As teams from the Football League join in this season’s FA Cup, Steve Sharman hopped on the supporters’ coach to follow the lowest-ranked team left in the competition – Maldon & Tiptree – to Vale Park, in the hope of seeing an upset against League One Port Vale in the first round.
The romance of the FA Cup is far from dead. Despite the best efforts of FIFA, Infantino, VAR, and all the other needless interventions that seem designed solely to suck the life out of football, the prospect of a non-league side comprised of milkmen, brickies, and teachers playing against a professional side is a match-up that always captures the imagination of the football world.
And so it was for my local team, Maldon & Tiptree, drawn in the first round of the FA Cup away to Port Vale. On the day of the game, almost 100 places separated the sides in the football pyramid; Maldon sitting second in the Isthmian League North table, Vale languishing down in 21st and in the League One relegation zone.
The town of Maldon has been full of excitement ever since the TV cameras came to the Drewitt-Barlow Stadium to film a live reaction to the draw. There have been posters around the town, and high-street shops have featured window displays urging the Jammers to make the town proud. It’s the biggest game in the club’s history, and everyone is talking about it.
Since the Drewitt-Barlow Organisation (DBO) completed a takeover at the club earlier this year, chairman Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and his team have worked hard to raise the club’s media profile. However, despite the team’s admirable efforts, there is arguably limited interest in the Isthmian League North beyond Essex, East Anglia, and dedicated followers of non-league football – so the attention this cup run has brought has been like multiple Christmases arriving at once.
As the lowest-ranked team left in the cup, the nation’s media has descended on Maldon, pens clicked, cliches ready to be rolled out. Captain Jack Cawley posed in front of the ground in his black cab, and the David-against-Goliath troupe was all set to get a thorough workout.
But as those paying attention to the Essex Riviera for the first time are discovering, this is no ordinary underdog story, and Maldon are not just travelling to Vale Park to make up the numbers.
Up the Jammers – Maldon & Tiptree
Formed in 2010 following a merger between Maldon Town and Tiptree United, the Jammers are a club on the move. Since the DBO takeover, the management has been very clear in the ultimate goal – promotion from the Isthmian League North to the Football League – and has invested both on and off the pitch in line with this aim.
Unusually for step four, Maldon have been able to offer one- and two-year contracts, with a small number of players signed on full-time. Players have stepped down from leagues above to buy into the DBO project – a project that expands well beyond on-pitch success.
In addition to launching a brand new women’s team and restructuring the academy set-up, the club have invested significantly in improving the matchday experience, from live football on big screens pre- and post-3 pm kick-offs, to a refurbished bar, vastly improved food options, and even a newly built outdoor bar. Through the Jammers Fan Association (JFA), the club works hard to support the local community, and has also recently launched a BTEC Football Programme.
However, as many have found out before, money is no guarantee of success; 1st team manager, ex-Manchester City and Northern Ireland midfielder Kevin Horlock, has the task of maintaining on-field success and off-field harmony in an expensively put together squad, a squad he has humbly described as the best ever assembled at step four.
Under the pressure that comes from high-profile signings, massive budgets, and vocalising ambition, the 2025/26 season is, thus far, largely running to plan. At the time of writing, Maldon & Tiptree sit second in the league, one point behind leaders Felixstowe and Walton, with two games in hand.
Despite their relatively lowly place in the football pyramid, Maldon are no strangers to the first round proper of the FA Cup. The Jammers reached the first round as recently as the 2020/21 season, losing narrowly to League Two Morecambe (0-1). They went one better in the 2019/20 season, stunning Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road (2-1), before being beaten 1-0 at home by Newport County in the second round.
Back to 2025 and beyond the bread and butter of the league campaign, the FA Cup run has provided a most excellent distraction. Maldon’s run to Vale Park started back in the extra preliminary round in August, with a resounding 5-0 home win against Essex Senior League side Buckhurst Hill. Victories against Southern League Division One Central side Hadley (2-1), Isthmian Premier League strugglers Canvey Island (2-0), league-mates Stanway Rovers (2-0), and Waltham Abbey (4-2) set up a clash with Flackwell Heath of the Southern League Central Division in the 4th and final qualifying round. A narrow 1-0 victory followed, ensuring the Jammers were in the hat for the 1st round draw.
