CITY OUT TO MAKE THEIR NAME

What do you think of when you think of Lichfield? The three spired cathedral? Author Samuel Johnson? An actress who grew up in nearby Shenstone and appeared in Friends? 
Perhaps the last one is now a quiz question, answer below,  but whatever you think of, the Staffordshire city is not really noted by the general public for its football team. Rugby Union in the 1980s? Yes but football, no.
But Lichfield City are about to change all that when they take on Nuneaton Borough on Saturday in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup, to a potential worldwide audience of millions.
Lichfield's attractive home tie with Nuneaton Borough has been chosen for coverage on the BBC and the 3.30 kick off on Saturday will be available on the red button, i-player, the BBC sport website and app. 
Ok you won't see hoardes of TV vans roll into the City Ground, one camera and one operator is all that is needed in this digital age and commentator Tom Gayle and summariser, former Everton midfielder Leon Osman will be broadcasting 'off tube' from Salford.
But make no mistake, this game and the occasion is massive for a club which has only existed in continuance since 2008 and before then had only had two seasons in the 1990s in the West Midlands League.
Darren Leaver is the secretary of Lichfield City and the man tasked with the preparations for the TV coverage, including an interview for Midlands Today because the chairman is 'camera shy'.
Seriously though, TV doesn't just 'happen' and Darren has spent a large part of the week taking calls off the BBC for their preparations, as well as dealing with any number of other things such as ticketing, a media list, hospitality, sponsorship and just general enquiries.
He said: "It's been non stop but an enjoyable non stop and if it brings in some money and -just as importantly - raises the profile of the club as a whole, then it will have been worthwhile.
"Sponsorship and hospitality packages have almost sold out now and this tie has really captured the imagination of people in the city and beyond."
Darren reckons the club will clear at least £5,000 when TV money, gate money, bar takings and prize money have been taken into account and he hopes the knock on effect of it all will be to not only promote the club but to get more people through the gate in the long term.
He said: "Lichfield has never really been known for football. In some ways it has been too easy to hop on a cross city line train and go and watch Villa or Blues or someone else but we are hopefully making a name for ourselves now.
"Promotion of the first team to the Premier division of the Midland Football League has helped and the TV coverage can only be good for us but Lichfield City is about more than that. We run 24 teams from under 7s to girls teams through to under 21, with facilities that are the envy of many teams - it has been hard work to get to this stage and any money we make will be invested in the club.
"When we agreed to take on the lease of the ground and the social club, people told us we would never get permission to put up lights for example - that the council didn't see the city as a footballing place.
"That was in 2008-09 when we were in Midland Combination Division Three and by 2017 we not only had lights but a 3G pitch which can be used seven days a week and were moving up the leagues, eventually moving up to the Midland Football League.
"This is the joint furthest we have been in the FA Cup, having only first entered in 2014 and it is one of the biggest home games in our short history - made spicier because of the fact our manager lives in Nuneaton.
Ivor Green cut his managerial teeth at Atherstone, winning  three trophies during his time at Sheepy Road, leaving them during the 2019-20 with them well placed to chase promotion.
He is on record as saying it was the team that had been assembled under former boss Jamie Hawkins, and the facilities the club had developed that attracted him to the job, when he wasn't particularly looking for one.
Darren said some of Ivor's friends from Nuneaton would be coming to the game on Saturday to shout Lichfield on and give him some stick and that it added to the occassion.
But what of the players?  Will they get camera shy?
He said: "We have a mainly young squad who are looking forward to their turn in the limelight but they are professional and will be focused when the game kicks off although there is obviously a lot of banter flying around before it.
"One of them, Kyle Patterson, has played for LA Galaxy and Hollywood United with some movie stars so he may be one who poses for the camera but seriously it is good to have a bit of experience on board.
"At the start of the season, having been fortunate to be promoted to the Premier we would have taken staying up as a success but the way we have started we are probably looking to push on to the top half and the FA Cup is just a bonus we can all look forward to."
*You can see Lichfield City on BBC Midlands Today and follow the game on the i-player or red button from 3.30pm on Saturday.
Below (Clockwise): Lichfield's famou three spiered cathedral; Lichfield City FC; Actress Helen Baxendale and Samuel Johnson-famous writer and son of Lichfield.