Bulls' FA clash makes it onto the Beeb

Saturday 18 September 2021

Jersey Bulls will today hit a major milestone in their footballing journey - with today's FA Cup clash due to be broadcast on national television.

The Bulls’ match against Sutton Common Rovers will be shown on iPlayer and the BBC’s Red Button services.

Hosted by Radio 5 Live and Match of the Day commentator Conor McNamara, the game is a second qualifying round fixture, and will be shown at 12:30.

It comes following a season of FA Cup success for the Bulls, having won:

• 10 - 1 against Horsham YMCA
• 4 - 0 against Newhaven
• 5 - 1 against VCD Athletic

Speaking to Express yesterday, team Captain James Querée said of the match: "It's going to be amazing, the hype around the game, it's a great benchmark for how far the club's come in a short lifespan.

"As players, it's everything we want to be - we want to be playing in a magical competition such as the FA Cup, and for it to be televised nationally is going to be incredible to part of."

Pictured: The match will be played today at 12:30.

However, he said he wanted the team to keep a level head on the day itself: "Come 12:30 tomorrow with kick-off, we're going to hopefully just concentrate on the game at hand and hopefully it will be no different to any other game."

He added that "playing against a team in a league above, we'll probably go in there as underdogs, and hopefully try and get a positive result."

For underdogs, it's certainly been a successful season so far - one of the highlights for the team this year has been its record 10 - 1 win against Horsham YMCA.

"To be honest I don't think I've ever won a game by so much, even at junior level! So it was quite surreal in that aspect - like any competitive game, you would never want to be on the receiving end, and credit to the team, they had a lot of good sportsmanship," James said.

"For us I think every opportunity that presented itself seemed to go in the back of the net, so it wasn't for us to try and be ruthless, but the fans enjoyed it, we enjoyed it as players and it was good to score some goals in front of fans again."

Pictured: James said the team could not be complacent with the step up in competition this season. (Sportcast Jersey)

Looking ahead in the season, James said he was anticipating challenges, and the team being taken into new territory, noting that "each week becomes the most important game."

"We've already noticed a step up in competition where we can't be complacent and as players we've got to improve a lot - but that's exactly what we want," he said.

"To an extent, whilst it's nice to be victorious every week, you want that challenge - and when we come against those challenges, that's when we grow the most as players and a team."