FA Cup first round draw: Horsham off to Barnsley; Worthing and Crawley Town also discover their fate

The draw was made – and shown live on ITV – by former Cup winner Paul Parker and Jobi McAnuff on Sunday afternoon and no-one was anticipating it more keenly than Worthing and Horsham fans.

The Rebels have made the first round after many years of hard luck stories and one or two near misses, while Dom Di Paola has led the Hornets to this stage for the seocnd time in three years – his Isthmian premier side having lost at Carlisle in the first round in 2021.

Worthing were given a rather disappointing draw away to Alfreton Town of National League North. So that’s not the glamour tie they’d have wanted against a League One or Two side but against a team from the same level as them, they will believe they have a chance of getting through.

But there was great news for Horsham – they will go to Barnsley, who play in League One and were briefly a Premier League club a quarter of a century ago. The Hornets are sure to take a huge number of fans to Oakwell.

Worthing v Bath City FA Cup tie in Mike Gunn’s pictures..

Picture special from Horsham v Dorking Wanderers.

Meanwhile Crawley Town, of League Two, begin their own Cup run at this stage, along with the 47 other League One and League Two clubs.

The Reds were drawn away to Notts County – a tough tie as the Magpies are riding high in League Two, sitting second after a strong start to 2023-24.

Ties are due to be played over the long weekend of November 3 to November 6.

We’ll have more reaction to the draw on this website in the coming days.