Seaford Town have set a new FA Cup record for the longest period of time between appearing in the competition.
The Sussex non-league team have not featured in football’s oldest competition for over a century, with their last appearance coming in the 1911-12 season.
But their 104-year hiatus came to an end on Saturday, when they took on Sutton Athletic in the extra preliminary round.
The seaside club, who play in the Southern Combination Premier Division – ninth-tier of English football – welcome their Kent opponents to their home ground, The Crouch.
News of the historic feat has spread on social media, with TNT Sports alerting fans to this on X.
Their official account wrote: “Seaford Town FC will set a new FA Cup record today for the longest time between appearing in the competition (104 campaigns).
“The seaside club hasn’t featured since the 1911-12 season and is run purely by volunteers.”
Seaford will be targeting a better result than in their previous FA Cup campaign, as they suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Vernon Athletic in the preliminary round over 100 years ago.
The seasiders’ remarkable feat sees them surpass fellow non league side Beverley Town in the history books, who previously spent the longest time away from the competition.
Last season, the Yorkshire outfit ended their 99-year FA Cup absence, having last featured in October 1919.
Unfortunately for Beverley, things didn’t quite go according to plan, as they were beaten 3-2 by Whitley Bay.
Seaford will be hoping their long-awaited return to the big time brings more joy, with plans in place to mark the historic occasion.
Ahead of their clash, the club announced on social media that a special match day programme will be available for fans to buy.
They are in short supply though, with only 100 copies being produced for supporters to get their hands on.
The piece of memorabilia will also mark another of Seaford’s recent achievements, with a commemorative poster marking their league title success last season also on offer.
In April, the East Sussex side celebrated promotion from the Southern Combination Division One after finishing top of the league.
The club wrote on X: “We have a very special match day programme on offer tomorrow for £2!!!
“This programme will allow to own a piece of our history as we celebrate not only our first FA Cup appearance since 1911, but will get you a commemorative poster showing last year’s league winners!!
“Only 100 available so make sure you’re down early at The Crouch tomorrow to get your hands on this unique piece of our club!!”
According to Football Grounds Map, Seaford’s home ground has a capacity of 1,000, with official figures from the league reporting an average crowd of 110 last season.
But this figure will surely be exceeded in the FA Cup, as the non league outfit prepare for a huge day in their history.
Should Seaford enjoy a fairy-tale result on their cup return, they will still be five games away from reaching the first-round proper.
In total, 124 teams will take part in the main draw of the FA Cup, with 655 teams across the fifth to ninth tiers of English football competing across six rounds for 32 spots in the first round.