Salford make switch

Source: TheFA.com

By Alan Wilson. Thursday, 16 November 2006.

Salford City v FC United of Manchester
The FA Carlsberg Vase
Second Round Proper
12.00 noon, Saturday 18 November 2006
£1,000 to each winning club
Click here for the weekend's fixture list

Salford City chairman Darren Quick is keen to retain the Manchester bragging rights when his side face local rivals FC United in The FA Vase Second Round.

Salford ended United's unbeaten start to the season with 2-1 victory in the league early in October.

And Quick is hoping for more of the same this time around saying: "This has got to be the tie of the round.

"We beat them in the league a few weeks ago and that was their first defeat. We are very proud of that and pleased with the draw because we really want to beat our neighbours."

FC United started life in a blaze of publicity when a group of disgruntled Manchester United fans decided to form their own club in response to the arrival of Malcolm Glazer at Old Trafford.

And their links to Sir Alex Ferguson's side afford them an enormous fan base both home and away and add to the rivalry amongst the local sides.

With such massive interest in this FA Vase game, Salford have switched the tie to a neutral venue with an increased capacity on police advice, but that has brought problems of its own.

"Because of the amount of interest shown in the game we have had to switch the game to the local rugby league side where we can get more fans in," Quick added.

"We are expecting a crowd of between five and six thousand. We had the choice of playing the game at our place and getting a crowd of about 1,200 or switching the tie to cope with the demand.

"That brings as many problems because we have got to pay for the rent and also the policing of the tie and those aren't cheap.

"The home tie in the league was very good for us because that was a much needed cash injection."