Cue the cameras, the draw, and an away tie at Port Vale.
Sing When You’re Winning – Port Vale
From a club with eyes firmly fixed on the future, to a team with a long and rich history. Although playing under a number of different guises across the centuries, Port Vale have been around since being invited, as Burslem Port Vale, to be founder members of the Second Division of the Football League in 1892.
Hailing from Burslem in Stoke-on-Trent, Port Vale – despite their long history and famous supporters in the shape of popstar Robbie Williams and darts legend Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor – have never once, in over 100 years, made it to the top-flight of English football – an ongoing record. The Valiants’ best-ever league finish is fifth in the old Second Division, dizzy heights reached in the 1930/31 season.
The Valiants play their home games at Vale Park, where they moved in 1950, meaning that for a long time, when I was a kid, they were the ‘other’ answer to the quiz question ‘which two football league teams have part of the name of the team, in the name of their home ground?’ This question has been somewhat spoiled by the never-ending modernisation and unimaginative expansion of football, with grounds such as the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the City of Manchester Stadium replacing White Hart Lane and Maine Road, respectively, to swell the once semi-exclusive list.
The other reason Port Vale entered the consciousness of teenage Steve was the outrageous frequency at which Vale striker Martin Foyle appeared in my ProSet card collection. Whereas the likes of Lee Chapman and Paul McGrath were as rare as hen’s teeth, Martin Foyle seemed to pop up in every other pack; I swear I had about 35 copies of the card for a man who was, until recently, Vale’s all-time top scorer.
Although Foyle was part of the Port Vale team that lifted the Football League Trophy in 1993, the Valiants’ best run in the FA Cup came significantly before his time. In the 1953/54 competition, the men from Burslem won 3-1 at Darlington, 2-0 in a replay at home against Southport (following a 2-2 draw in the first game), before winning 1-0 at Queens Park Rangers in the third round. Cardiff City were beaten in the fourth round and Blackpool in the fifth, both by a 2-0 scoreline, before a 1-0 win in the quarter-final was enough to set up a semi-final with West Bromwich Albion. Sadly, the Baggies proved too strong, beating Vale 2-1 at Villa Park (Villa Park also being part of the answer to the question above, if you were still wondering!).
Current form and league position indicate that if and when these sides meet again, the near 100-place pyramid gap may be a little smaller. However, for today’s first-ever meeting between these two sides, the stage is very much set for another chapter of FA Cup folklore to be written.
On the Road
Matchday eventually rolls around, and I’m awake long before my 6.45 am alarm bursts into life. This is a day of firsts, for me as a groundhopper and a supporter; first time to Vale Park, first time travelling as part of a formal supporters group, first time heading to a match on the fan coach, but definitely not the first time travelling infinitely more in hope than expectation – I am, after all, a Derby County fan at heart.
The clouds are heavy, and the rain starts to fall when I’m still a five-minute walk from the coach meeting point at the DBO stadium. At the ground, we huddle under a small canopy to avoid the rain, and there are a few nervous glances at watches – it’s time to leave, and the coaches are nowhere to be seen.
An inauspicious start…
As the coaches eventually arrive, as do a couple of guys flogging half-n-half Port Vale / Maldon & Tiptree scarves. I’ve absolutely no idea where they appeared from, but I have to respect the inventiveness of opportunism. We board the coaches and eventually get moving about 40 minutes later than planned. I’m travelling up today with my mate Lewis (Spurs), my brother-in-law Alex (Arsenal) and Ray (West Ham), the dad of another guy I know through our kids being at the same school. The journey starts relatively quiet – it’s still pretty early for a Sunday morning, and there’s definitely an element of calm before the storm.
