FA Trophy 2026-27 3rd Qualifying Round Review
by Phil Annets – @FATrophyFacts on X
Stat of the Round
Bootle FC has now won all three FA Trophy matches this season by scoring five goals in each game, twice posting club a record win for the competition!
First time in 1st Round ever
Three Bridges – 14th campaign
Cleethorpes Town – 10th campaign
Deal Town – 9th campaign
Hanworth Villa – 5th campaign
Newmarket Town – 4th campaign
Erith Town – 3rd campaign
Loughborough Students – 3rd campaign
Bury FC – 2nd campaign
Redcar Athletic – 2nd campaign
Takeley FC – 2nd campaign
Clubs That Started in Preliminary Round and Through To FA Trophy 1st Round
Deal Town, Egham Town
Equalling best run to 1st Round
Bromsgrove Sporting – 3rd time in 9 campaigns
Waltham Abbey – 2nd time in 21 campaigns
Faversham Town – 2nd time in 16 campaigns
Egham Town – 2nd time in 11 campaigns
Berkhamsted FC – 2nd time in 9 campaigns
Quorn FC – 2nd time in 9 campaigns
Avro FC – 2nd time in 4 campaigns
First time in 1st Round in a while
54 years – Bourne Town
24 years – Egham Town (10 campaigns)
22 years – Bridlington Town (9 campaigns)
12 years – Didcot Town
7 years – Sholing FC
6 years – Evesham United
5 years – Berkhamsted FC, Bootle FC, Faversham Town (3 campaigns)
4 years – Carshalton Athletic, Kettering Town
Into 1st Round and long time since last KO before it
11 years – Bath City
10 years – Eastbourne Borough
8 years – Curzon Ashton
7 years – Alfreton Town, Gloucester City, St Albans City
Never KO before 1st Round (Min 3 campaigns)
None
First time knocked out as Early as 3rd Qualifying Round ever (Min 3 campaigns)
None
First time Knocked Out Before 1st Round for a while
10 years – Havant and Waterlooville
7 years – Bishop’s Stortford, Chippenham Town, Peterborough Sports
5 years – Alvechurch FC
4 years – Bamber Bridge, Chatham Town, FC United of Manchester
Knocked out in 3rd Qualifying Round and a while since going beyond it
28 years – Racing Club Warwick (7 campaigns)
22 years – Bedworth United
6 years – Hitchin Town, Maldon and Tiptree, Moneyfields FC (3 campaigns), Welwyn Garden City
5 years – Stalybridge Celtic, Willand Rovers
4 years – Hayes and Yeading United
Consecutive 3rd Qualifying Round KOs
5 – Tiverton Town, Whitby Town
4 – Lancaster City
3 – Guisborough Town (across 34 years), Ramsgate FC, Stamford FC, Thame United
Avenged Previous FA Trophy Defeat
Matlock Town 0-4 Kettering Town (Last met 50 years ago)
Ashford United 0-0 Deal Town (5-6 pens) (After 2 previous defeats)
Aveley FC 3-1 Ware FC (last met 47 years ago)
Hastings United 2-1 Dulwich Hamlet (After 2 previous defeats)
Biggest Wins of the 3rd Qualifying Round
Six Goals
Waltham Abbey 7-1 Croydon Athletic (Joint BIGGEST FA Trophy WIN and BIGGEST margin of DEFEAT)
Five Goals
Bootle FC 5-0 Emley AFC (Joint BIGGEST FA Trophy WIN and BIGGEST margin of DEFEAT)
Four Goals
Matlock Town 0-4 Kettering Town (Joint BIGGEST margin of DEFEAT)
Burgess Hill Town 6-2 Winslow United (Joint BIGGEST FA Trophy WIN and FIRST Trophy DEFEAT)
Cleethorpes Town 5-1 Lancaster City (BIGGEST FA Trophy WIN)
Gloucester City 4-0 Stafford Rangers (Joint BIGGEST margin of DEFEAT)
Cupsets
Away
Maldon and Tiptree (3) 0-2 Egham Town (4)
Stanway Rovers (3) 0-2 Faversham Town (4)
Alvechurch FC (3) 1-2 Bourne Town (4)
Stamford FC (3) 1-2 Loughborough Students (4)
Matlock Town 0-4 Kettering Town (Joint BIGGEST margin of DEFEAT)
Brentwood Town (3) 3-3 Hashtag United (4) (4-5 pens)
Chippenham Town (3) 2-2 Weymouth FC (4) (3-5 pens)
Home
Bootle FC (4) 4-0 Emley AFC (3)
Bridlington Town (4) 3-0 Whitby Town (3)
Takeley FC (4) 2-0 Hitchin Town (3)
Hastings United (4) 2-1 Dulwich Hamlet (3)
Newmarket Town (4) 2-1 Leighton Town (3)
Didcot Town (4) 0-0 Bracknell Town (3) (3-2 pens)
Mickleover FC (4) 1-1 Malvern Town (3) (4-3 pens)
Hat-tricks and more
4 – Kamarni Ryan (Whitehawk FC)
3 – Ben Baker (Waltham Abbey)
3 – Jay Murray (Taunton Town)
3 – Josh Walker (Cleethorpes Town)
3 – Kai Brown (St Albans City)
Miscellaneous
None