AN achievement worthy of back page headlines and regional radio and TV coverage – the fabled romance of the FA Cup beats strong in the hearts of every Warrington Town aficionado this week.

Like a true Johnny-Come-Lately, your correspondent joined the 600 or so packed into Cantilever Park for the most important clash I’ve witnessed since the FA Vase final at Wembley in 87.

And Shaun Reid’s men didn’t disappoint with a stirring performance against the Conference North’s North Ferriby United to earn themselves a place in the draw for the first round draw on Monday, alongside Football League founders (and twice FA Cup winners) Preston North End, and Notts County.

Who knows what potential riches await when Town play Exeter in the first round – last Saturday’s tie saw programmes sell out way before kick-off and I snaffled the last Bovril from the snack bar at half-time with a queue behind snaking back to the main clubhouse.

But it was only later that the magnitude of their triumph hit home, when I happened upon a Facebook disagreement between two former Guardian hacks, over a fans’ protest at Anfield, over the vastly overinflated price of experiencing live Premier League football.

Each advanced reasoned arguments – one stressed it was under the Fenway Sports Group’s regime that Brendan Rogers had been appointed and Luis Suarez’s salary requirements met.

And the other pointed out that £56 to watch Liverpool’s capitulation versus Real Madrid was out of reach of even working fans.

Hours beforehand I’d watched The Yellows defy the odds (and there was a genuine book – Town were 5/2 and North Ferriby 4/5) and make history in what is still ostensibly a rugby league town, all for around a tenner.

Admittedly some of the football was not a patch on LFC’s finest, and I’m fairly sure you don’t get covered in rainwater when the ball bounces on top of one of the stands at Anfield, however the entertainment value was second to none.

North Ferriby captain Matt Wilson’s off-the-ball clash with Town’s Steve Foster and subsequent red card might not be as debated on message boards as Ben Flower’s Grand Final assault on Lance Hohaia but the incident only added to the drama.

This is why, at the final whistle sealing Town’s victory, you could really feel for the players, their families, the manager, coaches, directors, and especially the fans, when their time in the FA Cup sun was confirmed.

No doubt my old boss, and former Town chairman, Gary Skent is already fiendishly plotting how much nearer Warrington’s FA Cup adventure will bring the club to its’ treasured 20-20 vision of Football League status.

And at the other end, it did my heart good to see what it all meant to legendary fan Rob Wood, another ex-Boteler lad and two-decade veteran of The Yellows’ highs and lows.

My ribs are still glad I dodged one of his massive celebratory bearhugs at full-time.

Not for one moment am I suggesting Warringtonians who descend on Anfield, Old Trafford, The Etihad and Goodison Park each week should abandon lifelong allegiances for the delights of the Evostik League’s First Division North.

One slogan at the Anfield protest however was ‘Supporters Not Customers’ – a sentiment which may be 22 years too late, after suckling at the Sky Sports teat, but it does strike a faint chord.

So perhaps next time your side is pitched up against Leicester City or Crystal Palace, and they are still charging the earth, you may want to vote with your feet and become a part of something where your face fits, instead of it being just another number in an accountant’s ledger.