Gillingham manager Mark Bonner on scrapping replays in the FA Cup, naming nine substitutes and dealing with extra-time and penalties

Gillingham play in the first round of the FA Cup for the 101st time this weekend - but there could still be plenty of firsts at Priestfield.

It’s quite an achievement for the club formed as New Brompton in 1894 before changing its name to Gillingham in 1912.

It’s a much-changed FA Cup this season, however, with no replays from the first round onwards – robbing smaller teams of potential money-spinning replays. It means games will need to be decided on the day with extra-time and penalties if necessary.

While having nine substitutes available isn’t new this season, that will be a first for Gills boss Mark Bonner when his side host Blackpool at Priestfield on Saturday.

“I’ve never named nine subs before, I’ve never had the luxury,” said Bonner. Asked if two of the nine could be goalkeepers, he added: “We could do but we’ll see how many players we’ve got.”

As for the potential of extra-time and spot-kicks, Bonner said: “It doesn’t affect how we start the game at all. It might affect the flow of the game, timing of changes, but if you go to extra-time you get an extra sub anyway.

“It will be the longest briefing before a game ever as they’ll be explaining all the rules to us!

“We’ll see how the game plays out and there’s the possibility that (extra-time) happens, and we’ll have to be ready for it if it does.

“Both teams will be trying like anything to win it in 90 minutes - no-one wants extra-time.

“If it gets to extra-time so be it but we’ve got to be competitive enough to make sure we’re in it in the 90 minutes, and we’ll try to win it in the 90 if we can.”

One of Bonner’s favourite FA Cup memories is a replay while he was on the academy staff at Cambridge United away to Manchester United.

But that doesn’t mean he’s