Redcar Town's Historic FA Cup Match Against Darlington

Redcar Town’s first-ever FA Cup campaign has already rewritten the club’s history. Now it steps onto the national stage.

BBC Sport has chosen the Emirates FA Cup second round qualifying tie between Redcar Town and Darlington for live broadcast, a rare spotlight for a club only just finding its feet in the competition. The game will be shown on BBC iPlayer, the Red Button, BBC Football’s YouTube channel and the BBC Sport website, with kick-off at 12:30pm on Saturday 19 September.

For Redcar, this is more than a fixture. It is a reward for a stirring run that has carried them past Newcastle Benfield, Bridlington Town and Blyth Spartans. Each win pushed the boundary of what this debut campaign could be. Each win made the next round feel a little less like a dream.

Next Opponent

Now comes Darlington.

The visitors, from National League North, enter the FA Cup at this stage, bringing with them a higher-division pedigree and the expectation that they should handle the occasion. They will walk into Mo Mowlam Memorial Park as favourites, as the seasoned side in a competition they know well.

But the cameras are coming to Redcar, not the other way round. The underdogs have earned that.

Mo Mowlam Memorial Park will host a tie that captures what this part of the FA Cup is all about: a first-timer’s charge through the early rounds, a non-league heavyweight arriving to test their resolve, and the entire country able to watch it unfold live.

For Redcar Town, this isn’t just a historic debut. It’s a chance to show, in front of a national audience, how far a first step in the FA Cup can really go.