2nd in GW11. Their Cup campaign last season took them as far as the Quarter-Finals, the furtherest they’ve got to date.
The pair have interestingly managed to avoid each other in the league (and inter-league) formats. When ATC joined in 2020, Chicken and Bacon Sané were already in League One. The next season they were both promoted, and the following year ATC joined the Championship while C&BS took their place in League One.
Borussia Teeth on the other hand have somewhat of an aversion to the Cup, being knocked out in either the first or second rounds of all 11 previous tourneys. But while history is against them, this could be their year (or maybe their week). With Alexander Isak hitting a purple patch just in time for Cup season, Borussia Teeth definitely should not be written off before it has begun.
The winner of this game will play another First Round winner in the Last 32. That will be either StillluvQPR or Vanishing Spray of Match A.
Match H – AFC Chester #28 v HLAB #31
And finally, we meet the 2024 runners-up HLAB who, after a stellar 2023/24, have found life in the Premier League rather difficult. They had some success in the group stage of the Champions League, but ran aground in the QFs against the winningest team in the BFFA, Housewives Favourite. Their Premier League Rivals beat them in both legs there, and also twice in the Premier League – GW10 (L27-23) and last week (L44-43). Both very tight games, unlike their match on the opening weekend of the season, HLAB won 65-46.
Unfortunately for them, if they beat AFC Chester this weekend, then they must play Wives Fave once more in GW23. Similarly, I don’t think Chester are relishing the idea of meeting Wives Fave again either. That said, they’ve only met once before – in the BFFA Cup (2023, QF); Chester won 74-70!
And because I like sharing BFFA history – this fixture has been played 11 times before. HLAB won 7, Chester won 4. They played a Second Round match in the 2020 BFFA Cup, HLAB won 46-44. That same season, HLAB beat Chester twice in the Champions League Group Stage, winning another two games narrowly – 32-29 & 32-28.
AFC Chester got the better of HLAB in the Championship in Season 7, winning three and losing once, but last season they were reunited and HLAB showed no mercy. The champions-in-the-making thumped Chester 87-18, 81-55 and 110-67 on their way to promotion, allowing Chester just one win for a 37-33 mid-season half-effort.
But back to the game in hand – Chester, ranked 28th, are 7th in League One and six points behind sixth (Borussia Teeth). After winning just one of their first ten games, they then won six of the following eight to restore some pride, regain some hope. A new re-energised Chester is what we may see in Match H this weekend. Will Muniz and Wissa outscore the strong but faltering Watkins and Havertz?
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