We eventually stop at Norton Canes services for breakfast, and as the fans travelling on all three coaches spill out onto the tarmac and into the services, it’s almost like the day has finally started.
The rain has stopped, the clouds have lifted, and the sky is a wonderful, clear blue. The beers are cracked open, there’s time to squeeze in a cheeky breakfast baguette, and there is even some over-excited breakdancing. Chairman Barrie is busy antagonising Vale fans online, and as we herd back onto the coaches, the atmosphere has changed completely. The self-appointed DJ blasts out some appropriate tunes – the Maldon podcast theme tune ‘Pump Up The Jams’, the deliberately antagonistic Stoke City favourite ‘Delilah’, and the ever-popular Sweet Caroline. He even tries to sneak in ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, but that is quickly booed off.
This is fun. There’s a brilliant community feel, and something intoxicating about being part of a group with a shared goal and being part of something bigger. Tom Jones’ Delilah gets another airing as the coach winds through Burslem, and excitement levels are still rising. We are directed to park at the back of the leisure centre and can see Vale Park perched on the top of the hill.
Like a slightly lethargic blue-and-white snake, we stretch our limbs and wind our way up the path from the coaches and, after a brief pat-down, make our way through the turnstiles. Well, Lewis, Alex, and I do. Ray’s ticket won’t scan, and it turns out that his daughter, who bought the ticket for him, has managed to buy a ticket for the home end! Thankfully, the Port Vale stewards are very kind and understanding, and after a brief chat, they are happy to let him join us in the away end.
Vale Park is a cracking old football ground that oozes character. Four stands, rusting turnstiles, crumbling brick, and no covered concourse – just an outdoor bar space that is down enough steps to make Ray and his bad knees turn the air blue. It’s an area completely exposed to the elements, which today is fine, as although it is cold, the sky is clear and the winter sun is shining. There’s none of the luxury Premier League fans may be used to, and it feels like a throwback to how football used to be.
How, some might say, it should be.
Excitement rises in the pen as the pints flow more freely and kick-off moves ever closer. Shouts of ‘Jammers, Jammers’ fill the cold air, and before long, we all start to move back up the stairs to take our place in the away end.
The Maldon faithful are in good voice as the players come over at the end of their warm-up to give us a hearty round of applause. Some players are clearly just as excited as we are, although such is the calibre of Maldon’s squad, a fair number – more than you might expect – have played at Vale Park before.
On the Pitch
The match kicks off, and the gulf in league position is not immediately obvious. There’s always an underlying fear that when a minnow faces a giant, the giant hasn’t read the fairytale script and proceeds to crush the minnow into oblivion.
Just ask Bon Accord…
Just as we settle into thinking we might be in with a chance here, the unthinkable happens. Under pressure from winger Tyrell Egbri, a Port Vale clearance only falls as far as defender Cameron James. James’ pinpoint ball into the box is met with aplomb by striker Anisius Lewis, who sweeps the non-league side into the lead.
Disbelief in the away end, unbridled joy mixed with shock. Maldon are in the lead!! The scoreboard just to our right beams the unbelievable into TV screens across the country.
Port Vale 0 Maldon & Tiptree 1.
For a moment, the hosts look rattled, and suddenly what seemed so impossible – a mere dream in the heart of the Jammers just moments ago – now seems a very real possibility, and the ‘Jam! Salt!’ chant sweeps across the terraces.
The hosts have other ideas. They have no intention of being the sacrificial giant in this fairytale. Eleven minutes after the Jammers took the lead, Port Vale midfielder Ruari Paton is allowed to turn on the edge of the box and fire low into the corner to bring the scores level.
What feels like seconds later, Vale attack again. Devante Cole – son of former Newcastle, Manchester United, and England striker Andy Cole – floats a ball to the far post, and winger George Hall finds himself in enough space to plant a firm volley past the Maldon ‘keeper, Elliot Justham.
