There are stories in football that remind you why the game matters, and Northwich Victoria's run to the FA Cup third round is one of them. The Vics, who play in the Northern Premier League at step five of the non-league pyramid, beat Wrexham 2-1 on Tuesday evening to reach the third round for the first time in the club's 152-year history. The ground held perhaps 1,400 people, most of them standing, all of them making enough noise for ten times that number.
Manager Tony Birch, a former plasterer who took the job three years ago for expenses and a share of gate receipts, was visibly emotional at the final whistle. "I don't have the words," he said in the post-match interview, before proceeding to find quite a few of them. He spoke about the volunteers who paint the ground, the committee members who spend their weekends selling raffle tickets, the players who hold down full-time jobs and train twice a week under floodlights that have needed replacing since 2019. "This club is those people," he said. "Tonight is for them."
Goals from striker Liam Osei — a warehouse operative from Winsford who has been at the club since he was sixteen — and a late header from centre-back Dean Hartley secured the win. Wrexham, now a League One side with Hollywood backing and international attention, were gracious in defeat. Their manager said Northwich had "deserved everything they got" and wished them well in the draw.
The third round draw takes place on Sunday. Northwich could face anyone from Arsenal to Accrington Stanley. Whatever comes next, the town has already had its moment. The high street was still celebrating at midnight.