THE start of the FA Cup is always a special day in the football calendar as irrational optimism kicks in with hopes of an extended run in the competition, a bit of giant killing along the way and wild dreams of a successful conclusion at Wembley.

This year it was back to starting in round one, a stage we hadn’t lost at since Blackpool beat us 30 years ago.

On a bitterly cold day, we welcomed Plymouth Argyle to the Unibol and they turned out in huge numbers, considering the distance with more than 1,000 fans following them.

They were out for a good time, especially the Plymouth fan who allegedly bought a round of 150 Jagermeister shots in the Swan and handed them out free to fans in the bar.

The Plymouth fans that I spoke to said that they had come prepared with an extra layer of clothing for coming ‘Up North’ and that we were really playing Bury in disguise. They even joked that the team coach driver was from Bury.

With fit players still fairly thin on the ground, Keith Hill made just the one change with Sonny Graham coming in for Thibaud Verlinden.

For the first 10 minutes, it seemed that the match would go according to form, with Bolton on top.

However, the Pilgrims went ahead in their first meaningful attack when Callum McFazdean finished off a well-worked move with a cracking shot.

This seemed to lift them, and we never really rose to the occasion after that. In the end, Plymouth deserved their win and good luck to them in the next round and beyond.

So, the only hopes of a cup run now lie in Bradford on Tuesday night, when anything less than a three-goal victory for either side, will put us through to the next round of the Leasing.com Trophy competition.

Off the field, it was good to hear that all outstanding football debts have been cleared. This should be a big step in restoring the club’s reputation.

I hope that something has been or can be done to help the local businesses who lost out during our financial troubles.

We are a caring club again and the new regime are listening and putting things as right as they can.

The club are even more active than ever in the community and if we can build on this togetherness, we will be back.