League Two side Newport County welcome Premier League giants Manchester United to Rodney Parade on Sunday in a lucrative FA Cup fourth round tie which will boost their finances
Former Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins gave prospective FA Cup giantkillers Newport County a timely boost by completing his takeover at Rodney Parade this week.
For his next trick, Jenkins expects to preside over a bumper £400,000 payday from Sunday’s fourth round tie against Manchester United.
And if Graham Coughlan’s League Two underdogs manage to force a replay, it would complete a miraculous turnaround from the edge of ruin to unprecedented riches for the Exiles.
Before Jenkins’ takeover, County’s FA Cup run had already yielded £213,000 in prize money, with a £105,000 share of gate receipts and a £110,000 broadcast fee for the United game on top, plus £30,000 for the first round replay against being shown live, bringing their income to £458,000 so far.
If Newport take United back to Old Trafford for a replay, they expect to bank a seven-figure sum from the proceeds. For a club with a £3.4 million annual turnover, there has never been a better time to hit the jackpot.
Sunday’s tie will be the second sell-out at Rodney Parade in eight days after the 1-0 win against League Two high-flyers Wrexham attracted a 9,357 crowd.
Jenkins came to the rescue when Newport reported a £1.2 million loss in June 2022 and he said: “I have helped in ways to make the club more secure financially.
“I have had to do that and the main priority from day one is to very quickly get the club back on a better financial footing.”
It will be a memorable occasion for Newport manager and boyhood Manchester United fan Graham Coughlan, who used to catch the ferry from Dublin to follow the Red Devils home and away in the 1980s.
But the Exiles manager has haunted rival boss Erik ten Hag by recalling one of United’s darkest Cup episodes 40 years ago – when they were shocked by Harry Redknapp ’s Bournemouth, who were then in the third tier.
Newport are a distant 33-1 to cause one of the greatest Cup upsets of all time and Coughlan, now 50, said: “United gave me one of the greatest nights of my life as a fan at the Champions League final in 1999 – but all clubs go through a sticky patch.
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“Going back to 1984, when they were holders of the FA Cup, they got knocked out by Bournemouth, which was a massive shock at the time.
“United have had iffy results throughout their history – we haven’t talked about it being the worst one in their history if the lose on Sunday, but all football clubs suffer upsets and that’s part and parcel of the game.
“Anything can happen – down the years we’ve seen shocks, we’ve seen giant-killings and you can never, ever rule anything out.”
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