Within 90 seconds, it’s 3-1. Paton again collects a loose ball on the edge of the box, weaves past a couple of desperate challenges, and slots the ball into the back of the net. A stunning 3-goal 5-minute spell for Vale, and Maldon are shell-shocked.
A lad behind me jokes we need half-time to come, and he’s not wrong. Port Vale are getting a lot of joy in wide areas – winger George Hall is giving Maldon full-back Matt Yates a torrid time – and it is Hall who again gets free in the box before pulling the ball back to Cole to lash a fourth high into the net. It’s 4-1, with barely 25 minutes on the clock.
What started like a dream has very quickly turned into something of a nightmare, as the realisation sets in that if Port Vale continue to carve the usually reliable Maldon backline open with such consummate ease, this could get very embarrassing indeed.
After the chaotic opening, the game settles down a little. The goalmouth action is more limited, and the game feels more or less over as a contest. Justham makes a couple of decent saves, and Paton senses the chance of a hat-trick, but the whistle blows for half-time, and Maldon have made it to the break with no further damage. We head back down the stone stairs for a quick beer as the temperature plummets in accordance with the sun dipping below the silhouette of the main stand. There’s a more nervous energy now, as the threat of humiliation hangs heavy in the air.
When we eventually drag Ray away from flirting with the very chatty steward, we head back to our seats for the second half. Ten minutes in, Paton is denied again, but from the resulting corner, a flicked header finds Cole, who reacts instinctively to finish from inside the six-yard box. It’s 5-1 to the Valiants, and I’m sick of hearing that bloody Palace-copycat ‘Glad all over’ song that is played after each goal.
At their own level, Maldon are usually physically dominant. Justham looms like a colossus between the sticks, whilst centre-backs Tom Eastman and Jack Cawley win everything in front of him. But today, Vale have just been that class above – Devante Cole in particular, his movement graceful and precise, like a tiger stalking his prey, waiting for the moment to pounce. Vale have been clinical in the big moments, the 100-place difference in league positions painfully evident.
The fourth official shows us that there are seven minutes of injury time to be played, and there’s a collective groan from around pretty much the whole ground. The sun has long since disappeared as quickly as dreams of the second round and beyond, and it is bloody freezing. The game is over, and no one needs this.
Paton surges clear again in injury time, and his shot crashes into the side netting and somehow breaks the goal. It seems as though common sense will prevail and we can see out the last 30 seconds, but no, there’s a 2-3 minute delay whilst we find someone with enough gaffa to put a temporary fix in place.
When we eventually restart, there’s enough time for Vale to score again from a corner, but it’s disallowed, and that’s pretty much the last action.
Full-time, Port Vale 5 Maldon & Tiptree 1
Take me Home
At the final whistle, it’s merely a job done for Port Vale. For Maldon, it is the end of an extraordinary journey from the extra preliminary qualifying round, all the way to the first round proper. The players come over as one to salute the travelling support, and although they are dejected and exhausted, they can hold their heads up high. Despite the result, the love is very much returned from the stand, and we couldn’t be prouder of the lads for making it this far.
As the players troop off, we exit via the back of the stand and walk through the dark back to waiting coaches. I look back at Vale Park, shining a blaze of lights on the hilltop, and Essex seems a long way away right now.
The bus is considerably quieter on the way home; there’s no disco, just the droning background buzz of commentary on the Man City v Bournemouth game. Out the windows, it’s pitch black, and we all settle into our seats to reflect on the day.
The FA Cup odyssey may be over for this year, the dream of a history-making giant killing put to bed, but today showed everything that has made generations of football fans fall in love with the world’s oldest football competition.
It made us believe.
For eleven glorious minutes, we truly believed.
We forgot everything else; all of life’s wider problems faded to nothing. When Lewis volleyed us into the lead, it truly felt like the impossible could happen, and if this could happen, then anything is possible.
Ultimately, the gulf in class showed, and Port Vale were worthy winners, but this cup run and this team have helped Jammers fans forge memories to last a lifetime.
Long live the FA Cup!
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