SALISBURY City boss Nick Holmes would have mixed emotions if his Salisbury City side held the mighty Sheffield Wednesday to a draw in the FA Cup first round at Hillsborough on Sunday.
Following inspections by safety officials it has been decreed by the FA that any Wednesday week replay (November 19, 7.45) would be staged at Whites' Raymond McEnhill Stadium home - in front of a capacity crowd of just 2,700.
Much as Holmes believes that playing at their small, Old Sarum home would present the Dr Martens League underdogs with an ideal chance of upsetting their Nationwide Division 2 opponents, he is not convinced it would make financial sense.
The ex-Saint's personal preference would be to hold the replay at a Football League ground - preferably St Mary's.
Holmes, one of Southampton's 1976 glory boys, has already floated the idea with Saints' assistant secretary Barry Fox and said: "I'd love to go to St Mary's for obvious reasons but also because I think it would make commonsense.
"Sheffield Wednesday take 2,000-plus fans to away matches, but they'd only be entitled to 350 tickets if they came here.
"When you consider all the extra costs needed to stage a game at this little ground, you've got to ask yourself if there would be any profit at the end of the day.
"Due to FA rules, there would be quite a few complimentaries and the average ticket price is only £7.50 or £8.
"You've got Sheffield Wednesday's overnight stay to consider plus we'd need to get stewards in from Southampton and Bournemouth.
"There's the floodlights to pay for, plus referees' costs are more in the FA Cup than in the Dr Martens League.
"We would also need to put a fence round the other side of the ground where the field is, which would cost a fair bit, so we might even lose money!
"We'd love to play it here because I think it would give us a wonderful chance of beating Wednesday, but you've got to ask if it's reasonable to do it.
"But rules are rules and I suppose it would be nice to think we would even have that sort of headache!"
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article