Is It That Time Already?

Yes, that team from Bury are coming.

The side once modestly described by a club spokesman on GMR (as it was then) as the alternative to professional football make their first trip to Seel Park.

In their brief existence FCUB XI have had countless players on their books who used to play for Mossley such as (deep breath) Billy McCartney, Phil Melville, Leon Mike, Rhodri Giggs and countless others including the Lilywhites most successful goalkeeper - Tony Coyne, who will forever live in Mossley AFC folklore for his traffic cone assisted jig in a Service Station, just outside Oxford, on our way back from an FA Vase game in Lymington.

Only one player has come in the opposite direction: Adie Orr, who managed just 4appearances before disappearing into the unknown. Only to re-emerge once again this season at Chadderton which, truth be told, is almost the same thing.

FCUB's squad currently contains a few players who were crowd favourites at Seel Park in Matty Taylor and Josh Howard (still sadly sidelined by a long term injury). Oh yes, and on a completely unrelated matter, Dave Brown and Rory Patterson also play for them as well.

Both sides are currently in something of a slump and both come into this match having conceded four goals to a team occupying one of the top two positions in the league. FCUB are also, as the Evening News likes to remind us almost every night, in the midst of an injury crisis and as well as Josh Howard they have keeper Sam Ashton out, centre half Rob Nugent a doubt and Stuart Rudd has been a long term absentee through injury.

Prediction: I'll go with my head and say a draw. I'd dearly love my heart to be right though so fingers crossed that come Wednesday, there'll be little to no mention of the match in the Evening News, meaning that we won.