CITY boss Stuart McCall said in Thursday’s pre-match press conference that he was sure there would be FA Cup upsets this weekend, but that his side have to make sure they avoid that fate at National League South side Tonbridge Angels.

He also recalled being part of the 1984/85 City side that was dumped out of the FA Cup by non-league Telford.

So to celebrate the Bantams going up against sixth-tier opposition this lunchtime, here are six memorable games against non-league sides in the FA Cup from years gone by...

1) TELFORD 2 CITY 1 (1984/85)

McCall admitted that this was a horrible experience for him and his teammates, on what was a bobbly, icy pitch in this third round tie at Bucks Head.

The Bantams were guilty of missing some great chances early on, with John Hawley particularly culpable, volleying over from close range.

Telford took the lead with their first attack, when Colin Williams bundled home from a free-kick.

City hit back with 10 minutes to go when McCall, who had just been called up to the England Under-23s squad, crossed the ball in.

He found substitute Garry Haire, who kept his balance and fired the ball into the roof of the net.

But the Bantams sat back, playing for a replay, and came to regret that decision.

A late Telford corner dropped to Mark Hancock at the back post, who volleyed the ball home to dump the Bantams out of the cup.

The defeat did not derail City’s league campaign though, as they went on to finish as Third Division champions, in a season which will be forever marred by the Valley Parade fire disaster.

2) NEW BROMPTON 0 CITY 1 (1910/11)

A fairly non-descript game by the sound of it, but in the year that City won the FA Cup for the first and only time in their history, they nearly fell at the first hurdle.

New Brompton, now known as Gillingham, gave the Bantams a real scare, at a time when the Football League was almost exclusively made up of sides from the North and the Midlands.

But City scraped through, going on to beat Norwich, Grimsby, Burnley and Blackburn to set up a final with Newcastle.

The initial game at Crystal Palace finished 0-0, but an early Jimmy Speirs goal in the replay ensured City made history.

3) CITY 11 WALKER CELTIC 3 (1937/38)

The now-defunct Celts fought hard to draw 1-1 at home in the initial game, but the first round replay was about as one-sided as it gets.

Jack Deakin and Roland Bartholomew both netted four times, as City romped to an extraordinary 11-3 victory.

It is one of only two times in City’s long history where they have scored 11 times in a game, the other seeing them beat Rotherham 11-1 in the league 10 years earlier.

Poor Walker Celtic had never reached the first round before their tie with City, and never did so again.

4) SCARBOROUGH 1 CITY 0 (1964/65)

It was not a great decade for City in the 1960s, with the club forced to re-apply for their league position twice.

And things reached rock-bottom in November 1964, when they were drawn away to Midland League side Scarborough.

With star striker Alan Franks leading the line for Scarborough, the non-league side pulled off a huge upset, downing the Bantams 1-0.

They nearly won in the second round too, but lost narrowly to Fourth Division Doncaster 2-1.

5) CITY 7 TOW LAW 2 (1984/85)

Just months before that embarrassing defeat to Telford, City had far less trouble negotiating another non-league side.

Tow Law are famous for being the first team of Newcastle, Tottenham, Marseille and City legend Chris Waddle, but he left in 1980.

They could have done with him in this first round tie, with the Bantams coasting to a 7-2 victory.

And it was a quartet of City legends who found themselves on the scoresheet that day. Don Goodman hit a hat-trick, Bobby Campbell netted a brace and there was a goal apiece for McCall and John Hendrie.

6) CITY 2 ALDERSHOT 0 (2015/16)

City have come up against Aldershot twice in the FA Cup in the last six seasons, with both first round ties having to go to a replay.

In 2018/19, City only scraped through on penalties after two 1-1 draws, winning a Valley Parade shootout 4-1.

City also faced Aldershot in round one in 2015/16, just months after a famous FA Cup run which had seen them beat Premier League sides Chelsea and Sunderland.

But they nearly had the tables turned on them, only managing a 0-0 draw at the Recreation Ground.

They won the replay 2-0 though, with the game lit up by a sensational goal from full-back Greg Leigh.

He galloped upfield to cushion a long ball without breaking stride into the penalty area, where he beat the advancing keeper with an impudent lob.

Tony McMahon wrapped that game up from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to go.

A huge thank you to Bantams Heritage. Without their website, this feature would have been far trickier to write.